We Now Have A Drone Caucus
I stumbled across something today called the Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus. What is that, you ask? It’s 60 members of the US House of Representatives who are:
Pushing for “public acceptance” of drones in the skies over America; Referring to themselves as the “voice on Capitol Hill” of the drone industry; Actively supporting further development, acquisition, and deployment of these systems to expand this sector of industry; and seeking fair and equitable solutions to challenges created by drones (You mean like 4th Amendment violations?)
Seriously? Here’s the exact wording from the Chairman’s Message (emphasis mine):
“We want to thank you for interest in this industry. This is an exciting and existing technology that will continue to grow, and improve our lives as public acceptance progresses. The Congressional Unmanned Systems Caucus’ goal is to educate members of Congress on every facet of this industry. We are this industry’s voice on Capitol Hill, and will work closely with industry to ensure we continue to expand this sector through efficient government regulation and oversight. Thank you for visiting our page and please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information.”
What? I thought the House of Representatives’ purpose is to represent the people, not industry. And what about this need for “public acceptance?” Does this mean they recognize Americans don’t want Big Brother’s eyes in the sky hovering outside our windows, but yet they intend to shove them down our throats anyway?
Here’s their Mission and Main Goals statement:
“The mission of the U.S. House Unmanned Systems Caucus is to educate members of Congress and the public on the strategic, tactical, and scientific value of unmanned systems; actively support further development and acquisition of more systems, and to more effectively engage the civilian aviation community on unmanned system use and safety.
As members of this Caucus, we:
1. Acknowledge the overwhelming value of these systems to the defense, intelligence, homeland security, law enforcement, and the scientific communities;
2. Recognize the urgent need to rapidly develop and deploy more Unmanned Systems in support of ongoing civil, military, and law enforcement operations;
3. Work with the military, industry, the Department of Homeland Security, NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, and other stakeholders to seek fair and equitable solutions to challenges created by UAV operations in the U.S. National Air Space (NAS);
4. Support our world-class industrial base that engineers, develops, manufactures, and tests unmanned systems creating thousands of American jobs;
5. Support policies and budgets that promote a larger, more robust national security unmanned system capability.”
And here are a few points to ponder from sfgate.com:
The Federal Aviation Administration has been flooded with applications from police departments, universities, private corporations and even the celebrity gossip site TMZ, all seeking to use drones that range from devices the size of a hummingbird to full-size aircraft like those used by the U.S. military to target al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and elsewhere.
Domestic use of drones began with limited aerial patrols of the nation’s borders by Customs and Border Patrol authorities. But the industry and its allies pushed for more, leading to passage of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, signed into law Feb. 14. The law requires the FAA to fully integrate the unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, into national airspace by September 2015.
Many potential uses for unmanned aircraft, which are cheaper to operate than piloted planes or helicopters, have been identified. Among them: monitoring pipelines and power lines, finding lost hikers, surveying crops, and assessing environmental threats and damage from natural disasters. The FAA has predicted that 30,000 drones could be flying in the United States in less than 20 years, sharing space with commercial, military and general aviation.
If there is truly an economic benefit to companies using these machines to enhance their operations, then government doesn’t need to be pushing them on us. The market will. And, if not, oh well.
But to have a caucus in the People’s House openly saying it is the voice of those who want hummingbird-sized video recorders flying around in the airspace outside your home, I’ve only one thing to say. You will not find your so-called “public acceptance” in this writer.
Screw you and your drones.
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