Review – HR 4590 Introduced – Codifying EO 14305

Back in July Rep Finstad (R,MN) introduced HR 4590, that would codify Executive Order 14305, Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty. That EO notes that it is “the policy of the United States to ensure control over our national airspace and to protect the public, critical infrastructure, mass gathering events, and military and sensitive government installations and operations from threats posed by the careless or unlawful use of UAS.” No new spending is authorized.

Moving Forward

Finstad is not a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to which this bill was assigned for primary consideration. This means that it is unlikely that there will be sufficient influence to see the bill considered in Committee. I suspect that the bill would not receive much support from Committee leadership as it would dilute the Committee’s efforts to pass a more comprehensive cUAS bill.

Three additional committees are also generally required to approve consideration of this bill before it moves to the House. The Energy and Commerce Committee would not be expected to  move forward any bill sponsored by the T&I committee as that Committee has advanced a bill (HR 5061) that would remove the E&C committee from oversight of cUAS activities. Thus, unless the Speaker overrides the objections of the E&C committee, this bill will not be able to move forward to the floor of the House.

 

For more information on the provisions of this bill and its underlying executive order, including a commentary on codifying executive orders, see my article at CFSN Detailed Analysis - https://patrickcoyle.substack.com/p/hr-4590-introduced-codifying-eo-14305 - subscription required.