I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7586 

To establish a Department of State Domestic Protection Mission relating 

to unmanned aircraft system and unmanned aircraft. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2024 

Mr. MILLS (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 

Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a Department of State Domestic Protection 

Mission relating to unmanned aircraft system and unmanned aircraft. 

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

3 SECTION 1. DEPARTMENT OF STATE DOMESTIC PROTEC4 TION MISSION. 

5 (a) AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding section 46502 of 

6 title 49, United States Code, sections 32, 1030, 1367, and 

7 chapters 119 and 206 of title 18, United States Code, or 

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1 retary of State may take, and may authorize appropriate 

2 personnel, including Bureau of Diplomatic Security per3 sonnel and contractors, with assigned duties that include 

4 safety, security, or protection of personnel, facilities, or 

5 assets, to take, such actions described in subsection (b)(1) 

6 that are necessary to mitigate a credible threat (as defined 

7 by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Federal 

8 Aviation Administration) that an unmanned aircraft sys9 tem or unmanned aircraft poses to the safety or security 

10 of a covered facility or asset. 

11 (b) ACTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The actions described in this 

13 paragraph are the following: 

14 (A) During the operation of the unmanned 

15 aircraft system, detect, identify, monitor, and 

16 track the unmanned aircraft system or un17 manned aircraft, without prior consent, includ18 ing by means of intercept or other access of a 

19 wire communication, an oral communication, or 

20 an electronic communication used to control the 

21 unmanned aircraft system or unmanned air22 craft. 

23 (B) Warn the operator of the unmanned 

24 aircraft system or unmanned aircraft, including 

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1 ical, electronic, radio, and electromagnetic 

2 means. 

3 (C) Disrupt control of the unmanned air4 craft system or unmanned aircraft, without 

5 prior consent, including by disabling the un6 manned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft 

7 by intercepting, interfering, or causing inter8 ference with wire, oral, electronic, or radio com9 munications used to control the unmanned air10 craft system or unmanned aircraft. 

11 (D) Seize or exercise control of the un12 manned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft. 

13 (E) Seize or otherwise confiscate the un14 manned aircraft system or unmanned aircraft. 

15 (F) Use reasonable force to disable, dam16 age, or destroy the unmanned aircraft system 

17 or unmanned aircraft. 

18 (2) RESEARCH, TESTING, TRAINING, AND EVAL19 UATION.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding sec21 tion 46502 of title 49, United States Code, sec22 tions 32, 1030, 1367, and chapters 119 and 

23 206 of title 18, United States Code, or section 

24 705 of the Communications Act of 1934, the 

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1 ing, training on, and evaluation of any equip2 ment, including any electronic equipment, to de3 termine its capability and utility prior to the 

4 use of any such technology for any action de5 scribed in paragraph (1). Personnel, including 

6 contractors, who do not have duties that include 

7 the safety, security, or protection of people, fa8 cilities, or assets may engage in research, test9 ing, training, and evaluation activities pursuant 

10 to this section. 

11 (B) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall 

12 coordinate procedures governing research, test13 ing, training, and evaluation for carrying out 

14 any provision in this section with the Adminis15 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

16 before initiating such activities so the Adminis17 trator may ensure the activities do not ad18 versely impact or interfere with safe airport op19 erations, navigation, air traffic services, or the 

20 safe and efficient operation of the national air21 space system. 

22 (c) FORFEITURE.—Any unmanned aircraft system or 

23 unmanned aircraft described in subsection (a) that is 

24 seized by the Secretary of State is subject to forfeiture 


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1 to the United States pursuant to the provisions of chapter 

2 46 of title 18, United States Code. 

3 (d) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 

4 of State and the Secretary of Transportation, in consulta5 tion with the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Com6 munications and Information of the National Tele7 communications and Information Administration, may 

8 prescribe regulations and shall issue guidance in the re9 spective areas of each Secretary to carry out this section. 

10 (e) COORDINATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

12 develop the actions described in subsection (b)(1) in 

13 coordination with the Secretary of Transportation 

14 (through the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 

15 Administration), and the Assistant Secretary of 

16 Commerce for Communications and Information of 

17 the National Telecommunications and Information 

18 Administration. 

19 (2) FURTHER COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

20 of State shall coordinate with the Administrator of 

21 the Federal Aviation Administration prior to any ac22 tion authorized by this section so the Administrator 

23 may ensure the action does not adversely impact or 

24 interfere with safe airport operations, navigation, air 


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1 traffic services, or the safe and efficient operation of 

2 the national airspace system. 

3 (3) FURTHER COORDINATION.—The Secretary 

4 of State shall coordinate the development of guid5 ance and regulations under subsection (d) with the 

6 Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Com7 munications Commission, and the National Tele8 communications and Information Administration. 

9 (4) FURTHER COORDINATION.—Before issuing 

10 any guidance under subsection (d), or otherwise im11 plementing this section, the Secretary of State shall 

12 coordinate with the Administrator of the Federal 

13 Aviation Administration to ensure such guidance or 

14 implementation is designed to preserve safe airport 

15 operations, navigation, air traffic services, and the 

16 safe and efficient operation of the national airspace 

17 system. 

18 (f) PRIVACY PROTECTION.—The regulations pre19 scribed or guidance issued under subsection (d) shall en20 sure that— 

21 (1) the interception or acquisition of, access to, 

22 or maintenance or use of communications to or from 

23 an unmanned aircraft system under this section is 

24 conducted in a manner consistent with the First and 


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1 Fourth Amendments to the Constitution and appli2 cable provisions of Federal law; 

3 (2) communications to or from an unmanned 

4 aircraft system are intercepted, acquired, or accessed 

5 only to the extent necessary to support the actions 

6 described in subsection (b); 

7 (3) records of such communications are main8 tained only for as long as necessary, and in no event 

9 more than 180 days, unless the Secretary of State 

10 determines that maintenance of such records— 

11 (A) is necessary to investigate or assist in 

12 the prosecution of a violation of law; 

13 (B) is necessary to directly support an on14 going security, law enforcement, or national de15 fense operations; or 

16 (C) is required under Federal statue, regu17 lation, or for the purpose of litigation; and 

18 (4) such communications are not disclosed out19 side the Department of State unless the disclosure— 

20 (A) is necessary to investigate or assist in 

21 the prosecution of a violation of law; 

22 (B) would support the Department of De23 fense, a Federal law enforcement, intelligence, 

24 or security agency, or a State, local, tribal, or 

25 territorial law enforcement agency; 


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1 (C) would support the enforcement activi2 ties of a regulatory agency of the Federal Gov3 ernment in connection with a criminal or civil 

4 investigation of, or any regulatory, statutory, or 

5 other enforcement action relating to, an action 

6 described in subsection (b); 

7 (D) is between the Department of State 

8 and a Federal, State, local, tribal, or territorial 

9 law enforcement agency in the course of a secu10 rity or protection operation of either agency or 

11 a joint operations of such agencies; or 

12 (E) is otherwise required by law. 

13 (g) BUDGET.—The Secretary of State shall submit 

14 to Congress, as a part of the budget presentation docu15 ments for each fiscal year following the enactment of this 

16 provision, a consolidated funding display that identifies 

17 the funding source for the actions described in subsection 

18 (b)(1) within the Department of State. The funding dis19 play shall be in unclassified form but may contain a classi20 fied annex. 

21 (h) ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT.— 

22 (1) FACILITIES AND SERVICES OF OTHER

23 AGENCIES AND NON-FEDERAL ENTITIES.—The Sec24 retary is authorized to use, solicit, or accept from 

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1 vate entity, supplies, services, or funds to facilitate 

2 or take the actions provided for in subsection (b). 

3 The Secretary may use, solicit, or accept such sup4 plies, services, or funds with or without reimburse5 ment and notwithstanding any provision of law that 

6 would prevent such use or acceptance. The Secretary 

7 in implementing subsection (l)(3)(C) may enter into 

8 agreements with other executive agencies and with 

9 appropriate officials of other non-Federal public or 

10 private agencies or entities, as may be necessary and 

11 proper to carry out their responsibilities under this 

12 section. 

13 (2) MUTUAL SUPPORT.—The Secretary is au14 thorized to provide support or assistance, upon the 

15 request of an agency or department conducting a 

16 mission specified in section 210G of the Homeland 

17 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124n), section 130i 

18 of title 10, United States Code, or section 4510 of 

19 the Atomic Energy Defense Act (50 U.S.C. 2661), 

20 in fulfilling the requesting agency’s or department’s 

21 roles and responsibilities for that mission, when exi22 gent circumstances exist, limited to a specified time23 frame and location, within available resources, on a 

24 reimbursable or non-reimbursable basis, in coordina25 tion with the Federal Aviation Administration. 


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1 (i) SEMIANNUAL BRIEFINGS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—On a semiannual basis be3 ginning six months following the enactment of this 

4 provision during the seven-year period beginning 

5 upon enactment of this provision, the Secretary of 

6 State and the Secretary of Transportation shall 

7 jointly provide a briefing to the appropriate congres8 sional committees on the activities carried out pursu9 ant to this section. Such briefings shall include a de10 scription of— 

11 (A) policies, programs, and procedures to 

12 mitigate or eliminate impacts of such activities 

13 to the National Airspace System; 

14 (B) instances where actions described in 

15 subsection (b)(1) have been taken; 

16 (C) the guidance, policies, or procedures 

17 established to address privacy, civil rights, and 

18 civil liberties issues implicated by the actions 

19 authorized under this section and any changes 

20 or subsequent efforts that would significantly 

21 affect privacy, civil rights, or civil liberties; 

22 (D) how the Secretaries have informed the 

23 public as to the possible use of authorities 

24 under this section; 


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1 (E) how the Secretaries have engaged with 

2 Federal, State, and local law enforcement agen3 cies to implement and use such authorities; and 

4 (F) a description of the impact of the au5 thorities granted under this section on lawful 

6 operator access to national airspace and UAS 

7 integration into the national airspace system. 

8 (2) FORM.—Each briefing under paragraph (1) 

9 shall be in unclassified form but may be accom10 panied by an additional classified briefing. 

11 (j) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec12 tion may be construed to— 

13 (1) vest in the Secretary of State any authority 

14 of the Secretary of Transportation or the Adminis15 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration under 

16 title 49, United States Code; and 

17 (2) vest in the Secretary of Transportation or 

18 the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis19 tration any authority of the Secretary of State. 

20 (k) TERMINATION.—The authority provided by sub21 section (a) shall terminate on the date that is 7 years after 

22 the enactment of this Act. 

23 (l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

24 (1) the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Senate Foreign Relations Com2 mittee and the House Foreign Affairs Com3 mittee; 

4 (B) the Select Committee on Intelligence, 

5 the Committee on the Judiciary, and the Com6 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor7 tation of the Senate; and 

8 (C) the Permanent Select Committee on 

9 Intelligence, the Committee on the Judiciary, 

10 and the Committee on Transportation and In11 frastructure of the House of Representatives; 

12 (2) the term ‘‘budget’’, with respect to a fiscal 

13 year, means the budget for that fiscal year that is 

14 submitted to Congress by the President under sec15 tion 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code; 

16 (3) the term ‘‘covered facility or asset’’ means 

17 any facility or asset that— 

18 (A) is identified as high-risk and a poten19 tial target for unlawful unmanned aircraft ac20 tivity by the Secretary of State, in coordination 

21 with the Federal Aviation Administration, with 

22 respect to potentially impacted airspace, 

23 through a risk-based assessment for purposes of 

24 this section; 


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1 (B) is located in the United States (includ2 ing the territories and possessions of the United 

3 States); 

4 (C) directly relates to the security and pro5 tective missions of the Department of State, in6 cluding those consistent with— 

7 (i) the Omnibus Diplomatic Security 

8 and Antiterrorism Act of 1986 (22 U.S.C. 

9 4801, et seq.); and 

10 (ii) section 37 of the State Depart11 ment Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 

12 U.S.C. 2709); and 

13 (D) when fulfilling personal protection re14 sponsibilities consistent with 22 U.S.C. 

15 4802(a)(1)(D), 4802(a)(2)(B)(vii), 4802 

16 (a)(2)(B)(viii), and 2709(a)(3), is limited to a 

17 specified timeframe at a static location; 

18 (4) the terms ‘‘electronic communication’’, 

19 ‘‘intercept’’, ‘‘oral communication’’, and ‘‘wire com20 munication’’ have the meanings given those terms in 

21 section 2510 of title 18, United States Code; 

22 (5) the term ‘‘personnel’’— 

23 (A) means officers, employees, and con24 tractors of the Department of State with as25 signed duties that include safety, security, or 


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1 protection of personnel, facilities, or assets and 

2 who are trained and certified to perform such 

3 duties, including training specific to countering 

4 unmanned aircraft threats and mitigating risks 

5 in the national airspace; and 

6 (B) includes contractors conducting oper7 ations under subsections (a) and (b) if the con8 tractors are— 

9 (i) directly contracted by the Depart10 ment of State; 

11 (ii) operating at a government owned 

12 or government leased facility; 

13 (iii) not conducting inherently govern14 mental functions; and 

15 (iv) trained and certified by the De16 partment of State as meeting established 

17 Department guidance and regulations; 

18 (6) the term ‘‘risk-based assessment’’ includes 

19 an evaluation of threat information specific to a cov20 ered facility or asset and, with respect to potential 

21 impacts on the safety and efficiency of the national 

22 airspace system and the needs of law enforcement 

23 and national security at each covered facility or 

24 asset identified by the Secretary, of each of the fol25 lowing factors: 


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1 (A) Potential impacts to safety, efficiency, 

2 and use of the national airspace system, includ3 ing potential effects on manned aircraft and un4 manned aircraft 30 systems, aviation safety, 

5 airport operations, infrastructure, and air navi6 gation services related to the use of any system 

7 or technology for carrying out the actions de8 scribed in subsection (b)(1). 

9 (B) Options for mitigating any identified 

10 impacts to the national airspace system related 

11 to the use of any system or technology, includ12 ing minimizing when possible the use of any 

13 technology which disrupts the transmission of 

14 radio or electronic signals, for carrying out the 

15 actions described in subsection (b)(1). 

16 (C) Potential consequences of the impacts 

17 of any actions taken under subsection (b)(l) to 

18 the national airspace system and infrastructure 

19 if not mitigated. 

20 (D) The ability to provide reasonable ad21 vance notice to aircraft operators consistent 

22 with the safety of the national airspace system 

23 and the needs of law enforcement and national 

24 security. 


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1 (E) The setting and character of any cov2 ered facility or asset, including whether it is lo3 cated in a populated area or near other struc4 tures, whether the facility is open to the public, 

5 whether the facility is also used for nongovern6 mental functions, and any potential for inter7 ference with wireless communications or for in8 jury or damage to persons or property. 

9 (F) Potential consequences to national se10 curity, public safety, or law enforcement if 

11 threats posed by unmanned aircraft systems are 

12 not mitigated or resolved; and 

13 (7) the terms ‘‘unmanned aircraft’’ and ‘‘un14 manned aircraft system’’ have the meanings given 

15 those terms in section 44801 of title 49, United 

16 States Code. 

Æ 


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