SR0792 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0792 LRB097 21608 GRL 70047 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Unmanned aircraft are aircraft that are operated without the possibility of direct human intervention or control from within or on the aircraft; and

WHEREAS, These unmanned aircraft are most commonly referred to as drones; and

WHEREAS, New developments in technology allow the creation of increasingly smaller unmanned aircraft that are undetectable by the naked eye; and

WHEREAS, The United States Congress enacted the Federal Aviation Administration Modernization and Reform Act ("the Act") which requires the Federal Aviation Administration to develop a plan to accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft into the national airspace system by 2015; and

WHEREAS, Following the passage of the Act, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began to issue rules to implement the Act's mandated plan, including rules that allow law enforcement agencies to operate small unmanned aerial vehicles; and

WHEREAS, Allowing an increased amount of small unmanned aircraft to fly in the national airspace expands the government's aerial surveillance capability and threatens the protected privacy rights of Illinois citizens; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we strongly urge the United States Congress to repeal the provisions of the Act that require the FAA to develop a plan to expand the use of unmanned aircraft in the airspace above the continental United States and any other territory or possession of the United States, and thereby repeal the FAA's rules that have begun to implement the mandated plan; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, and the members of the Illinois congressional delegation.