The top Democratic member of the House committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, urged the Biden administration Sunday on Fox News to be more “forthcoming” with information regarding multiple drone sightings on the East Coast, warning that the CCP could be accessing data through them.
In early December, New Jersey residents began expressing concerns after witnessing a series of unidentified drones swarming the skies and flying in formation on some occasions, according to video footage obtained by the Daily Caller. On “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo,” host Maria Bartiromo asked the Illinois lawmaker if he had “any information” on the drones flying over the U.S., pressing him on whether he believes it’s Chinese surveillance. (RELATED: ‘People Are Misidentifying Them’: Mayorkas Downplays NJ Drone Concerns, Claims They’re Likely Store-Bought, Harmless)
“I don’t know. But what I do know is that I think that the administration needs to be more forthcoming with information that they have. If they believe that some of these lights in the sky are civilian aircraft, then show us,” Krishnamoorthi said. “Secondly, I’m getting a classified briefing along with my fellow Republicans and Democrats as to the nature of these drones. So we need as much information as possible. With regard to Chinese manufactured drones, I’m very concerned about that, Maria.”
“Actually, I and Elise Stefanik and others have gotten legislation put into the National Defense Authorization Act, which would prevent DJI drones and others potentially from flying over American airspace. Why? Because these Chinese manufactured drones allow for the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, to access data in a backdoor manner and ultimately surveil Americans,” Krishnamoorthi added.
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In September, Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s legislation, The Countering CCP Drones Act, passed the House. If approved by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, it would ban drones made by the Chinese-owned manufacturer Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) from operating on U.S. communications infrastructure.
Bartiromo continued to press Krishnamoorthi on how the FBI has been warning Americans about Chinese threats, asking why the U.S. government would buy drones from DJI, as the company has been flagged by the Department of Defense as a “Chinese military company.”
“Because they’re cheap,” Krishnamoorthi said. “But the problem is you are basically sacrificing our national security in the name of buying more inexpensive drones. In the process, you’re preventing a domestic drone industry from getting stood up. So what we’re saying is, ‘No, you cannot use tax dollars to buy this stuff.’”
“We are incentivizing American drone manufacturers to make more so that there are more trusted partners making these drones that law enforcement or others can buy,” Krishnamoorthi concluded.
Since the drone sightings, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed concerns over the issue. On Thursday, a New Jersey homeowner reported that a drone had crashed into their backyard, with local authorities later revealing the object was “a hobby or toy type of drone” and not one used militarily, according to The New York Post.
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