[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 32 (Wednesday, March 6, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H997-H1316]


DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND 
             FULL-YEAR CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2013

[...]

          USE OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES IN DOMESTIC AIRSPACE

       The conferees are aware of concerns that have been raised 
     regarding the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and their 
     sensors in domestic airspace. The conferees understand that 
     the Air Force has policies and procedures in place governing 
     the disposition of UAV collections that may inadvertently
     capture matters of concern to law enforcement agencies. These 
     policies and procedures are designed to ensure constitutional 
     protections and proper separation between the military and 
     law enforcement. However, it is unclear if other Services and 
     Defense agencies have similar policies and procedures in 
     place, or if these policies and procedures need to be revised 
     or standardized. Therefore, the conferees direct the 
     Secretary of Defense to report to the congressional defense 
     committees on the policies and procedures in place across the 
     Services and Defense agencies governing the use of such 
     collections and to identify any additional steps that need to 
     be taken to ensure that such policies and procedures are 
     adequate and consistent across the Department of Defense. 
     This report shall be submitted not later than 90 days after 
     the enactment of this Act.

[...]



FAS Note: See, relatedly, USAF Drones May Conduct "Incidental" Domestic Surveillance, Secrecy News, May 12, 2012