RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – Virginia Senator Mark Warner (D) is working to limit the federal government’s use of Chinese-made drones.
Warner and Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R) have introduced a bill prohibiting the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from buying or operating drones made in countries with authoritarian regimes.
In addition to banning drones made in China, the bill also targets drones made in Russia, Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Venezuela.
If passed, the FAA would have to replace drones from those countries within a year.
Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, says drones can be used to gain valuable intelligence information.
“Chinese law dictates that every Chinese company is not responsible to their customers or shareholders. It’s responsible to the Chinese communist party,” Warner explained. “I’m concerned as well, with Chinese drones, the ability to potentially have a backdoor. That video that could be recorded could end up in a bad spot.”
The announcement comes as Congress grapples with how to regulate Chinese companies operating in the United States. Warner previously expressed safety and security concerns surrounding the Chinese company, TikTok.
“I’m concerned that on an application like TikTok they could be taking our kids’ data, potentially using that as a means of disinformation,” Warner said.
Lawmakers have also pushed to prevent certain Chinese drone manufacturers from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure, citing security concerns. Although these measures not mentioned in Warner’s bill, he does support further crackdowns on Chinese technology.
“There may not be built in the backdoor right now, but the challenge with technology is you’re always getting the next generation,” Warner said. “And the problem with a lot of this technology is that the next generation might include that backdoor.”
In February, Warner introduced a similar bill to bar all federal government agencies from purchasing drones from China and other adversaries. So far, that bill has not received a vote.
