By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The National Football League, the Justice Department, the FBI and other agencies will call on Congress on Tuesday to expand U.S. government authority to detect and destroy drones that could pose security threats over stadiums and other locations.
Congress has debated for years expanding authority amid growing safety concerns.
“The time to act to keep fans safe is now,” NFL security chief Cathy Lanier will tell a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday. According to Lanier’s written testimony, rogue drone flights into the restricted air space above stadiums during NFL games rose to 2,845 in 2023 from 2,537 in 2022.
Drone flights are prohibited up to 3,000 feet (914 m) before major U.S. sporting events in a three-mile radius of stadiums.
The White House and sports leagues since 2022 have been pushing for expanded authority to detect threatening drones, with the NFL, Major League Baseball and other leagues warning previously that without expanded authority, airports and sporting events “are at substantial risk from malicious and unauthorized (drone) operation.”
Congress in 2018 expanded the power of the Justice Department and Homeland Security to disable or destroy threatening drones, but officials say they need new authority.
Legislation would expand federal coverage for airports and critical infrastructure like power plants, oil refineries or chemical facilities and high-risk prisoner transports. It would also allow use of expanded counter-drone authorities by state and local law enforcement. Owners or operators of airports or critical infrastructure could also use federally vetted drone-detection capabilities.
“Gaps in legal authorities leave sensitive federal facilities, such as CIA headquarters, vulnerable to both intelligence collection by foreign states and physical attacks by hostile actors,” said joint written testimony from the FBI and Justice Department. “We also need to allow critical infrastructure operators to take steps to protect their own facilities and assets.”
DHS said in written testimony that in a recent six-week period there were more than 6,900 drone flights within close proximity of the Southwest border, saying “the use of drones for illicit cross border activity is not only widespread, but highly organized.”
(Reporting by David Shepardson in WashingtonEditing by Leslie Adler and Matthew Lewis)
