Ranking Member Raskin’s Opening Statement at Subcommittee Hearing on Combatting Criminal Drone Use in America
Washington, D.C. (September 16, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, delivered opening remarks at the Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance hearing on the malicious use of drones, otherwise known as unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and how the federal government can effectively combat UAS-enabled crimes.
Below are Ranking Member Raskin’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, at today’s hearing.
WATCH Ranking Member Raskin’s opening statement.
Ranking Member Jamie Raskin
Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance
Hearing on “Unmanned and Unchecked: Confronting the Rising Threat of Malicious Drone Use in America”
September 16, 2025
Thank you, Chairman Biggs, for holding this hearing today to discuss the rising threat posed by unmanned aircraft systems, commonly known as drones.
The FAA reports that over one million drones are now registered in the United States for a broad range of commercial and recreational purposes. Government agencies also use drones to improve public safety, aiding their efforts in search and rescue, disaster response, crime scene investigation, and even traffic enforcement.
But, like any technology—including AI-enabled technology, which this Subcommittee discussed earlier this summer—drones can also be used for unlawful purposes, from delivering contraband to inmates in prisons, to ferrying fentanyl across the northern and southern borders.
In 2023, in my home state of Maryland, 15 people were indicted as part of a criminal network that used drones to smuggle fentanyl and other drugs, cell phones, tools, and other contraband into the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, Maryland. I am sure that many of my colleagues have a similar story in their own states.
The Department of Justice is one of five federal agencies with drone detection and mitigation authorities, which allows the Department to detect, track, and even destroy drones that pose a credible threat to federal courthouses, prisons, and large gatherings. The FBI and the Federal Bureau of Prisons are also able to utilize some counter-drone detection systems. In fact, earlier this year, BOP reported that the agency has deployed detection systems at 64 facilities which have helped detect malicious drone use, better inform law enforcement of incoming threats, and locate suspected criminal drone operators.
Today, as we discuss law enforcement efforts to respond to malicious drone activity and their use of drones to enhance public safety, we must be mindful of the risks associated with the detection and mitigation of drones—as well as the need to respect the privacy and civil liberties of the public. We must make sure that law enforcement uses both drone and counter-drone technology correctly, safely, and within the bounds of the law.
That is why I was pleased to join the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Homeland Security Committee to introduce H.R. 5061, the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act. The bill, which was reported favorably by the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee by a vote of 60-0, a rarity in Congress, would reauthorize, reform, and expand the existing counter-unmanned aircraft system or counter-UAS authorities of the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.
Among other key provisions, the bipartisan bill would, for the first time, expand these authorities to state and local law enforcement through a carefully calibrated pilot program. The bill would also establish training standards for these agencies to meet before they can operate counter-UAS systems and minimum performance requirements for counter-UAS technology before it can be deployed, ensuring these systems are used safely and within the parameters of the law.
I hope that today’s hearing will convince my colleagues to support this legislation and that we will see swift, unanimous passage of this carefully crafted bill.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would also like to thank our witnesses for being here and look forward to hearing from each of them. I yield back.