Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon recently unveiled a new and unprecedented Web site for the Congressional Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Caucus, which will serve as a primary source of information for members of Congress, stakeholders, and the public on the value of UAVs and up-to-the minute news surrounding the use and development of UAVs.

“Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are hidden gems in terms of military technology; they are underappreciated and highly valuable,” said McKeon.  “I’m excited about providing this new UAV Caucus Web site as a resource for industry partners, government agencies, Congressional staff, members of the Caucus – and Congress as a whole.  It is also my hope that through this online avenue, we will be able to directly connect with the civilian aviation community on UAV use and safety.”

For more information on UAVs and a list of Caucus members, please visit the Web site: http://uav.mckeon.house.gov/.

The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Caucus mission statement is as follows:

1. Acknowledge the overwhelming value of UAVs to the defense, intelligence, homeland security, and the scientific communities;

2. Recognize the urgent need to rapidly develop and deploy more UAVs in support of ongoing operations;

3. Work with the military, industry, NASA, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),  and other stakeholders to seek fair and equitable solutions to challenges created by UAV operations in the U.S. National Air Space (NAS);

4. Support our world-class industrial base that engineers, develops, manufactures, and tests UAVs creating thousands of American jobs;

5. Support policies and budgets that promote a larger, more robust national security UAV capability.