I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4759 
To prohibit the use of certain unmanned aircraft vehicles in the United 
States to conduct surveillance of United States persons engaged in pro-
tests or civil disobedience. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 25, 2025 
Mr. GOMEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, 
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 prohibit the use of certain unmanned aircraft vehicles 
in the United States to conduct surveillance of United 
States persons engaged in protests or civil disobedience. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ban Military Drones 
Spying on Civilians Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS TO USE 
CERTAIN UNMANNED AIRCRAFT VEHICLES IN 
THE UNITED STATES TO CONDUCT SURVEIL-
LANCE OF UNITED STATES PERSONS EN-
GAGED IN PROTESTS OR CIVIL DISOBE-
DIENCE. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—None of the funds authorized to 
be appropriated for fiscal year 2026 or any fiscal year 
thereafter for the Department of Homeland Security, the 
Department of Defense, or any other executive agency 
may be used to operate a covered unmanned aircraft vehi-
cle in the United States to conduct surveillance of United 
States persons engaged in protests or civil disobedience. 
(b) REPORTS.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.—On an annual basis, the 
President shall transmit to the appropriate congres-
sional committees a report on the use of covered un-
manned aircraft vehicles in the United States during 
the period covered by the report. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—Each report under paragraph 
(1) shall include, with respect to the period covered 
by the report, the following: 
(A) A list of each individual instance in 
which a covered unmanned aircraft vehicle was 
used— 
(i) for a novel purpose; or 
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(ii) for a purpose not authorized by 
Congress, including with respect to a use 
by one executive agency for an authorized 
purpose to assist another executive agency 
that is not authorized to carry out such 
purpose. 
(B) With respect to each instance of a use 
of a covered unmanned aircraft vehicle listed 
under subparagraph (A)— 
(i) the purpose of such use; 
(ii) a justification for using a covered 
unmanned aircraft vehicle, including an 
analysis of why such use was required 
rather than using alternative means more 
traditionally used in a civilian context, in-
cluding helicopters or smaller, lower-alti-
tude civilian unmanned aerial vehicles; 
(iii) the dates and time of such use; 
(iv) the duration of such use; 
(v) the location of such use; 
(vi) the model of covered unmanned 
aircraft vehicle used; 
(vii) identification of— 
(I) any sensors, cameras, and 
other monitoring equipment equipped 
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on the covered unmanned aircraft ve-
hicle; and 
(II) any weapons equipped on the 
covered unmanned aircraft vehicle; 
(viii) a description of the process for 
approving such use, including both the 
process of the executive agency and any 
interagency process; and 
(ix) whether any United States per-
sons were surveilled for any reason, and if 
so— 
(I) whether the executive agency 
identified any United States person; 
(II) the number of such United 
States persons identified; 
(III) the purpose for identifying 
such United States persons; 
(IV) whether the executive agen-
cy disseminated such United States 
person information to any other exec-
utive agency or a non-Federal Govern-
ment entity; and 
(V) the period that the executive 
agency will retain such United States 
person information. 
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(3) FORM.—The reports under paragraph (1) 
may be submitted in classified form or include a 
classified annex. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means the following: 
(A) The Committees on Armed Services 
and Homeland Security of the House of Rep-
resentatives. 
(B) The Committees on Armed Services 
and Homeland Security and Governmental Af-
fairs of the Senate. 
(C) The Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence of the House of Representatives 
and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
Senate. 
(2) The term ‘‘covered unmanned aircraft vehi-
cle’’ means any of the following: 
(A) The MQ–9 Reaper, or variants thereof. 
(B) Any unmanned aircraft that— 
(i) uses an airframe initially developed 
for use by the Armed Forces; 
(ii) is a medium-altitude, long-endur-
ance aircraft or a high-altitude, long-en-
durance aircraft; or 
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(iii) is capable of flying at an altitude 
of 10,000 feet or higher. 
(3) The term ‘‘executive agency’’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 105 of title 5, United 
States Code. 
(4) The term ‘‘United States person’’ has the 
meaning given that term in section 1637 of the Carl 
Levin and Howard P. ‘‘Buck’’ McKeon National De-
fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (50 
U.S.C. 1708). 
Æ 
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