Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement regarding a letter sent on behalf of himself and 10 other state attorneys general urging Congress to pass the Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant (DIIG) Act:
“The DIIG Act is bipartisan legislation that responds to the clear and present industrial and national-security threats posed by the proliferation of Chinese-made drones in the United States. Such drones—often used by law enforcement at both the state and local levels and in connection with critical-infrastructure projects—present a clear security threat.
“The DIIG Act encourages development of the American industrial base for unmanned aircraft systems while safeguarding national security by combating the People’s Republic of China’s practice of illegally ‘dumping’ cheap, state-subsidized drones into the U.S. marketplace to drive out American competitors.”
The DIIG Act would establish a grant program to facilitate the use of drones by state and local governments and to promote college- and university-level workforce training in the use of drone technology. It expressly prohibits the use of drones manufactured or assembled by companies that are, among other things, on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List or that are domiciled in, or subject to the influence or control of, the People’s Republic of China or the Russian Federation, including any subsidiary or affiliate.
The legislation was introduced in the Senate (S. 1817) by Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and in the House (H.R. 3593) by Representatives Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Garret Graves (R-LA), and Dina Titus (D-NV).
Other states joining Arkansas in the letter include Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia.
To read the letter, click here.
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