Republican Party Seeks To Limit Drone Surveillance
The 2012 Republican Party Platform advocates Fourth Amendment limits on government drones. “We support pending legislation to prevent unwarranted or unreasonable governmental intrusion through the use of aerial surveillance or flyovers on U.S. soil, with the exception of patrolling our national borders.” Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Representative Austin Scott (R-GA), introduced legislation earlier this year to limit aerial drone surveillance. In March, the House approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013, introduced by Representative Landry (R-LA), that prohibits information collected without a warrant by drones operated by the Department of Defense from being used in court. Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) has also proposed comprehensive legislation for drones. For more information, see EPIC: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Drones.