[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 DRONES

  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, have you ever flown a drone? It used to be 
that you had to fly helicopters or it used to be that you would fly 
what we call unmanned aerial vehicles, the ones that have been so 
helpful to us in the war against terror. That would usually be an Air 
Force pilot. But now people can go to Best Buy or to Walgreens or to 
the hobby shop and buy a drone this big. If it is an older model, it 
would cost $100. If it is a newer model, it would cost $500. People can 
have a lot of fun. As a matter of fact, I can't wait until they finish 
development of the drones they are testing right now that I can sit on, 
and then I can go from point A to point B and avoid the red lights and 
the traffic jams and so forth.
  Along with this new technology comes some, certainly, new challenges. 
So as our commerce committee is approaching work on the FAA bill, the 
Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization--otherwise, in a couple 
of months that authorization law expires--we are going to have to 
address the issue of drones because we have had now a number of near 
misses of drones.
  A study in December came out: 241 near misses. As a matter of fact, 
the New York area airports clearly had the most with, in this study 
period, 86, but my State of Florida had both Miami and Orlando with a 
substantial number. At most of the major metropolitan area airports 
across the entire country--Los Angeles, 39 near misses, and Chicago and 
Boston; we can go over the entire country--there is a substantial 
number.
  Another report that came out just at the end of last year pointed out 
that just in September there were 122 incidents and just in October 
there were 137 incidents. If a seagull sucked into the jet engines of 
US Airways could cause the complete loss of power so that Captain Sully 
Sullenberger--since he couldn't get to an emergency landing in a 
field--had to put it down in the Hudson River, and if a seagull with 
flesh and blood and seagull bones and webbed feet sucked into the 
engines can stall out a jet engine, we can imagine what a drone that 
you buy at Best Buy this big made of plastic, but with metal parts such 
as the camera, what that would do, and it is just a matter of time, 
unless we take action.
  Now, I have a picture here. I would like to zero-in on this. This is 
a drone, the size that I just showed with my arms, flying past a palm 
tree in my State of Florida. But if that drone goes higher--higher than 
the FAA limit right now of 400 feet--and gets into the flightpath of an 
incoming airliner or one that is outbound, then we have a major 
disaster on our hands.
  We want creativity. We want inventiveness. This is a new technology 
and it is great. Look at what we can do now with aerial photography so 
we don't have to rent an airplane. Look, however, how it is being used. 
Did my colleagues know drones are being used to go over a prison wall 
and deliver contraband? How about the reverse: Getting messages out? 
So, obviously, the government is going to have to get into it one way 
or another.
  Now, one thing that we could do with this technology is we could 
require the software to be put in these drones that would prohibit it 
from getting close to an airport. There is that kind of technology. I 
suppose we could put the software in it that would prohibit it from 
getting above a certain altitude. But the question is this: When 
somebody breaks those limits, how do we go about identifying them? 
Should there be some kind of registration number? Should there, in 
fact, even be licensure? We probably don't have to worry about 
commercial uses such as aerial photography because those users are 
going to be very careful. However, for the hobbyist or the kid who can 
now go and purchase a drone, we see the probabilities of an accident 
waiting to happen.
  Now, I don't have the answer. But in the next two months, as we are 
getting ready on the FAA bill, we are going to have to come up with 
some answers.
  So I raise this issue for the Senate. It is a real problem. We have 
to face it. We have to address it. We have to prevent these kinds of 
terrible accidents that can occur if we do nothing.
  I intend to do something on the commerce committee.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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