Hearing: Lawmakers, Experts Urge Expanded Counter‑UAS Authority as Drone Misuse Rises

Chairman Biggs convened a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing where members and expert witnesses described mounting threats from malicious unmanned aircraft systems and urged Congress to expand legal authority, training and technology so state and local agencies can respond.

Witnesses and committee leaders described multiple uses of drones by criminal networks and foreign adversaries, from dropping contraband into prisons and smuggling drugs across the border to surveillance and potential attacks on critical infrastructure and mass gatherings. "The ability to detect, mitigate, rogue drones is no longer a futuristic concept. It's a present day necessity," said Sergeant Robert Dooley of the Florida Highway Patrol, who testified about operational gaps for public safety agencies.

The hearing focused on three related shortfalls: legal authority, systems and training. Representative Jamie Raskin, the committee's ranking member, described bipartisan legislation he helped introduce, HR 5061, saying the measure would "reauthorize, reform, and expand the existing counter unmanned aircraft system or counter UAS authorities" and, for the first time through a pilot program, extend…