[House Report 116-301]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


116th Congress    }                                      {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session      }                                      {     116-301

======================================================================



 
                 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\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \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/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \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/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                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.

                                  [all]