Washington, DC - Today, Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement regarding the passage of the “Stop Iranian Drones Act” (SIDA), a bipartisan bill to address the growing threat of Iran’s lethal unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program, out of Committee:  

“As we have seen in recent months, Iran and Iran-aligned terrorist and militia groups have been growing increasingly aggressive with their drone attacks in the Middle East – targeting US troops, commercial vessels, partner countries and more. Such activity will not be tolerated by the U.S. Congress and is actively being addressed by the Biden Administration. Our bill clarifies that existing conventional weapons sanctions against Iran include unmanned combat aerial vehicles and brings U.S. code up to date with the UN’s categories of major conventional arms. By doing so, this legislation will allow us to better respond to the threat posed by Iran and its proxies’ aggressive UAV tactics to the U.S. and our partners. This clarification makes clear to the international community that it is in everyone’s interest to work to stop Iranian UAV procurement and production.”