Capital District Times

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, along with Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA) and Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), sent a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and the Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Jen Easterly. The letter demands action to mitigate risks associated with Chinese-manufactured agriculture drones in the United States.

The lawmakers argue that the CCP has been working to undermine America's agricultural dominance, leveraging their monopoly on drone manufacturing. They assert that this poses significant national security risks and grants China leverage over the U.S. food supply.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, agricultural spray drones are classified as weapons delivery platforms and are subject to stringent export restrictions when manufactured in America. However, nearly 10,000 registered agricultural spray drones in the U.S. are made by DJI, a Chinese Military Company. These drones have sophisticated sensing technology designed to monitor crop health and direct sprays accordingly. This capability allows Chinese drones to collect detailed information about American agriculture, which could be weaponized by the CCP.

Stefanik has spearheaded efforts to address this national security threat through her bipartisan legislation, the Countering CCP Drones Act. This act is part of the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 and seeks to prohibit new models of DJI drones from operating in the United States.

In their letter, the lawmakers stated:

“Food security is national security and the CCP is actively trying to undermine America’s global agricultural dominance. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has drastically increased their ownership of U.S. agricultural land and Chinese spies have stolen U.S.-developed genetically modified seeds directly out of the ground in Iowa. Dominating the supply of agriculture drones is another strategy that the PRC is pursuing to jeopardize America’s food supply.”

They continued:

“The risk of DJI’s transmission of data to the CCP is made clear in a recent industry cybersecurity guidance on Chinese-manufactured drones published by CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). According to the guidance, using Chinese-manufactured drones ‘risks exposing sensitive information to PRC authorities, jeopardizing U.S. national security, economic security, and public health and safety.’ Furthermore, China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law obligates ‘all’ Chinese organizations and citizens to collaborate with state intelligence operations. Meaning that DJI must support China’s intelligence services and military by turning over data they collect in China and overseas.”

Stefanik was joined by Representatives Alford, Cline, Dunn, Garbarino, Guest, Hinson, Johnson, Moolenaar, Newhouse, Van Orden, Wittman, and Nunn.

Read the full letter HERE.