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S 1809
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Drone Espionage Act

S. 1809 To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit taking or transmitting video of defense information, and for other purposes.

Introduced May 20, 2025

Latest action (Feb 9, 2026) Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 316.

Referred to
Border Management, Federal Workforce, and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee Judiciary Committee Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Policy area
Crime and Law Enforcement
Issues
Criminal Justice
Legislative subjects (4)
Digital mediaEspionage and treasonMilitary facilities and propertyMilitary operations and strategy

Summary

The bill amends federal espionage law to prohibit taking or transmitting video of defense information. It adds "video" to the list of media types covered under existing prohibitions in Section 793 of Title 18, which previously addressed photographic negatives and other materials related to national defense information. The amendment applies the same legal restrictions on taking and transmitting videos of defense information as currently apply to other forms of recording or documentation.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
13 cosponsors

Actions (6)
  1. Feb 9, 2026 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 316. · senate
  2. Feb 9, 2026 Committee on the Judiciary. Reported by Senator Grassley without amendment. Without written report. · senate
  3. Feb 5, 2026 Committee on the Judiciary. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably. · senate
  4. Jun 10, 2025 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Border Management, Federal Workforce, and Regulatory Affairs. Hearings held. · senate
  5. May 20, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. · senate
  6. May 20, 2025 Introduced in Senate

More bills on these subjects (8)

Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).

  • S 2296 — National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (shares 4 subjects)
  • HR 2939 — Drone Espionage Act (shares 4 subjects)
  • S 1071 — National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (shares 3 subjects)
  • S 4638 — National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (shares 3 subjects)
  • HR 3838 — Streamlining Procurement for Effective Execution and Delivery and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (shares 2 subjects)
  • S 2943 — National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (shares 2 subjects)
  • HR 7757 — KIDS Act (shares 1 subject)
  • HR 4805 — WINGS Act (shares 1 subject)

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • HR 2939 — Drone Espionage Act · Introduced Apr 17, 2025 · Cong. 119 84%
  • HR 4759 — Ban Military Drones Spying on Civilians Act · Introduced Jul 25, 2025 · Cong. 119 69%
  • S 3704 — COP Act · Introduced Jan 27, 2026 · Cong. 119 61%
  • S 3699 — FOCUS Act · Introduced Jan 27, 2026 · Cong. 119 60%
  • HR 8935 — Department of Energy Drone Defense Act · Introduced May 20, 2026 · Cong. 119 60%
  • HR 9067 — To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to provide for a gender identity content descriptor for video programming, and for other purposes. · Introduced May 29, 2026 · Cong. 119 59%

Text versions (2)
  • Reported to Senate · Feb 9, 2026
  • Introduced in Senate · May 20, 2025

Committee action

What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.

Meetings where this bill was on the agenda

Full text

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 20, 2025

Mrs. Moody (for herself, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Lee, Mr. Budd, Mr. Moreno, Mr. Tillis, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Cruz, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Mullin, Mrs. Britt, and Mr. McCormick) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

February 9, 2026

Reported by Mr. Grassley, without amendment

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit taking or transmitting video of defense information, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Drone Espionage Act”.

SEC. 2. TAKING OR TRANSMITTING VIDEO OF DEFENSE INFORMATION PROHIBITED.

Section 793 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting “video,” after “photographic negative,” each place such term appears. Calendar No. 316

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 1809

A BILL

To amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit taking or transmitting video of defense information, and for other purposes.

February 9, 2026

Reported without amendment

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