H.R. 6846

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6846 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6846

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Secretary of 
Homeland Security to conduct annual assessments on terrorism threats to 
the United States relating to the malicious use of unmanned aircraft 
systems by covered foreign adversaries, including terrorist 
organizations, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 18, 2025

Mr. Crane (for himself, Mr. Garbarino, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Strong, and Mr. 
Ogles) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Homeland Security

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to require the Secretary of 
Homeland Security to conduct annual assessments on terrorism threats to 
the United States relating to the malicious use of unmanned aircraft 
systems by covered foreign adversaries, including terrorist 
organizations, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Detecting and Evaluating Foreign 
Exploitation of Novel Drones Act'' or the ``DEFEND Act''.

SEC. 2. ANNUAL ASSESSMENT ON TERRORISM THREATS TO THE UNITED STATES 
ARISING FROM THE GLOBAL PROLIFERATION AND MALICIOUS USE 
OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.

(a) In General.--Title III of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 
U.S.C. 231 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 324. ANNUAL ASSESSMENT ON TERRORISM THREATS TO THE UNITED STATES 
RELATING TO THE USE OF UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS BY 
COVERED FOREIGN ADVERSARIES, INCLUDING TERRORIST 
ORGANIZATIONS.

``(a) In General.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section and annually thereafter for six years, the 
Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees an 
assessment of terrorism threats to the United States relating to the 
global proliferation and malicious use of covered unmanned aircraft 
systems by covered foreign adversaries, including terrorist 
organizations, and the resulting implications such activities present 
for the homeland security of the United States, including implications 
for domestic preparedness for the malicious use of unmanned aircraft 
systems and the collective response to related terrorism threats.
``(b) Matters Included.--Each assessment of terrorism threats under 
subsection (a) shall include the following:
``(1) An analysis of the methods, trends, tactics, and 
technologies, as of the date of such assessment, by which 
covered foreign adversaries, including terrorist organizations, 
seek to use covered unmanned aircraft systems to surveil, 
disrupt, damage, or destroy critical infrastructure of the 
United States or a foreign country, target civilian 
populations, conduct kinetic strikes or terrorism attacks, or 
otherwise undermine public safety or regional stability.
``(2) An evaluation of the risks that such methods, trends, 
tactics, and technologies may be replicated, adapted, or 
learned from by other covered foreign adversaries, including 
terrorist organizations, or by lone actors or domestic violent 
extremists, to carry out similar terrorist attacks within the 
homeland, including efforts to compromise border security or 
port security, exploit vulnerabilities in the homeland's 
transportation systems, soft targets, mass gathering events, or 
other high-risk venues, or to cause mass casualties or 
disruption through the use of covered unmanned aircraft 
systems.
``(3) An assessment of how covered unmanned aircraft 
systems are employed for intelligence, surveillance, or 
reconnaissance purposes by covered foreign adversaries, 
including terrorist organizations, including the collection, 
transmission, or exploitation of imagery or geospatial data, 
and how such data could be leveraged to facilitate espionage, 
cross-border operations, or attacks against critical 
infrastructure of the United States.
``(4) An analysis of how covered foreign adversaries, 
including terrorist organizations, acquire, manufacture, 
smuggle, or divert covered unmanned aircraft systems into 
conflict zones, including via ground convoys, commercial 
shipping containers, rail shipments, small vessels, fixed- or 
rotary-wing aircraft, over-the-road freight transport that may 
conceal or co-transport other illicit or seemingly innocuous 
goods, or any other illicit trafficking networks, and the 
applicability of such methods to potential entry into the 
homeland through seaports, airports, or land border crossings.
``(5) An analysis of emerging technologies integrated into 
covered unmanned aircraft systems that enhance their 
operational effectiveness, resilience, and lethality, when used 
by covered foreign adversaries, including terrorist 
organizations, including the use of artificial intelligence, 
autonomous navigation and targeting systems, advanced 
surveillance sensors, precision-guided payloads, encrypted 
communications links, physical tethering mechanisms (such as 
fiber optic cables that enable uninterrupted command and 
control in contested environments), cybersecurity-resilient 
architectures designed to prevent intrusion or remote 
exploitation, or any other adaptations intended to defeat or 
bypass electronic warfare countermeasures through resistance to 
jamming, spoofing, or signal degradation.
``(6) An evaluation of the use of low-cost, high-volume 
swarms of covered unmanned aircraft systems deployed by covered 
foreign adversaries, including terrorist organizations, in any 
region of active conflict as determined by the Secretary, in 
consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal 
departments or agencies the Secretary determines appropriate, 
and the extent to which similar swarm tactics could overwhelm 
law enforcement within the homeland or overwhelm homeland 
defense systems, including the potential to exhaust counter-UAS 
systems and associated resources or create mass panic.
``(7) An assessment of the use of covered unmanned aircraft 
systems by covered foreign adversaries, including terrorist 
organizations, in any region of active conflict as determined 
by the Secretary, in consultation with the heads of other 
relevant Federal departments or agencies the Secretary 
determines appropriate, to deliver chemical, biological, 
radiological, or nuclear payloads or simulants, including 
efforts to repurpose agricultural or industrial spraying 
unmanned aircraft systems for nonconventional attacks, and 
whether such scenarios are adequately modeled or prepared for 
in homeland security planning.
``(8) A review of how covered foreign adversaries, 
including terrorist organizations, in any region of active 
conflict as determined by the Secretary, in consultation with 
the heads of other relevant Federal departments or agencies the 
Secretary determines appropriate, have experimented with water-
launched unmanned aircraft systems and unmanned aircraft 
systems deployed from shipping containers or disguised 
vehicles, and the implications such tactics may pose for port 
security, land border security, or the security of critical 
infrastructure of the United States or a foreign country in 
proximity to seaports within the homeland.
``(9) An assessment of lessons learned from ongoing and 
recent global conflicts regarding the utilization, defense, and 
defeat of covered unmanned aircraft systems, and from the 
experiences of allied and partner countries in countering 
unmanned aircraft system-enabled attacks conducted by covered 
foreign adversaries, including terrorist organizations, 
including an evaluation of the effectiveness of mobile counter-
UAS system platforms, passive detection and tracking 
technologies, airspace management and deconfliction tools, and 
regulatory mechanisms (such as drone zoning laws), the 
applicability of such lessons to Federal, State, and local 
homeland security operations, and the manner in which the 
Department has incorporated, or plans to incorporate, such 
lessons into its homeland security planning, counter-UAS 
systems strategy, and interagency coordination activities.
``(10) An assessment of the adoption, adaptation, and 
potential operational use of unmanned aircraft systems by 
transnational criminal organizations, cartels, or other illicit 
groups in the Western Hemisphere that are supplied by or 
emulating covered foreign adversaries, including terrorist 
organizations, including cross-border weaponization trends, 
narcotics trafficking, and surveillance of law enforcement 
operations.
``(11) A review of the Department's research and 
development efforts to counter emerging threats posed by 
covered unmanned aircraft systems used by covered foreign 
adversaries, including terrorist organizations, and how such 
efforts contribute to domestic preparedness for and collective 
response to terrorism.
``(12) A description of how the Secretary has incorporated 
input, technology, and best practices from private sector 
entities, including such entities the counter-UAS systems or 
detection technologies of which are currently deployed in 
regions of active conflict as determined by the Secretary, in 
consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal 
departments or agencies the Secretary determines appropriate, 
involving covered foreign adversaries, including terrorist 
organizations, in order to strengthen domestic preparedness and 
accelerate adoption of effective counter-UAS system 
capabilities.
``(13) Any other matter relating to covered unmanned 
aircraft systems the Secretary determines appropriate.
``(c) Training and Capacity Building.--To enhance domestic 
preparedness against terrorism threats assessed in accordance with 
subsection (a), the Secretary, in consultation with the heads of 
relevant components and offices of the Department, as determined by the 
Secretary, shall develop recommendations, training modules, and 
exercises for Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial law 
enforcement to recognize, report, and respond to malicious use of 
unmanned aircraft systems by covered foreign adversaries, including 
terrorist organizations, incorporating lessons learned from current and 
recent global conflicts.
``(d) Consultation.--The Secretary shall develop each assessment of 
terrorism threats under subsection (a) in consultation with 
representatives of the following:
``(1) Components and offices of the Department.
``(2) The Department of Defense.
``(3) The Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
``(4) Any other representatives of Federal departments or 
agencies the Secretary determines appropriate.
``(e) Collaboration.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall seek to collaborate with representatives of private sector 
entities, each of whom shall be, in the determination of the Secretary, 
a highly accomplished leader in the field of counter-UAS systems with 
demonstrated experience in developing, deploying, or advising on 
covered unmanned aircraft systems used in regions in which covered 
foreign adversaries, including terrorist organizations, operate, in 
order to leverage private-sector expertise and resources for research, 
analysis, and evaluation of emerging threats relating to unmanned 
aircraft systems.
``(f) Briefing Required.--Not later than seven days after the 
submission of each assessment of terrorism threats under subsection 
(a), the Secretary shall provide to the appropriate congressional 
committees a classified briefing on the findings, conclusions, and 
recommendations contained in such assessment.
``(g) Form.--Each assessment of terrorism threats under subsection 
(a) shall be submitted in classified form. The Secretary shall also 
prepare an unclassified annex to each such assessment, which shall be 
made publicly available on the website of the Department.
``(h) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
`appropriate congressional committees' means--
``(A) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 
House of Representatives; and
``(B) the Committee on Homeland Security and 
Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
``(2) Counter-UAS system.--The term `counter-UAS system' 
has the meaning given such term in section 44801 of title 49, 
United States Code.
``(3) Covered foreign adversary.--The term `covered foreign 
adversary' means--
``(A) any foreign government, military, 
intelligence service, or other authority of a covered 
foreign country acting independently; or
``(B) any organization, group, or person acting on 
behalf of, with the support, direction, control, or 
influence of, or trained or supplied by, such a foreign 
government, military, intelligence service, or other 
authority, including any proxy, militia, paramilitary 
organization, intelligence or security service, or 
other state-sponsored actor that receives material 
support, training, technical assistance, or operational 
coordination from a covered foreign country and engages 
in activities that threaten the national security of 
the United States or its allies.
``(4) Covered foreign country.--The term `covered foreign 
country' means a country that--
``(A) the intelligence community (as such term is 
defined in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 
1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4))) has identified as a foreign 
adversary in its most recent Annual Threat Assessment; 
or
``(B) the Secretary, in coordination with the 
Director of National Intelligence, has identified as a 
foreign adversary that is not included in such Annual 
Threat Assessment.
``(5) Covered unmanned aircraft system.--The term `covered 
unmanned aircraft system' means any unmanned aircraft system 
that--
``(A) is manufactured in a covered foreign country 
or by an entity domiciled in a covered foreign country;
``(B) uses flight controllers, radios, data 
transmission devices, cameras, or gimbals manufactured 
in a covered foreign country or by an entity domiciled 
in a covered foreign country;
``(C) uses a ground control system or operating 
software developed in a covered foreign country or by 
an entity domiciled in a covered foreign country; or
``(D) uses network connectivity or data storage 
located in a covered foreign country or administered by 
an entity domiciled in a covered foreign country.
``(6) Homeland security enterprise.--The term `Homeland 
Security Enterprise' has the meaning given such term in section 
2200.
``(7) Terrorist organization.--The term `terrorist 
organization' means--
``(A) any entity designated as a foreign terrorist 
organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration 
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189); or
``(B) any entity engaged in terrorism, as such term 
is defined in section 2(18).
``(8) Unmanned aircraft system.--The term `unmanned 
aircraft system' has the meaning given such term in section 
44801 of title 49, United States Code, except that the 
requirement relating to safe and efficient operation in the 
national airspace system shall not apply for purposes of this 
section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of 
the Homeland Security Act of 2002 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 323 the following new item:

``Sec. 324. Annual assessment on terrorism threats to the United States 
relating to the use of unmanned aircraft 
systems by covered foreign adversaries, 
including terrorist organizations.''.
<all>