Warner, Blackburn Target Foreign Drones With New Bill

Bipartisan legislation announced Thursday would set certain federal funding and operational bans for drones made in China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba. Introduced by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., the Stemming the Operation of Pernicious and Illicit (STOP Illicit) Drones Act would prohibit the FAA from providing federal funds to companies based in the listed countries. The bill would also bar the FAA and its contractors from “procuring or operating drones produced” in those countries. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has drawn agency attention to the issue in the past (see [RefL2110190051]).