Blitz Bureau
WASHINGTON: As public concern over drones flying in the skies above New Jersey and other East Coast states has escalated, the White House wants Congress to pass legislation that would give the federal, state and local governments greater authority to address drones that fly in US airspace.
“We do need better authorities to deal with that growing ecosystem of drones in US airspace,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in an interview on NBC’s ‘TODAY’ show. Gaps exist in federal, state and local government authorities to deal with drones, Kirby said. “Congress needs to help us get through this,” he added. Kirby sought to reassure the public that the Biden administration is dealing with the increase in reports of drones, saying the federal Government has conducted some analysis on the drones over the last several days.
“Our assessment leads us to conclude that these are lawful and legal aviation activities, manned and unmanned drones and civil aviation aircraft or commercial aircraft,” he said. “We know that there’s no national security threat. We know there’s no public safety threat right now.” Kirby also said White House officials are being as “open and as transparent with the American people as we can be.”
