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Calendar No. 547 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2502 

[Report No. 116–268] 

To ban the Federal procurement of certain drones and other unmanned 

aircraft systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. COTTON, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. RUBIO, 

Mr. MURPHY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the 

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

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—the term 

4 ‘‘covered foreign entity’’ means— 

5 (A) a covered entity (as determined by the 

6 Secretary of Commerce); 

7 (B) any entity that is subject to 

8 extrajudicial direction from a foreign govern9 ment, as determined by the Director of Na10 tional Intelligence; 

11 (C) any entity the Secretary of Homeland 

12 Security, in coordination with the Director of 

13 National Intelligence, the Secretary of Defense, 

14 and the Secretary of State, determines poses a 

15 national security risk; 

16 (D) any entity subject to influence or con17 trol by the Government of the People Republic 

18 of China or the Communist Party of the Peo19 ple’s Republic of China, as determined by the 

20 Secretary of Homeland Security; and 

21 (E) any subsidiary or affiliate of an entity 

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

23 (2) COVERED UNMANNED AIRCRAFT.—The 

24 term ‘‘covered unmanned aircraft’’ means an un25 manned aircraft system and any related services and 

26 equipment. 


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1 SEC. 3. BAN ON PROCUREMENT OF FOREIGN OFF-THE2 SHELF DRONES AND UNMANNED AIRCRAFT 

3 SYSTEMS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under sub5 sections (b) and (c), the head of an executive agency may 

6 not procure any commercial off-the-shelf drone or covered 

7 unmanned aircraft system manufactured or assembled by 

8 a covered foreign entity, including any Original Equip9 ment Manufacturer flight controllers, radios, data trans10 mission devices, cameras, or gimbals manufactured in a 

11 covered foreign country or by an entity domiciled in a cov12 ered foreign country. 

13 (b) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu14 rity and the Secretary of Defense are exempt from the 

15 restriction under subsection (a) if the operation or pro16 curement— 

17 (1) is for the purposes of training, testing, or 

18 analysis for— 

19 (A) Counter-UAS surrogate intelligence; 

20 (B) electronic warfare; or 

21 (C) information warfare operations; and 

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

23 United States. 

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

25 waive the prohibition under subsection (a) on a case-by26 case basis with the approval of the Secretary of Homeland 


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1 Security or the Secretary of Defense and notification to 

2 Congress. 

3 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON OPERATION OF FOREIGN COM4 MERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF DRONES AND 

5 SMALL UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. 

6 (a) PROHIBITION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 

8 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

9 no Federal department or agency may operate a 

10 commercial off-the-shelf drone or covered unmanned 

11 aircraft system manufactured or assembled by a cov12 ered foreign entity. 

13 (2) PHASE-IN PERIOD FOR EXISTING CON14 TRACTS.—The prohibition under paragraph (1) shall 

15 not apply, during the 1-year period beginning on the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act, to commercial off17 the-shelf drones and covered unmanned aircraft sys18 tems procured through a contract entered into be19 fore the date of the enactment of this Act. 

20 (b) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu21 rity and the Secretary of Defense are exempt from the 

22 restriction under subsection (a) if the operation or pro23 curement— 

24 (1) is for the purposes of training, testing, or 

25 analysis for— 


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1 (A) Counter-UAS surrogate intelligence; 

2 (B) electronic warfare; or 

3 (C) information warfare operations; and 

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

5 United States. 

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

7 waive the prohibition under subsection (a) on a case-by8 case basis with the approval of the Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security or the Secretary of Defense and notification to 

10 Congress. 

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

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

13 Homeland Security shall prescribe regulations to imple14 ment this section. 

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

16 PURCHASES AND OPERATION OF COMMER17 CIAL OFF-THE-SHELF DRONES AND UN18 MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM CHINA. 

19 No Federal funds awarded through a contract, grant, 

20 or cooperative agreement or otherwise made available may 

21 be used to purchase a commercial off-the-shelf drone or 

22 covered unmanned aircraft system, or a system to counter 

23 unmanned aircraft systems, that is manufactured or as24 sembled by a covered foreign entity or in connection with 

25 the operation of such a drone or system. 


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1 SEC. 6. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 

2 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

4 States shall submit to Congress a report on the amount 

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

6 aircraft systems procured by Federal departments and 

7 agencies from covered foreign entities. 

8 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

10 Drone Act of 2020’’. 

11 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) COVERED FOREIGN ENTITY.—The term ‘‘cov14 ered foreign entity’’ means— 

15 (A) a covered entity designated by the Sec16 retary of Commerce; 

17 (B) an entity included on the Consolidated 

18 Screening List; 

19 (C) any entity that is subject to 

20 extrajudicial direction from a foreign govern21 ment, as determined by the Secretary of Home22 land Security; 

23 (D) any entity the Secretary of Homeland 

24 Security, in coordination with the Director of 

25 National Intelligence and the Secretary of De26 fense, determines poses a national security risk; 


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1 (E) any entity domiciled in the People’s Re2 public of China or subject to influence or control 

3 by the Government of the People Republic of 

4 China or the Communist Party of the People’s 

5 Republic of China, as determined by the Sec6 retary of Homeland Security; or 

7 (F) any subsidiary or affiliate of an entity 

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

9 (2) COVERED UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.— 

10 The term ‘‘covered unmanned aircraft system’’ has the 

11 meaning given the term ‘‘unmanned aircraft system’’ 

12 in section 44801 of title 49, United States Code. 

13 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PROCUREMENT OF COVERED UN14 MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM COVERED 

15 FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under sub17 sections (b) and (c), the head of an executive agency may 

18 not procure any covered unmanned aircraft system that are 

19 manufactured or assembled by a covered foreign entity, 

20 which includes associated elements (consisting of commu21 nication links and the components that control the un22 manned aircraft) that are required for the operator to oper23 ate safely and efficiently in the national airspace system. 

24 (b) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu25 rity, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General are 


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1 exempt from the restriction under subsection (a) if the oper2 ation or procurement— 

3 (1) is for the sole purposes of research, evalua4 tion, training, testing, or analysis for— 

5 (A) electronic warfare; 

6 (B) information warfare operations; 

7 (C) development of UAS or counter-UAS 

8 technology; 

9 (D) counterterrorism or counterintelligence 

10 activities; or 

11 (E) Federal criminal investigations, includ12 ing forensic examinations; and 

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

14 United States. 

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

16 waive the prohibition under subsection (a) on a case-by17 case basis with the approval of the Secretary of Homeland 

18 Security or the Secretary of Defense and notification to 

19 Congress. 

20 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON OPERATION OF COVERED UN21 MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM COVERED 

22 FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

23 (a) PROHIBITION.— 

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

25 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, no 


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1 Federal department or agency may operate a covered 

2 unmanned aircraft system manufactured or assembled 

3 by a covered foreign entity. 

4 (2) APPLICABILITY TO CONTRACTED SERVICES.— 

5 The prohibition under paragraph (1) applies to any 

6 covered unmanned aircraft systems that are being 

7 used by any executive agency through the method of 

8 contracting for the services of covered unmanned air9 craft systems. 

10 (b) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu11 rity, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General are 

12 exempt from the restriction under subsection (a) if the oper13 ation or procurement— 

14 (1) is for the sole purposes of research, evalua15 tion, training, testing, or analysis for— 

16 (A) electronic warfare; 

17 (B) information warfare operations; 

18 (C) development of UAS or counter-UAS 

19 technology; 

20 (D) counterterrorism or counterintelligence 

21 activities; or 

22 (E) Federal criminal investigations, includ23 ing forensic examinations; and 

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

25 United States. 


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

2 waive the prohibition under subsection (a) on a case-by3 case basis with the approval of the Secretary of Homeland 

4 Security or the Secretary of Defense and notification to 

5 Congress. 

6 (d) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—Not later than 

7 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Secretary of Homeland Security shall prescribe regulations 

9 or guidance to implement this section. 

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

11 PURCHASES AND OPERATION OF COVERED 

12 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM COV13 ERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

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

15 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, except as 

16 provided in subsection (b), no Federal funds awarded 

17 through a contract, grant, or cooperative agreement, or oth18 erwise made available may be used— 

19 (1) to purchase a covered unmanned aircraft sys20 tem, or a system to counter unmanned aircraft sys21 tems, that is manufactured or assembled by a covered 

22 foreign entity; or 

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

24 drone or unmanned aircraft system. 


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1 (b) EXEMPTION.—A Federal department or agency is 

2 exempt from the restriction under subsection (a) if— 

3 (1) the contract, grant or cooperative agreement 

4 was awarded prior to the date of the enactment of the 

5 bill; or 

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

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

8 analysis, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland 

9 Security, the Secretary of Defense, or the Attorney 

10 General, for— 

11 (A) electronic warfare; 

12 (B) information warfare operations; 

13 (C) development of UAS or counter-UAS 

14 technology; 

15 (D) counterterrorism or counterintelligence 

16 activities; or 

17 (E) Federal criminal investigations, includ18 ing forensic examinations; and 

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

20 United States. 

21 (c) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Federal Acquisition 

23 Regulatory Council shall prescribe regulations or guidance, 

24 as necessary, to implement the requirements of this section 

25 pertaining to Federal contracts. 


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

2 PURCHASE CARDS TO PURCHASE COVERED 

3 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM COV4 ERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

5 Effective immediately, Government-issued Purchase 

6 Cards may not be used to procure any covered unmanned 

7 aircraft system from a covered foreign entity. 

8 SEC. 7. MANAGEMENT OF EXISTING INVENTORIES OF COV9 ERED UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS FROM 

10 COVERED FOREIGN ENTITIES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.— Effective immediately, all execu12 tive agencies must account for existing inventories of cov13 ered unmanned aircraft systems manufactured or assembled 

14 by a covered foreign entity in their personal property ac15 counting systems, regardless of the original procurement 

16 cost, or the purpose of procurement due to the special moni17 toring and accounting measures necessary to track the 

18 items’ capabilities. 

19 (b) CLASSIFIED TRACKING.—Due to the sensitive na20 ture of missions and operations conducted by the United 

21 States Government, inventory data related to covered un22 manned aircraft systems manufactured or assembled by a 

23 covered foreign entity may be tracked at a classified level. 

24 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—The Department of Defense and De25 partment of Homeland Security may exclude from the full 

26 inventory process, covered unmanned aircraft systems that 


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1 are deemed expendable due to mission risk such as recovery 

2 issues or that are one-time-use covered unmanned aircraft 

3 due to requirements and low cost. 

4 SEC. 8. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT. 

5 Not later than 275 days after the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

7 shall submit to Congress a report on the amount of commer8 cial off-the-shelf drones and covered unmanned aircraft sys9 tems procured by Federal departments and agencies from 

10 covered foreign entities. 

11 SEC. 9. GOVERNMENT-WIDE POLICY FOR PROCUREMENT OF 

12 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS. 

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

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office 

15 of Management and Budget, in coordination with the De16 partment of Homeland Security, Department of Transpor17 tation, the Department of Justice, and other Departments 

18 as determined by the Director of the Office of Management 

19 and Budget, and in consultation with the National Insti20 tute of Standards and Technology, shall establish a govern21 ment-wide policy for the procurement of UAS— 

22 (1) for non-Department of Defense and non-in23 telligence community operations; and 

24 (2) through grants and cooperative agreements 

25 entered into with non-Federal entities. 


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1 (b) INFORMATION SECURITY.—The policy developed 

2 under subsection (a) shall include the following specifica3 tions, which to the extent practicable, shall be based on in4 dustry standards and technical guidance from the National 

5 Institute of Standards and Technology, to address the risks 

6 associated with processing, storing and transmitting Fed7 eral information in a UAS: 

8 (1) Protections to ensure controlled access of 

9 UAS. 

10 (2) Protecting software, firmware, and hardware 

11 by ensuring changes to UAS are properly managed, 

12 including by ensuring UAS can be updated using a 

13 secure, controlled, and configurable mechanism. 

14 (3) Cryptographically securing sensitive col15 lected, stored, and transmitted data, including proper 

16 handling of privacy data and other controlled unclas17 sified information. 

18 (4) Appropriate safeguards necessary to protect 

19 sensitive information, including during and after use 

20 of UAS. 

21 (5) Appropriate data security to ensure that 

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

23 locations. 

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

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1 quired by law or regulation and an ability to choose 

2 with whom and where information is shared when it 

3 is required. 

4 (c) REQUIREMENT.—The policy developed under sub5 section (a) shall reflect an appropriate risk-based approach 

6 to information security related to use of UAS. 

7 (d) REVISION OF ACQUISITION REGULATIONS.—Not 

8 later than 180 days after the date on which the policy re9 quired under subsection (a) is issued— 

10 (1) the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council 

11 shall revise the Federal Acquisition Regulation, as 

12 necessary, to implement the policy; and 

13 (2) any Federal department or agency or other 

14 Federal entity not subject to, or not subject solely to, 

15 the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall revise appli16 cable policy, guidance, or regulations, as necessary, to 

17 implement the policy. 

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

19 under subsection (a), the Director of the Office of Manage20 ment and Budget shall incorporate an exemption to the pol21 icy for the following reasons: 

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

23 of training, testing or analysis for— 

24 (A) electronic warfare; or 

25 (B) information warfare operations. 


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

2 including testing, evaluation, research, or develop3 ment of technology to counter UAS. 

4 (3) In the case of a head of the procuring depart5 ment or agency determining, in writing, that no 

6 product that complies with the information security 

7 requirements described in subsection (b) is capable of 

8 fulfilling mission critical performance requirements, 

9 and such determination— 

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

11 the Deputy Secretary of the procuring depart12 ment or agency; 

13 (B) shall specify— 

14 (i) the quantity of end items to which 

15 the waiver applies, the procurement value of 

16 which may not exceed $50,000 per waiver; 

17 and 

18 (ii) the time period over which the 

19 waiver applies, which shall not exceed 3 

20 years; 

21 (C) shall be reported to the Office of Man22 agement and Budget following issuance of such a 

23 determination; and 

24 (D) not later than 30 days after the date on 

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1 vided to the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and Government Affairs of the Senate and the 

3 Committee on Oversight and Reform of the 

4 House of Representatives. 

5 SEC. 10. STUDY. 

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

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

8 the Office of Management and Budget shall seek to enter 

9 into a contract with a federally funded research and devel10 opment center under which the center will conduct a study 

11 of— 

12 (1) the current and future unmanned aircraft 

13 system global and domestic market; 

14 (2) the ability of the unmanned aircraft system 

15 domestic market to keep pace with technological ad16 vancements across the industry; 

17 (3) the ability of domestically made unmanned 

18 aircraft systems to meet the network security and 

19 data protection requirements of the national security 

20 enterprise; 

21 (4) the extent to which unmanned aircraft sys22 tem component parts, such as the parts described in 

23 section 3(a), are made domestically; and 


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1 (5) an assessment of the economic impact, in2 cluding cost, of excluding the use of foreign-made 

3 UAS for use across the Federal Government. 

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

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

6 development center shall submit the study to the Director 

7 of the Office of Management and Budget. 

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

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

10 Management and Budget receives the study under sub11 section (b), the Director shall submit the study to— 

12 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

13 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and 

14 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

15 the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

16 of the House of Representatives. 

17 SEC. 11. SUNSET. 

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

19 date that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 

20 Act. 


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Calendar No. 547 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2502 

[Report No. 116–268] 

A BILL 

To ban the Federal procurement of certain drones 

other purposes. and other unmanned aircraft systems, and for 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 

Reported with an amendment 


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