drones keep driving the conversation in New Jersey and even as it seems that high level officials are being clued in on what's Happening the public is not Governor Murphy issued a word of caution on the hysteria that's been building urging everyone to calm down he shared that the federal government has sent very sophisticated systems to help the New Jersey State Police detect and track the objects noting they have a range of 15 miles and are moving around the state and that there's little to no evidence of any suspicious activity but for many lawmakers that's simply not enough information gubernatorial candidate and Congressman Josh Gottheimer is with us now to share his next steps for addressing these drones Congressman it seems these drones are top of mind for just about everyone here in New Jersey and now nationally we're seeing a driving the conversation but still no answers as to what they are why they're here uh you introduced legislation called the RADAR Act what would that do so basically it would give local law enforcement the tools they need to actually monitor what's going on right so they can have eyes on the sky locally and then be able to coordinate properly with federal law enforcement who's in charge of this the federal officials and the Departments to be able to respond if they if a drone is somewhere it shouldn't be right over an airport a reservoir a military base to be able to actually know what's in the sky and as you know what's really frustrating about this for so many people is they're seeing these drones with their own eyes and they're being told hey you're not seeing anything uh this this radar will actually help you in this bipartisan legislation help law enforcement capture what's in the sky so we can respond properly yeah you said bipartisan you worked with uh representative Nicole Mal motakis from New York on this who knew drones could bring us together right um but we heard DHS we heard DHS secretary mayorca say this weekend that uh he called on Congress to pass legislation that would give state and local governments more authority to be able to respond to these types of things does the radar Act actually achieve that it does it's exactly what it sounds like the secretary was asking for right for local law enforcement to have the tools they need to respond you know the first thing that I've called for which I think is so critically important is for the federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security and the secretary admitted there's drones up there and people are seeing drones he said that this weekend to give them and the FBI who's the lead Agency on this the tools they need but also encouraging them to come clean with the public like actually just do a proper briefing and press conference with the public and and and just tell them what's going on you know I think it's incredibly frustrating for people when the their government the federal government the agencies responsible for this don't come out and actually explain things and take questions and and actually provide some answers yeah to that point when they don't do that conspiracy theories abound the latest that I've heard is about this nuclear warhead that's missing somewhere in the United States and that perhaps these drones are searching for it my question question to you is if there is some bigger Mission or if that theory were to be true does it justify keeping the public in the dark with all of the speculation and fear that's abounding well in general I don't think it's helpful when there's a huge vacuum of information as you just pointed out everyone then comes up with different theories um that's not helpful what I always believe is the best thing is transparency about these in about these issues let people know here's what we do know right and and explain to them what just what you know not only what's up there but also steps the government is taking to make sure that we keep people safe you know and i' I've gotten uh several briefings now from the FBI uh and DHS and others and spoken to the governor about this and I feel comfortable saying and confident saying that I don't think there's any imminent threat to Public Safety that still doesn't answer the question people have a right to know of what's going on and that's where I've said let's get out there I've started a tips uh line on my on my website that lot lots of people are seeing things to help aggregate that information and then I'm sharing that with not only law enforcement with the FBI but with on the intelligence committee to make sure the intelligence Community receives that information and then that we pass legislation like the radar act that's bipartisan that gives local law enforcement who are getting the brunt of this the tools they need not just now but in the future to be able to respond to ensure that we don't have drones in places like over reservoirs or at airports or over our military bases where they've been cited right where they've been seen to make sure that that drones aren't in places they shouldn't be people are going to have recreational drones of course we know that over the beach or uh in their backyard but the bottom line is these large drones that we are not they're not authorized are they licensed like what are they doing there that's where people have a right to have better information and the FBI and DHS should stop delaying should get out there and do a proper public briefing all right Congressman Josh Gottheimer thanks for taking a few minutes today thanks this can't be the wild west of drones in Jersey that's all I'm gonna say thank you thanks take care