In an op-ed for Fox News, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) announced the passage of the American Security Drone Act into law, calling it "a huge win" against China and its attempts to spy on the United States.
Sen. Scott first introduced the bill in 2019, which would ban the purchase of Chinese-made drones out of concerns they were sending data back to China, prompting the Army and Department of the Interior to prohibit the purchase of drones manufactured by DJI.
Last February, a Chinese balloon flew over the United States for several days before being shot down, which Sen. Scott referenced in his op-ed.
"Communist China’s commitment to spying on America was on full display last year as we watched its spy balloon soar across the United States. While that balloon made a lot of headlines as worried Americans felt the tensions of a possible threat to the homeland for the first time in several decades, my drone bill met resistance in Congress. Thank goodness it passed," he wrote.
After all, Scott pointed out the multiple civic uses of drones such as monitoring weather and traffic patterns, land surveillance, search and rescue operations, and inspection of infrastructure. As a result, "It is important the federal government set the standard on what drones are safe and free of security risks for our communities and not prop up Chinese companies by ceasing to buy Beijing’s drones."
Nevertheless, Scott noted that drones are one piece of Chinese-made technology that could be weaponized against the United States, such as artificial intelligence, social media app TikTok, semiconductors, and biotech, all of which have faced scrutiny by other Florida Republicans such as Representatives Carlos Gimenez, Kat Cammack, Matt Gaetz, Brian Mast, Vern Buchanan, and Senator Marco Rubio.
"It is critical that we enhance U.S. economic independence and security and end the tyranny of an industry monopoly by the CCP. I won’t stop until our country is completely safe from all threats posed by the importation of Chinese and adversary-backed technologies," the Florida Senator concluded.
