II 

Calendar No. 666 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 73 

[Report No. 117–267] 

To ban the Federal procurement of certain drones and other unmanned 

aircraft systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 27, 2021 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. COTTON, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. MURPHY, and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

DECEMBER 19, 2022 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, without amendment 

A BILL 

To ban the Federal procurement of certain drones and other 

unmanned aircraft systems, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Security 

5 Drone Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term 

4 ‘‘covered foreign entity’’ means an entity included on 

5 a list developed and maintained by the Federal Ac6 quisition Security Council. This list will include enti7 ties in the following categories: 

8 (A) An entity included on the Consolidated 

9 Screening List. 

10 (B) Any entity that is subject to 

11 extrajudicial direction from a foreign govern12 ment, as determined by the Secretary of Home13 land Security. 

14 (C) Any entity the Secretary of Homeland 

15 Security, in coordination with the Director of 

16 National Intelligence and the Secretary of De17 fense, determines poses a national security risk. 

18 (D) Any entity domiciled in the People’s 

19 Republic of China or subject to influence or 

20 control by the Government of the People Re21 public of China or the Communist Party of the 

22 People’s Republic of China, as determined by 

23 the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

24 (E) Any subsidiary or affiliate of an entity 

25 described in subparagraphs (A) through (D). 


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1 (2) COVERED UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.— 

2 The term ‘‘covered unmanned aircraft system’’ has 

3 the meaning given the term ‘‘unmanned aircraft sys4 tem’’ in section 44801 of title 49, United States 

5 Code. 

6 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PROCUREMENT OF COVERED UN7 MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM COV8 ERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under sub10 sections (b) though (f), the head of an executive agency 

11 may not procure any covered unmanned aircraft system 

12 that are manufactured or assembled by a covered foreign 

13 entity, which includes associated elements (consisting of 

14 communication links and the components that control the 

15 unmanned aircraft) that are required for the operator to 

16 operate safely and efficiently in the national airspace sys17 tem. The Federal Acquisition Security Council, in coordi18 nation with the Secretary of Transportation, shall develop 

19 and update a list of associated elements. 

20 (b) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu21 rity, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General 

22 are exempt from the restriction under subsection (a) if the 

23 operation or procurement— 

24 (1) is for the sole purposes of research, evalua25 tion, training, testing, or analysis for— 


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1 (A) electronic warfare; 

2 (B) information warfare operations; 

3 (C) development of UAS or counter-UAS 

4 technology; 

5 (D) counterterrorism or counterintelligence 

6 activities; or 

7 (E) Federal criminal or national security 

8 investigations, including forensic examinations; 

9 and 

10 (2) is required in the national interest of the 

11 United States. 

12 (c) FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION CENTER

13 OF EXCELLENCE FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS

14 EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Transportation, in con15 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, is ex16 empt from the restriction under subsection (a) if the oper17 ation or procurement is for the sole purposes of research, 

18 evaluation, training, testing, or analysis for the Federal 

19 Aviation Administration’s Alliance for System Safety of 

20 UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) Center of 

21 Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. 

22 (d) NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD

23 EXEMPTION.—The National Transportation Safety Board 

24 (NTSB), in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland 

25 Security, is exempt from the restriction under subsection 


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1 (a) if the operation or procurement is necessary for the 

2 sole purpose of conducting safety investigations. 

3 (e) NATIONAL OCEANIC ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRA4 TION EXEMPTION.—The Administrator of the National 

5 Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in con6 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, is ex7 empt from the restriction under subsection (a) if the oper8 ation or procurement is necessary for the sole purpose of 

9 marine or atmospheric science or management. 

10 (f) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency may 

11 waive the prohibition under subsection (a) on a case-by12 case basis— 

13 (1) with the approval of the Secretary of Home14 land Security or the Secretary of Defense; and 

15 (2) upon notification to Congress. 

16 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON OPERATION OF COVERED UN17 MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM COV18 ERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

19 (a) PROHIBITION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that 

21 is 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act, no Federal department or agency may operate 

23 a covered unmanned aircraft system manufactured 

24 or assembled by a covered foreign entity. 


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1 (2) APPLICABILITY TO CONTRACTED SERV2 ICES.—The prohibition under paragraph (1) applies 

3 to any covered unmanned aircraft systems that are 

4 being used by any executive agency through the 

5 method of contracting for the services of covered un6 manned aircraft systems. 

7 (b) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu8 rity, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General 

9 are exempt from the restriction under subsection (a) if the 

10 operation or procurement— 

11 (1) is for the sole purposes of research, evalua12 tion, training, testing, or analysis for— 

13 (A) electronic warfare; 

14 (B) information warfare operations; 

15 (C) development of UAS or counter-UAS 

16 technology; 

17 (D) counterterrorism or counterintelligence 

18 activities; or 

19 (E) Federal criminal or national security 

20 investigations, including forensic examinations; 

21 and 

22 (2) is required in the national interest of the 

23 United States. 

24 (c) FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION CENTER

25 OF EXCELLENCE FOR UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS


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1 EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Transportation, in con2 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, is ex3 empt from the restriction under subsection (a) if the oper4 ation or procurement is for the sole purposes of research, 

5 evaluation, training, testing, or analysis for the Federal 

6 Aviation Administration’s Alliance for System Safety of 

7 UAE through Research Excellence (ASSURE) Center of 

8 Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. 

9 (d) NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD

10 EXEMPTION.—The National Transportation Safety Board 

11 (NTSB), in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland 

12 Security, is exempt from the restriction under subsection 

13 (a) if the operation or procurement is necessary for the 

14 sole purpose of conducting safety investigations. 

15 (e) NATIONAL OCEANIC ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRA16 TION EXEMPTION.—The Administrator of the National 

17 Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in con18 sultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, is ex19 empt from the restriction under subsection (a) if the oper20 ation or procurement is necessary for the sole purpose of 

21 marine or atmospheric science or management. 

22 (f) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency may 

23 waive the prohibition under subsection (a) on a case-by24 case basis— 


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1 (1) with the approval of the Secretary of Home2 land Security or the Secretary of Defense; and 

3 (2) upon notification to Congress. 

4 (g) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—Not later than 

5 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

6 Secretary of Homeland Security shall prescribe regula7 tions or guidance to implement this section. 

8 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS FOR 

9 PURCHASES AND OPERATION OF COVERED 

10 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM COV11 ERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 2 

13 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, except 

14 as provided in subsection (b), no Federal funds awarded 

15 through a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement, or 

16 otherwise made available may be used— 

17 (1) to purchase a covered unmanned aircraft 

18 system, or a system to counter unmanned aircraft 

19 systems, that is manufactured or assembled by a 

20 covered foreign entity; or 

21 (2) in connection with the operation of such a 

22 drone or unmanned aircraft system. 

23 (b) EXEMPTION.—A Federal department or agency 

24 is exempt from the restriction under subsection (a) if— 


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1 (1) the contract, grant, or cooperative agree2 ment was awarded prior to the date of the enact3 ment of this Act; or 

4 (2) the operation or procurement is for the sole 

5 purposes of research, evaluation, training, testing, or 

6 analysis, as determined by the Secretary of Home7 land Security, the Secretary of Defense, or the At8 torney General, for— 

9 (A) electronic warfare; 

10 (B) information warfare operations; 

11 (C) development of UAS or counter-UAS 

12 technology; 

13 (D) counterterrorism or counterintelligence 

14 activities; or 

15 (E) Federal criminal or national security 

16 investigations, including forensic examinations; 

17 or 

18 (F) the safe integration of UAS in the na19 tional airspace (as determined in consultation 

20 with the Secretary of Transportation); and 

21 (3) is required in the national interest of the 

22 United States. 

23 (c) WAIVER.—The head of an executive agency may 

24 waive the prohibition under subsection (a) on a case-by25 case basis— 


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1 (1) with the approval of the Secretary of Home2 land Security or the Secretary of Defense; and 

3 (2) upon notification to Congress. 

4 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisi6 tion Regulatory Council shall prescribe regulations or 

7 guidance, as necessary, to implement the requirements of 

8 this section pertaining to Federal contracts. 

9 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON USE OF GOVERNMENT-ISSUED 

10 PURCHASE CARDS TO PURCHASE COVERED 

11 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM COV12 ERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

13 Effective immediately, Government-issued Purchase 

14 Cards may not be used to procure any covered unmanned 

15 aircraft system from a covered foreign entity. 

16 SEC. 7. MANAGEMENT OF EXISTING INVENTORIES OF COV17 ERED UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM 

18 COVERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective immediately, all execu20 tive agencies must account for existing inventories of cov21 ered unmanned aircraft systems manufactured or assem22 bled by a covered foreign entity in their personal property 

23 accounting systems, regardless of the original procurement 

24 cost, or the purpose of procurement due to the special 


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1 monitoring and accounting measures necessary to track 

2 the items’ capabilities. 

3 (b) CLASSIFIED TRACKING.—Due to the sensitive na4 ture of missions and operations conducted by the United 

5 States Government, inventory data related to covered un6 manned aircraft systems manufactured or assembled by 

7 a covered foreign entity may be tracked at a classified 

8 level. 

9 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—The Department of Defense and 

10 Department of Homeland Security may exclude from the 

11 full inventory process, covered unmanned aircraft systems 

12 that are deemed expendable due to mission risk such as 

13 recovery issues or that are one-time-use covered unmanned 

14 aircraft due to requirements and low cost. 

15 SEC. 8. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 

16 Not later than 275 days after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

18 States shall submit to Congress a report on the amount 

19 of commercial off-the-shelf drones and covered unmanned 

20 aircraft systems procured by Federal departments and 

21 agencies from covered foreign entities. 

22 SEC. 9. GOVERNMENT-WIDE POLICY FOR PROCUREMENT 

23 OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

25 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the OfVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:48 Dec 20, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S73.RS S73

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1 fice of Management and Budget, in coordination with the 

2 Department of Homeland Security, Department of Trans3 portation, the Department of Justice, and other Depart4 ments as determined by the Director of the Office of Man5 agement and Budget, and in consultation with the Na6 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, shall estab7 lish a government-wide policy for the procurement of 

8 UAS— 

9 (1) for non-Department of Defense and non-in10 telligence community operations; and 

11 (2) through grants and cooperative agreements 

12 entered into with non-Federal entities. 

13 (b) INFORMATION SECURITY.—The policy developed 

14 under subsection (a) shall include the following specifica15 tions, which to the extent practicable, shall be based on 

16 industry standards and technical guidance from the Na17 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, to address 

18 the risks associated with processing, storing and transmit19 ting Federal information in a UAS: 

20 (1) Protections to ensure controlled access of 

21 UAS. 

22 (2) Protecting software, firmware, and hard23 ware by ensuring changes to UAS are properly man24 aged, including by ensuring UAS can be updated 


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1 using a secure, controlled, and configurable mecha2 nism. 

3 (3) Cryptographically securing sensitive col4 lected, stored, and transmitted data, including prop5 er handling of privacy data and other controlled un6 classified information. 

7 (4) Appropriate safeguards necessary to protect 

8 sensitive information, including during and after use 

9 of UAS. 

10 (5) Appropriate data security to ensure that 

11 data is not transmitted to or stored in non-approved 

12 locations. 

13 (6) The ability to opt out of the uploading, 

14 downloading, or transmitting of data that is not re15 quired by law or regulation and an ability to choose 

16 with whom and where information is shared when it 

17 is required. 

18 (c) REQUIREMENT.—The policy developed under sub19 section (a) shall reflect an appropriate risk-based ap20 proach to information security related to use of UAS. 

21 (d) REVISION OF ACQUISITION REGULATIONS.—Not 

22 later than 180 days after the date on which the policy 

23 required under subsection (a) is issued— 


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1 (1) the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council 

2 shall revise the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as 

3 necessary, to implement the policy; and 

4 (2) any Federal department or agency or other 

5 Federal entity not subject to, or not subject solely 

6 to, the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall revise 

7 applicable policy, guidance, or regulations, as nec8 essary, to implement the policy. 

9 (e) EXEMPTION.—In developing the policy required 

10 under subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Man11 agement and Budget shall incorporate an exemption to the 

12 policy for the following reasons: 

13 (1) In the case of procurement for the purposes 

14 of training, testing, or analysis for— 

15 (A) electronic warfare; or 

16 (B) information warfare operations. 

17 (2) In the case of researching UAS technology, 

18 including testing, evaluation, research, or develop19 ment of technology to counter UAS. 

20 (3) In the case of a head of the procuring de21 partment or agency determining, in writing, that no 

22 product that complies with the information security 

23 requirements described in subsection (b) is capable 

24 of fulfilling mission critical performance require25 ments, and such determination— 


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1 (A) may not be delegated below the level of 

2 the Deputy Secretary of the procuring depart3 ment or agency; 

4 (B) shall specify— 

5 (i) the quantity of end items to which 

6 the waiver applies, the procurement value 

7 of which may not exceed $50,000 per waiv8 er; and 

9 (ii) the time period over which the 

10 waiver applies, which shall not exceed 3 

11 years; 

12 (C) shall be reported to the Office of Man13 agement and Budget following issuance of such 

14 a determination; and 

15 (D) not later than 30 days after the date 

16 on which the determination is made, shall be 

17 provided to the Committee on Homeland Secu18 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 

19 and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 

20 the House of Representatives. 

21 SEC. 10. STUDY. 

22 (a) INDEPENDENT STUDY.—Not later than 3 years 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

24 of the Office of Management and Budget shall seek to 

25 enter into a contract with a federally funded research and 


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1 development center under which the center will conduct 

2 a study of— 

3 (1) the current and future unmanned aircraft 

4 system global and domestic market; 

5 (2) the ability of the unmanned aircraft system 

6 domestic market to keep pace with technological ad7 vancements across the industry; 

8 (3) the ability of domestically made unmanned 

9 aircraft systems to meet the network security and 

10 data protection requirements of the national security 

11 enterprise; 

12 (4) the extent to which unmanned aircraft sys13 tem component parts, such as the parts described in 

14 section 3, are made domestically; and 

15 (5) an assessment of the economic impact, in16 cluding cost, of excluding the use of foreign-made 

17 UAS for use across the Federal Government. 

18 (b) SUBMISSION TO OMB.—Upon completion of the 

19 study in subsection (a), the federally funded research and 

20 development center shall submit the study to the Director 

21 of the Office of Management and Budget. 

22 (c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 

23 days after the date on which the Director of the Office 

24 of Management and Budget receives the study under sub25 section (b), the Director shall submit the study to— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

2 Governmental Affairs and the Select Committee on 

3 Intelligence of the Senate; and 

4 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

5 the Committee on Oversight and Reform and the 

6 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

7 House of Representatives. 

8 SEC. 11. SUNSET. 

9 Sections 3, 4, and 5 shall cease to have effect on the 

10 date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of 

11 this Act. 


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Calendar No. 666 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 73 

[Report No. 117–267] 

A BILL 

To ban the Federal procurement of certain drones 

other purposes. and other unmanned aircraft systems, and for 

DECEMBER 19, 2022 

Reported without amendment 


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