Carlos Gimenez Asks Drone Expert Point Blank: 'Are You Worried About A Catastrophic Drone Attack?'

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During a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Tuesday, Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) asked  AeroVironment Chief Growth Officer Church Hutton about the possibility for a drone attack in the United States.

Transcript

00:00I yield back.

00:02The gentleman yields back.

00:04We're going to go through a second round of questioning,

00:07and I'll ask each of you to please answer this.

00:13Mr. Hutton, are you worried about a catastrophic drone attack happening in the United States?

00:20It's a very short space between the inconvenience that we have seen to date,

00:26shutting down airports, raising alarm bells, and a catastrophe.

00:31Are you worried about a catastrophic drone attack on the United States?

00:35It's very worrisome, yes. The answer is yes.

00:37Mr. Walker?

00:41Yes, sir.

00:42Mr. Federson?

00:44Absolutely.

00:45And Mr. Robbins?

00:45Yes, sir.

00:48Would you consider that you're right that we've seen the enemy,

00:54probably the enemy's right here, right,

00:57that we haven't given the authorities,

00:59and we have a fragmented defense system against drones.

01:04And there's two levels, really.

01:07There's the reckless, right,

01:08the reckless drone operator that puts life in danger,

01:13not because they're nefarious, but because they're reckless.

01:15Okay, they're flying somewhere they shouldn't be flying,

01:17and then there's nefarious.

01:18And there's different ways to deal with each one.

01:21Will you help this subcommittee identify the different agencies,

01:32the different even committees, okay, of jurisdiction

01:34that we need to bring into focus

01:39so that we have a comprehensive policy in defense of our homeland?

01:47Would you commit to do that, Mr. Hutton?

01:49Absolutely.

01:50Mr. Walker?

01:51Yes, sir.

01:52Mr. Federson?

01:53Yes, sir.

01:53And Mr. Robbins?

01:54I also recommend the Tiger team

01:55so those jurisdictions can actually coordinate in a rapid manner.

02:00And Mr. Robbins?

02:01Absolutely.

02:02Yes, sir.

02:02Look, I put this hearing together,

02:04but I don't know every single committee that has jurisdiction on this.

02:08I'm sure the FAA, which is part of transportation and infrastructure,

02:12maybe judiciary has it.

02:14But somehow, you know, we've got a disjointed defense mechanism here,

02:19and we need to bring it together.

02:21You know, this committee was formed in the aftermath of 9-11

02:26to provide for the security of the homeland.

02:30We don't have all the jurisdiction to provide for that.

02:36And absent that, we need to make sure that we coordinate that with the other committees.

02:41And so I'm afraid that, you know, I'm afraid that, and I hope not,

02:47but I hope that we don't have to have an incident similar to 9-11

02:50for us to come together as a Congress and say,

02:54these are the things that we need to do to counter this threat.

02:56These are the things that we need to do to counter cybersecurity threats that we have

03:01that also can be quite devastating also.

03:05And so I want to thank you for volunteering.

03:09The staff of this subcommittee will get with you all,

03:11and then we'll also have some other, we'll contact other folks,

03:15what it is that this subcommittee needs to do in order to coordinate this

03:20so that we do come up with a strategy and an adequate defense of the homeland.

03:24Because as you can tell, I'm really scared about this.

03:29And I think it's just a matter of time.

03:33And since we've already, you know, 9-11, you can say,

03:37gee, nobody thought about that.

03:39Well, we've thought about this now, okay?

03:41And if we fail in this, it's our failure,

03:44and we can't say, gee, we didn't think about it, okay?

03:46We are thinking about it, and we need to do something about it.

03:49And, you know, I yield the rest of my time back.

03:53I now yield to the ranking member.

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