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Subject: A personal message from Rep. Houlahan on drone sightings
Friday, December 13, 2024
Dear John,
There has been a lot in the news recently about possible unusual drone sightings in the New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania area. I want to update you from Washington, D.C. on what my office and I know about this situation.
Although there have been thousands of reported sightings of drones in the area, the organizations charged with understanding these kinds of potential threats have not, in fact, validated a single sighting as being a drone (using technical means). Also importantly, at this time, there is no indication that this activity is a foreign actor or terrorist actor at all. Lastly, none of the reported activity to date has violated federal laws.
In response to sightings, there have been temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) placed in various air spaces to make sure that infrastructure such as military facilities and the like are protected if there is ultimately determined to be any sort of threat.
There has also been a hotline created to allow people to report sightings of concern, but I will emphasize that hundreds of these sightings have now been determined to be manned aircraft such as small private aircraft and commercial passenger planes.
I encourage everyone to remain calm and to recognize that agencies such as the FBI, Homeland Security and the Department of Defense are very engaged and coordinating in understanding what is or is not happening in our skies. (Read yesterday’s update from the FBI and Homeland Security here.) We, as individual citizens, should not be taking the law into our own hands or considering doing anything other than reporting any unusual sightings that we might see. If you want to report a possible sighting of a drone, call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit it online at tips.fbi.gov.
From my positions serving on both the House Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee, I have been monitoring and overseeing the evolution of emerging threats, such as drones, since joining Congress six years ago. In fact, I introduced legislation in 2023 that specifically addresses the issue of possible drone attacks or incursions in United States airspace. As recently as last week, in my role as a member of the task force charged with investigating the attempted assassination of former President Trump, I brought this very legislation up as part of the final recommendations of the committee. I hope very much that the Speaker of the House will find time to pass that legislation. I am also certain we will need a way to better synchronize federal and local responses to situations such as these.
Yesterday, my team and I joined a conference call with many of our federal agencies to discuss the drone sightings to date. I will join a similar in-person briefing with the Intel Committee next week and will update you as needed.
I appreciate, as ever, the chance to serve our community. And I thank you for your concern, time, and attention to these and other matters.
