Carlybee
03-08-2013, 12:36 AM
This article is from last July but thought it was worth another read.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/jul/05/drone-makers-friends-washington/
General Atomics is the company that supplies and maintains the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s ten Predator drones.
In the last two election cycles, General Atomics’ PAC has given more than $140,000 to drone caucus members in border states, according to our analysis.
A PAC affiliated with Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, the defense firm that makes the Global Hawk drone, gave close to $150,000 to 16 drone caucus members representing districts in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada. (A Global Hawk drone owned by the U.S. Navy crashed in June in southern Maryland.)
Southern California-based AeroVironment, which supplies the U.S. military with most of its small drones, has spent more on lobbying each year from 2007 to 2011 than during the previous five years combined, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
New Mexico State University has lobbied on several drone-related issues, including “nuclear detection utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles,” according to lobbying disclosure forms. It’s also lobbied on the establishment of new unmanned aerial test sites to be established in the U.S., according to Bronstein-Moffly.
The FAA will select six sites around the country to test how to safely fly drones alongside manned airplanes in U.S. airspace. The university already tests drones for the government at its Las Cruces site.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/jul/05/drone-makers-friends-washington/
General Atomics is the company that supplies and maintains the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol’s ten Predator drones.
In the last two election cycles, General Atomics’ PAC has given more than $140,000 to drone caucus members in border states, according to our analysis.
A PAC affiliated with Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, the defense firm that makes the Global Hawk drone, gave close to $150,000 to 16 drone caucus members representing districts in California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada. (A Global Hawk drone owned by the U.S. Navy crashed in June in southern Maryland.)
Southern California-based AeroVironment, which supplies the U.S. military with most of its small drones, has spent more on lobbying each year from 2007 to 2011 than during the previous five years combined, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
New Mexico State University has lobbied on several drone-related issues, including “nuclear detection utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles,” according to lobbying disclosure forms. It’s also lobbied on the establishment of new unmanned aerial test sites to be established in the U.S., according to Bronstein-Moffly.
The FAA will select six sites around the country to test how to safely fly drones alongside manned airplanes in U.S. airspace. The university already tests drones for the government at its Las Cruces site.