Countering CCP Drones and Supporting Drones for Law Enforcement Act

Countering CCP Drones and Supporting Drones for Law Enforcement Act

This bill prohibits the sale or operation in the United States of certain drone models manufactured in China, and authorizes funding for state and local law enforcement to purchase and use approved drones.

Specifically, the bill requires the inclusion of certain equipment and software produced by the Chinese drone makers Shenzhen Da-Jiang Innovations Sciences and Technologies Company Limited (DJI Technologies) and Autel Robotics on a list of equipment determined by the Federal Communications Commission to pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security. Current law prohibits the sale or operation in the U.S. of any new equipment on the list. Under the bill, DJI Technologies and Autel Robotics would be prohibited from marketing or selling any drone model released after the addition of the companies to the list.

The bill also temporarily authorizes the Department of Transportation to award grants to state and local law enforcement for the purchase and use of drones not manufactured or assembled in, or containing software or critical components from, specified foreign countries of concern.

Finally, the bill directs the Department of Defense (DOD) to consider, through annual review of its list of Chinese military companies, whether any company that manufactures drones should be included in that list. Under current law, DOD is required to publish and annually update a list of companies that are owned or controlled by, or acting on behalf of, the Chinese military.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov