[House Report 116-301]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
116th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session } { 116-301
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DRONE ORIGIN SECURITY ENHANCEMENT ACT
_______
November 19, 2019.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, from the Committee on Homeland
Security, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4753]
The Committee on Homeland Security, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 4753) to prohibit the Secretary of Homeland
Security from operating or procuring foreign-made unmanned
aircraft systems, and for other purposes, having considered the
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend
that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for Legislation.............................. 2
Hearings......................................................... 2
Committee Consideration.......................................... 2
Committee Votes.................................................. 3
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 3
C.B.O. Estimate, New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and
Tax Expenditures............................................... 3
Federal Mandates Statement....................................... 3
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 3
Duplicative Federal Programs..................................... 3
Congressional Earmarks, Limited Tax Benefits, and Limited Tariff
Benefits.......................................................
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation................... 4
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H.R. 4753, the ``Drone Origin Security Enhancement Act,''
would prohibit the Secretary of Homeland Security from
operating, providing financial assistance for, or entering into
or renewing a contract for the procurement of certain unmanned
aircraft systems (UAS). Specifically, the prohibition applies
to UAS manufactured in or consisting of parts made in foreign
countries that the Department of Defense defines as ``strategic
competitors'' in its 2018 National Defense Strategy.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Among its many missions, the Department of Homeland
Security is tasked with protecting Americans from terrorism and
other threats and securing cyberspace and the nation's critical
infrastructure. In order to effectively carry out these tasks,
the equipment that the Department uses must be secure. However,
reports over the last several years suggest that Chinese-
manufactured drones could be used to send sensitive information
to the Chinese government.\1\ The Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency has similarly noted that the use
of UAS technology manufactured overseas creates a risk that
data may be compromised.\2\
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\1\Mozur, Paul. ``Drone Maker DJI May Be Sending Data to China,
U.S. Officials Say,'' New York Times (November 29, 2017). https://
www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/technology/dji-china-data-drones.html.
\2\Johnson, Bridget. ``CISA Warns Industries of Security Risks
Posed by Chinese-Made Drones,'' Homeland Security Today (May 20, 2019).
https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/intelligence/cisa-warns-
industries-of-security-risks-posed-by-chinese-made-drones/.
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In acknowledgement of these cybersecurity vulnerabilities,
in May 2018, the Department of Defense banned the purchase and
use of all commercial off-the-shelf drones except under limited
circumstances.\3\ H.R. 4753 similarly puts a necessary halt to
the Department of Homeland Security's use of UAS technology
manufactured in covered foreign countries or by entities
located in covered foreign countries.
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\3\Snow, Shawn. ```Quads for Squads' Grounds Over Cyber Concerns,''
Marine Corps Times (June 15, 2018). https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/
news/your-marine-corps/2018/06/15/quads-for-squads-grounded-over-cyber-
concerns/.
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HEARINGS
For the purposes of section 103(i) of H. Res. 6. of the
116th Congress, the following hearings were used to develop
H.R. 4753:
On June 25, 2019, the Committee held a
hearing entitled ``Cybersecurity Challenges for State
and Local Governments: Assessing How the Federal
Government Can Help.'' The Committee received testimony
from Keisha Lance Bottoms, Mayor, City of Atlanta;
Thomas Duffy, Senior Vice President of Operations and
Chair of Multi-State ISAC, Center for Internet
Security; Ahmad Sultan, Affiliated Researcher, Center
for Long Term Cybersecurity, University of California,
Berkeley; and Frank J. Cilluffo, Director, McCrary
Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure
Security, Auburn University.
On September 10, 2019, the Committee held a
hearing entitled ``Global Terrorism: Threats to the
Homeland, Part I.'' The Committee received testimony
from Peter Bergen, Vice President, Global Studies and
Fellows, New America; Ali Soufan, Founder, the Soufan
Center; Brian Levin, Director, Center for the Study of
Hate and Extremism; and Thomas Joscelyn, Senior Fellow,
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION
The Committee met on October 23, 2019, with a quorum being
present, to consider H.R. 4753 and ordered the measure to be
reported to the House with a favorable recommendation, without
amendment, by unanimous consent.
COMMITTEE VOTES
Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires the Committee to list the recorded
votes on the motion to report legislation and amendments
thereto.
No recorded votes were requested during consideration of
H.R. 4753.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the
descriptive portions of this report.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT
AUTHORITY, AND TAX EXPENDITURES
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested
but not received a cost estimate for this bill from the
Director of Congressional Budget Office.
FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT
An estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chairman
of the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee.
DUPLICATIVE FEDERAL PROGRAMS
Pursuant to clause 3(c) of rule XIII, the Committee finds
that H.R. 4753 does not contain any provision that establishes
or reauthorizes a program known to be duplicative of another
Federal program.
PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, the objective of H.R. 4753 is to
direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to halt the
procurement or use of UAS technologies manufactured in or
consisting of parts made in foreign countries that the
Department of Defense defines as ``strategic competitors'' in
its 2018 National Defense Strategy. The prohibition also
applies to UAS that use software developed in countries labeled
as strategic competitors as well as UAS that use network
connectivity or data storage located in such countries. The DHS
Secretary may waive the prohibition on a case-by-case basis by
certifying to the homeland security committees in both the
House and Senate that the purpose of the waiver is required in
the national interest, for counter-UAS surrogate testing, or
for intelligence operations, testing, analysis, or training.
The goal and objective of H.R. 4753 is to protect the
Department of Homeland Security from cybersecurity
vulnerabilities associated with the use of foreign-made UAS.
ADVISORY ON EARMARKS
In compliance with rule XXI of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, this bill, as reported, contains no
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(d), 9(e), or 9(f) of the rule
XXI.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION
Section 1. Short title
This section provides that the bill may be cited as the
``Drone Origin Security Enhancement Act.''
Sec. 2. Prohibition on operation or procurement of foreign-made
unmanned aircraft systems
This section prohibits the Secretary of Homeland Security
from operating, procuring, or providing financial assistance
for a UAS that is manufactured in or uses (1) technology or
systems manufactured in, (2) ground control systems or
operating software developed by, or (3) network connectivity or
data storage located in a covered foreign country. Moreover, it
prohibits the use of any of those technologies if they are
manufactured, developed, or administered by a corporation
domiciled in a covered foreign country.
For the purposes of this prohibition, a ``covered foreign
country'' means a country labeled as a strategic competitor in
the ``Summary of the 2018 National Defense Strategy of the
United States of America: Sharpening the American Military's
Competitive Edge,'' issued by the Department of Defense.
This section also sets forth the limited circumstances
under which the Secretary would be permitted to waive the
prohibition. Such a waiver requires that the Secretary certify
in writing to the homeland security committees of the House and
Senate that the operation or procurement subject to the waiver
is required (1) in the national interest of the United States,
(2) for counter-UAS testing and training, or (3) for
intelligence, electronic warfare, or information warfare
operations, testing, analysis, or training.
Once enacted, the Department of Homeland Security should
immediately halt the use or procurement of any qualifying UAS.
Should any of those uses or procurements meet the circumstances
permitting a waiver, the Secretary should submit its waiver
certifications to Congress in an expedited manner to ensure
that the Department continues to serve those interests.
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