Skip to main content
GWGovwatch
CongressBillsCommitteesPresidentMoneyPulseMisconductElectionsMap
Donate

Weekly accountability digest

One email a week with new votes, moving bills, and misconduct updates. No spam.

GW

Govwatch. Public data about Congress, in one place, in plain English.

Built with public data. Not affiliated with the U.S. government.

Explore

  • Officials
  • Legislation
  • Committees
  • Congress Pulse
  • Trending Topics
  • Bipartisan Leaderboard
  • Weekly Digest
  • Misconduct
  • Predictions

Learn

  • How Congress Works
  • How a Bill Becomes Law
  • Campaign Finance 101
  • Glossary

Tools

  • My Representatives
  • Compare Members
  • Bill Watchlist
  • Search
  • District Map
  • Follow the Money
  • Watch Live

Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Data Sources

Congress.gov API v3
Bills, members, votes
GovInfo API
Floor speeches, reports, bill text
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Campaign finance
VoteView (UCLA)
Ideology scores (DW-NOMINATE)
GovTrack.us
Misconduct data (CC0)
U.S. Census Bureau
District demographics

Data Last Updated

Bills & Votes: 5 hours ago
Support This Project

This site is free. Donations help cover hosting, API fees, and keeping the data fresh.

All data is sourced from official government APIs and public records. This site is for informational purposes only.

© 2026 Govwatch

HR8697Referred to Committee

Guard the Skies Act

Share:
Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2026-05-07
Introduced
10
Cosponsors
HR
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Michael T. McCaul
Michael T. McCaul
Republican · TX · Representative
Votes with party: 96.7% (511 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/M001157

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (10)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

  • Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-6)Original· 2026-05-07
  • Elijah Crane (R-AZ-2)Original· 2026-05-07
  • Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5)Original· 2026-05-07
  • Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9)Original· 2026-05-07
  • Michael Baumgartner (R-WA-5)Original· 2026-05-07
  • Burgess Owens (R-UT-4)· 2026-05-12
  • Elise M. Stefanik (R-NY-21)· 2026-05-12
  • Mike Quigley (D-IL-5)· 2026-05-15
  • John H. Rutherford (R-FL-5)· 2026-06-02

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

2026-05-07

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

  • House Committee on Armed ServicesReferred To · 2026-05-07
  • House Committee on Transportation and InfrastructureReferred To · 2026-05-07
  • House Committee on the JudiciaryReferred To · 2026-05-07

Previously

  • Transportation and Infrastructure CommitteeReferred To · 2026-05-07
  • Judiciary CommitteeReferred To · 2026-05-07
  • Armed Services CommitteeReferred To · 2026-05-07

Plain-English Summary

Without access to the bill's specific provisions, I cannot provide an accurate summary of what this legislation would do. To write a factual summary, I would need information about the bill's actual contents—such as whether it addresses airspace security, drone regulations, military operations, or another aviation-related topic. Please provide the bill's text or detailed subject matter so I can create an accurate plain-English explanation.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Armed Forces and National Security

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8697 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8697 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and titles 10 and 32, United States Code, to authorize the National Guard to protect certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 7, 2026 Mr. McCaul (for himself, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Crane, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Baumgartner, and Ms. Houlahan) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and titles 10 and 32, United States Code, to authorize the National Guard to protect certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft, 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 ``Guard the Skies Act''. SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL GUARD TO PROTECT CERTAIN FACILITIES AND ASSETS FROM UNMANNED AIRCRAFT. (a) Homeland Security Act of 2002.--Section 210G of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124n) is amended-- (1) in subsection (b)-- (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``and the Secretary of Defense'' before the period; and (B) in paragraph (4)-- (i) by striking ``Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration'' and inserting ``following: ``(A) The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration,''; and (ii) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ``(B) The Secretary of Defense, if an action under subsection (l)(3)(C)(iii) is requested by the chief executive officer of a State pursuant to section 130j of title 10, United States Code.''; (2) in subsection (d)(3)-- (A) in subparagraph (A)-- (i) in the heading, by inserting ``and department of defense'' after ``Department of transportation''; and (ii) by inserting ``and the Secretary of Defense'' before the period; and (B) in subparagraph (B)-- (i) in the heading, by inserting ``and defense'' after ``Safety''; (ii) by striking ``Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration'' and inserting ``following: ``(i) The Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration,''; and (iii) by adding at the end the following new clause: ``(ii) The Secretary of Defense, before issuing any guidance, or otherwise implementing this section, if such guidance or implementation might affect actions pursuant to section 130j of title 10, United States Code.''; (3) in subsection (e)(5), by inserting ``, the Department of Defense,'' after ``Department of Homeland Security''; and (4) in subsection (l)(3)(C)(iii)(I), by inserting ``(as such term is defined in section 2001)'' after ``National Special Security Event''. (b) Title 10, United States Code.-- (1) National guard authorization for protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft.--Title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 130i the following new section: ``Sec. 130j. National Guard authorization for protection of certain facilities and assets from unmanned aircraft ``Notwithstanding section 46502 of title 49 or sections 32, 1030, 1367 and chapters 119 and 206 of title 18, the Secretary of Defense may, at the request of the chief executive officer of a State with respect to a mission described in subsection (l)(3)(C)(iii) of section 210G of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 124n), authorize members of the National Guard to take the…
Show the remaining 169 wordsHide the remaining 169 words
actions authorized by subsection (a)(1) of such section 210G, if such members satisfy the following requirements: ``(1) Are ordered to duty under this title or title 32. ``(2) Are assigned duties referred to in subsection (a) of section 130i.''. (2) Selected reserve and certain individual ready reserve members; order to active duty other than during war or national emergency.--Subsection (b) of section 12304 of title 10, United States Code, is amended-- (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and moving such subparagraphs, as so redesignated, two ems to the right; and (B) by striking ``in responding to an emergency involving--'' and inserting ``in-- ``(1) taking actions pursuant to section 130j; or ``(2) responding to an emergency involving--''. (c) Title 32, United States Code.--Subsection (f)(2) of section 502 of title 32, United States Code, (relating to required drills and field exercises) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ``(C) Support of actions pursuant to section 130j of title 10.''. <all>
Open clean-text viewRead on Congress.gov →

Related legislation

Bills by the same sponsor or covering overlapping subjects.

  • HR9632To better coordinate Federal efforts to utilize advance technologies, such as AI, to improve diagnoses, treatments, cures, and prevention strategies for pediatric cancer, and for other purposes.
    Referred to Committee · 2026-07-09
  • HR9631To conserve global bear populations by prohibiting the importation, exportation, and interstate trade of bear viscera and bear viscera products, and for other purposes.
    Referred to Committee · 2026-07-09
  • HR8284Bureau of Industry and Security License Administration Enhancement Act
    Referred to Committee · 2026-04-22
  • HR8253BITMAP Authorization Act
    Referred to Committee · 2026-04-14