HR 2944 Introduced – Misuse of Drones

Rep Gallagher (R,WI) introduced HR 2944, the Drone Act of 2023. The bill would revise 18 USC to expand the coverage of the criminal code for misuse of unmanned aircraft. No funding is provided in this bill. The bill is almost identical to S 157 [removed from paywall], that was introduced in February. No action has been taken on the Senate bill to date.

There is one significant difference between the two bills. The House bill does not include the subclause that was added to the language from S 3542 (117^th session) that would specifically make a drone attack on critical infrastructure an offense under the new 18 USC 40B proposed in the bill.

Moving Forward

While Gallagher is not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to which the bill was assigned for consideration, one of cosponsors {Rep Gooding (R,TX)} is a member. This means that there may be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. There will be some level of bipartisan support for the bill, but it is not clear that it would be sufficient to overcome the objections of the UAV industry. I do not believe that the bill would receive enough support to pass a cloture vote in the full Senate.