by Joseph Amato

Anticipating that the U.S. House of Representatives will move before the U.S. Senate on the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization measure this year, over the past several weeks AUVSI has been meeting with staff of members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Our bipartisan outreach has taken AUVSI to 26 congressional offices (with more on the horizon), advocating for a flexible regulatory framework to achieve safe UAS integration into our National Airspace System.

 

Our message includes the need to distinguish between a UAS operator and a pilot, promoting government partnerships with industry, the continued expansion and expedition of FAA Section 333, and furthering key safety concepts and technologies for the future, such as NASA’s UAS Traffic Management program. We also utilize AUVSI’s Economic Impact Report to emphasize the significant footprint our industry will have over the coming decade in those Representatives’ states. We will continue speaking with congressional stakeholders in the coming weeks and months, in an effort to highlight the need to act on critical federal legislation.