US Senate Version of NDAA Holds off DJI Ban

[tstr14]

Perhaps some sanity has returned?

Senate version of NDAA holds off on DJI drone ban demand

From the article:

"The Senate’s decision to exclude the ban from its version of the NDAA reflects a more cautious approach toward the issue. DJI drones are widely used across various sectors — including agriculture, infrastructure, and public safety — and a sudden prohibition could disrupt ongoing projects and impede progress in critical areas.

Recently, representatives of more than 6,000 public safety agencies, police, and fire departments with drone programs across the US wrote to the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to oppose the inclusion of the Countering CCP Drones Act in the NDAA."

 

[mavic3usa]

Hope so.

 

[Prop Wash]

Interesting news. It's hard to ignore lots of agencies making contact with Senate members. Maybe those of us who fly drones at a consumer level and writing to our Senators has had some effect as well. Hopefully, this will stay out of the final bill sent to the President. Something to keep an eye on for sure.

 

[MS Coast]

I'm not getting my hopes up yet. The article says, ""The Senate’s decision to exclude the ban ..." as if it was actually considered for inclusion and then rejected. Is there any factual support for that? Or does it really mean that the drone bit just isn't in there?

It may be that the Senate just hasn't paid any attention to the House's Countering CCP Drones idea. It's a less than trivial matter compared to the overall National Defense Authorization Act which provides nearly a TRILLION DOLLARS for funding for defense in FY 2025.

When the differences are reconciled between the final Senate version and the House's approved version, it seems likely that the drone bit will be added. There's support for it in the House, but I'm not aware of any real opposition to it in the Senate. Anyone know of any Senators who are against it?

 

[tstr14]

I'm not getting my hopes up yet. The article says, ""The Senate’s decision to exclude the ban ..." as if it was actually considered for inclusion and then rejected. Is there any factual support for that? Or does it really mean that the drone bit just isn't in there?

It may be that the Senate just hasn't paid any attention to the House's Countering CCP Drones idea. It's a less than trivial matter compared to the overall National Defense Authorization Act which provides nearly a TRILLION DOLLARS for funding for defense in FY 2025.

When the differences are reconciled between the final Senate version and the House's approved version, it seems likely that the drone bit will be added. There's support for it in the House, but I'm not aware of any real opposition to it in the Senate. Anyone know of any Senators who are against it?

Here is the Senate version of the bill: https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy25_ndaa_bill_text.pdf

Using search, I typed in DJI and it came back "Not Found".

 

[MS Coast]

Here is the Senate version of the bill: https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/fy25_ndaa_bill_text.pdf

Using search, I typed in DJI and it came back "Not Found".

No, it's not there in the Senate version of the NDAA. The question is why is it not included.

Was it simply not considered in drafting the Senate version or was it considered and consciously excluded because of opposition to it?

If there's no substantial opposition in the Senate to the Countering CCP Drones issue, it will simply be included when the two versions of the bill are reconciled. I've heard of no significant opposition.

 

[Dave Pitman]

If there's no substantial opposition in the Senate to the Countering CCP Drones issue, it will simply be included when the two versions of the bill are reconciled. I've heard of no significant opposition.

The Countering CCP bill is not a thing in the senate. The house was trying to attach it to the must pass NDAA. That effort has failed. There is no version of the bill in the senate under consideration at all at this time. So, no possible reconciliation.

 

[Wreckhunter]

The Countering CCP bill is not a thing in the senate. The house was trying to attach it to the must pass NDAA. That effort has failed. There is no version of the bill in the senate under consideration at all at this time. So, no possible reconciliation.

Actually you are wrong,when the two versions of the bill are reconciled ,the countering CCP drones act,could very well be put back in or some form of it.I wish i felt more confident that the book will be closed on the ban,but just can't trust politicians

 

[Dave Pitman]

Actually you are wrong,when the two versions of the bill are reconciled ,the countering CCP drones act,could very well be put back in or some form of it.I wish i felt more confident that the book will be closed on the ban,but just can't trust politicians

I had seen reporting that Sen Jon Tester was going to introduce a bill to the senate. But I have not been able to determine if that actually happened. Apparently, you know he did. Please link to the bill.

 

[mavic3usa]

Anyone who thinks the ban will just be dropped and forgotten if it doesn't make the cut this time is setting themselves up for round two and three and so on. Federal agencies and related will continue and states will continue to pile on, that's what happens when you can't get something meaningful in Congress. The states will pickup the nonsense starting with state and local agencies and public property. Then the handful of states that don't observe the Constitution will come down on the state residents with whatever clever loophole legislation that can think of. The hodge podge legislation will leave drone industry in tatters.

 

[Wreckhunter]

I had seen reporting that Sen Jon Tester was going to introduce a bill to the senate. But I have not been able to determine if that actually happened. Apparently, you know he did. Please link to the bill.

You will find the info on Dronexl,or dronedj,the whole story is on both sites.I am not really sure if the senate version had the ban bill in to start out with or if it was taken out of the senate version after consideration.This whole mess is really getting sickening.

 

[MS Coast]

The Countering CCP bill is not a thing in the senate. The house was trying to attach it to the must pass NDAA. That effort has failed. There is no version of the bill in the senate under consideration at all at this time. So, no possible reconciliation.

The House did attach it to the NDAA and passed the House version of the NDAA. There is a Senate version of the NDAA that's cleared the Armed Services Committee and will be brought to the Senate floor for a vote. Once that's done, the two versions of the NDAA will undergo reconciliation by the House and Senate to remove the differences between the two versions and reach a final version.

There are strong advocates in the House for the Countering CCP Drones legislation and apparently little opposition against it in the Senate. Adding it to the final NDAA seems like the most likely action.

 

[Dave Pitman]

The House did attach it to the NDAA and passed the NDAA. There is a Senate version of the NDAA that's cleared the Armed Services Committee and will be brought to the Senate floor for a vote. Once that's done, the two version of the NDAA will undergo reconciliation to remove the differences between the two versions. There are strong advocates in the House for the Countering CCP Drones legislation and apparently little opposition against it in the Senate.

I think this round, it is unlikely that Skydio has enough $$ left to buy enough senators to get it through. I hope not anyway. We can hope that Skydio goes the way of AirMap. The last venture capitol company trying to cash in on the drone movement via lobbying.

 

[Wreckhunter]

No, it's not there in the Senate version of the NDAA. The question is why is it not included.

Was it simply not considered in drafting the Senate version or was it considered and consciously excluded because of opposition to it?

If there's no substantial opposition in the Senate to the Countering CCP Drones issue, it will simply be included when the two versions of the bill are reconciled. I've heard of no significant opposition.

There had to be opposition to it ,for it to be removed.

 

[MS Coast]

There had to be opposition to it ,for it to be removed.

What evidence is there that it was removed from the Senate's version of the NDAA? It's more likely that it was simply never incorporated in the first place.

 

[MS Coast]

I think this round, it is unlikely that Skydio has enough $$ left to buy enough senators to get it through. I hope not anyway. We can hope that Skydio goes the way of AirMap. The last venture capitol company trying to cash in on the drone movement via lobbying.

I've seen Skydio blamed for the bill in the House, but I've seen no evidence of that, just allegations and rumors. Do you have anything concrete?

 

[tstr14]

Seems to be a lot of "picking fly crap out of the pepper" going on in this thread. I guess that's one way of justifying your existence but it's a poor one.

 

[MS Coast]

Seems to be a lot of "picking fly crap out of the pepper" going on in this thread. I guess that's one way of justifying your existence but it's a poor one.

Well, some folks just have a low tolerance for "crap" and prefer facts and reality. Others don't seem to care what's on their plate and happily dine on rumor and innuendo.

In any case, there's no need for slurs, is there?

 

[anotherlab]

I had seen reporting that Sen Jon Tester was going to introduce a bill to the senate. But I have not been able to determine if that actually happened. Apparently, you know he did. Please link to the bill.

He did not introduce a Senate version of Stefanik's bill. That would not be required during the reconciliation process if they decide to include it in the merged NDAA FY 25 bill. That is the step in the process where the "vanity" bills added by both chambers can get tossed out, but each member can claim victory because it passed in their chamber.

 

[tstr14]

Is it a slur if it's true?