WASHINGTON - On Wednesday, U.S. Congressman Lance Gooden (R-TX) introduced a bill to prevent the federal government from purchasing a drone manufactured by a company headquartered in any foreign nation that is an adversary of the United States.

Under the terms of a 2017 Chinese law, companies headquartered in China are required to cooperate with Chinese state intelligence operations. This law alone should preclude all U.S. agencies from purchasing Chinese drones, but in recent months, several government agencies have ignored known national security risks and moved forward with procurement of Chinese manufactured drone equipment.

Rep. Lance Gooden said, “Despite their known national security risks, several U.S. law enforcement agencies have recently purchased Chinese manufactured drones. The SAFE Drones Act would force federal agencies to put U.S. national security and the safety of Americans first by prohibiting the purchase of this equipment.”

Congressman Gooden sent a letter to the FBI last month demanding answers as to why the agency purchased drones manufactured by Da Jiang Innovations and has yet to receive a reply.

The full text of the SAFE Drones Act can be found here.