[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4515 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4515

To combat foreign terrorist acquisition of unmanned aerial systems, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 11, 2024

 Mr. Romney (for himself and Ms. Rosen) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To combat foreign terrorist acquisition of unmanned aerial systems, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Combating Foreign Terrorist Drones 
Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Foreign terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda, 
        the Islamic State, and groups backed by Iran such as the 
        Houthis, have used unmanned aerial systems to commit violence 
        and to conduct attacks against members of the Armed Forces and 
        interests of the United States overseas.
            (2) Since its inception in 2014, the Islamic State has used 
        commercially-available unmanned aerial systems, including 
        Chinese-manufactured drones.
            (3) In 2023, the United Kingdom arrested an individual for 
        designing a three-dimensional printed drone for the Islamic 
        State to deliver chemical weapons.
            (4) According to public reporting, Iranian-backed terrorist 
        organizations and proxy militias have further increased the 
        frequency of unmanned aerial system attacks against the Armed 
        Forces and interests of the United States in the wake of the 
        October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas in Israel.
            (5) On or around October 17, 2023, 21 members of the Armed 
        Forces sustained injuries from drone and rocket attacks by 
        Iran-sponsored proxy groups against military bases of the 
        United States in Syria and Iraq.
            (6) On January 28, 2024, three members of the Armed Forces 
        were killed and more than 40 members of the Armed Forces were 
        injured in an unmanned aerial system attack, committed by 
        groups backed by Iran, in Jordan.
            (7) In February 2024, the Defense Intelligence Agency 
        confirmed the use by the Houthis of unmanned aerial systems 
        from Iran to conduct attacks, including against civilian 
        targets and maritime infrastructure.
            (8) According to United States Central Command, the threat 
        posed by unmanned aerial systems, ``coupled with'' the ``lack 
        of dependable, networked capability to counter them is the most 
        concerning tactical development since the rise'' of improvised 
        explosive devices in Iraq.
            (9) Foreign terrorist organization access to and use of 
        unmanned aerial systems presents national security threats to 
        the United States, its personnel, and its interests abroad, and 
        it is critical that the Department of Defense acts effectively 
        to interrupt the supply of such systems to foreign terrorist 
        organizations.

SEC. 3. INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT OF FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION 
              ACQUISITION OF UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS.

    (a) Intelligence Assessment Required.--Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
shall submit to the congressional defense committees an intelligence 
assessment of foreign terrorist organization acquisition of unmanned 
aerial systems.
    (b) Contents.--The assessment required by subsection (a) shall 
cover the following:
            (1) Methods by which foreign terrorist organizations 
        acquire unmanned aerial systems, such as through commercial 
        purchase, diversion, illicit manufacture, trafficking, state-
        sponsored supply, or theft or recovery from nation-state 
        operators.
            (2) Identification of suppliers, networks, routes, 
        production facilities, and other key nodes that facilitate the 
        acquisition of unmanned aerial systems by foreign terrorist 
        organizations.
            (3) An evaluation of the degree of coordination and 
        intelligence sharing with allies and partners of the United 
        States to prevent foreign terrorist organizations from 
        acquiring unmanned aerial systems.
            (4) Recommendations for legislative or administrative 
        action to limit or combat foreign terrorist organization 
        acquisition of unmanned aerial systems.
    (c) Form.--The assessment submitted pursuant to subsection (a) 
shall be submitted in classified form.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``congressional defense committees'' has the 
        meaning given such term in section 101(a) of title 10, United 
        States Code.
            (2) The term ``foreign terrorist organization'' means any 
        organization or individual designated as a--
                    (A) foreign terrorist organization by the Secretary 
                of State pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and 
                Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); or
                    (B) specially designated global terrorist under 
                Executive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to 
                blocking property and prohibiting transactions with 
                persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support 
                terrorism), or successor order, or section 594.310 of 
                title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, or successor 
                regulation.
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