WASHINGTON — A top member of the House Intelligence Committee shared new insight Tuesday on drone activity flying above New Jersey.
The panel exited a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF, on Tuesday afternoon after a classified briefing on the machines.
Ranking Member Jim Himes (D-CT) told Raw Story on Tuesday they are "not US government drones."
Last week, the Justice Department, FBI and Customs and Border Protection testified to the House committee that they didn't know what was happening over the state's skies.
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Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) told reporters outside the SCIF that the federal government is taking it "very, very seriously."
"They did not find anything that would indicate it was foreign actors or even little green men," the congresswoman said.
A statement from National Security Counsel spokesperson John Kirby on Monday said, "Having closely looked at the tips and collated them as best we can from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones."
The intersection of those three statements seems to be that the drones are some form of federal law enforcement.
"I didn't hear anything that was concerning as far as a threat to the public," said Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX).
"What I learned is that the American people should have faith that all hands are on deck, that the different agencies are talking to one another," said Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA). "And they should not be taking actions into their own hands."
On Tuesday morning, Belleville, New Jersey, Mayor Michael Melham told Fox 5 in New York that the drones could be related to missing radioactive material. A small amount of radioactive material went missing in transit from a New Jersey cancer treatment center, New Jersey Shore News Network reported Monday, citing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The members of Congress did not mention the missing material following the briefing.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) will have a secure briefing with the Virginia delegation on Thursday in Langley, he told Raw Story, complaining that several agencies seem to be trying to dodge responsibility.
"We don't think they don't know stuff that they're not telling us. We're shocked about the stuff that they don't know," he said.
Gomez said he thinks the government should provide the public with an explanation to calm fears. Reporters asked if he had learned anything in the classified briefing that wasn't already public information, and he answered "no."
See the comments from Rep. Houlahan below or at the link here.
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