Roundtable testimony

LISA ELLMAN, COMMERCIAL DRONE ALLIANCE OPENING REMARKS House T&I, Aviation Subcommittee Roundtable Event July 11, 2018 Thank you Chairman LoBiondo, Ranking Members DeFazio and Larsen, and Members of the Committee: We are here because drones are critical to our future. Technology has surged ahead, and drones are now powerful tools for all vertical sectors of our economy.

On behalf of key commercial drone industry players, the Commercial Drone Alliance works to educate because while innovation has moved quickly forward, our laws and policies have lagged behind.

For the commercial drone industry to safely take off and benefit the American public, we need a systematic framework enabling development of highways in the sky, just like we have for cars and planes.

Properly tailored counter-drone authorities are important, and we have many thoughts on this including around protecting authorized commercial drone operations and privacy.

But for this framework to succeed, we need simultaneous reform of Section 336 of the 2012 Act to enable the FAA to implement basic rules of the road (including remote ID) for all UAS operators.

Without this reform, there’s no ability to tell friend from foe. The federal government has therefore held back the commercial drone industry and innovation suffers.

This reform is important today, to automate low altitude drone operations, but also for tomorrow, to enable the future of automated human air transportation.

I applaud this committee for trying to enable this exciting future in a way that is safe and secure.

I look forward to your questions. Thank you.