Griffin: ‘The DIIG Act responds to the clear and present industrial and national-security threats … of Chinese-made drones’

LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin issued the following statement regarding a letter sent on behalf of himself and 10 other state attorneys general urging Congress to pass the Drone Infrastructure Inspection Grant (DIIG) Act:

“The DIIG Act is bipartisan legislation that responds to the clear and present industrial and national-security threats posed by the proliferation of Chinese-made drones in the United States. Such drones—often used by law enforcement at both the state and local levels and in connection with critical-infrastructure projects—present a clear security threat.

“The DIIG Act encourages development of the American industrial base for unmanned aircraft systems while safeguarding national security by combating the People’s Republic of China’s practice of illegally ‘dumping’ cheap, state-subsidized drones into the U.S. marketplace to drive out American competitors.”

The DIIG Act would establish a grant program to facilitate the use of drones by state and local governments and to promote college- and university-level workforce training in the use of drone technology. It expressly prohibits the use of drones manufactured or assembled by companies that are, among other things, on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List or that are domiciled in, or subject to the influence or control of, the People’s Republic of China or the Russian Federation, including any subsidiary or affiliate.

The legislation was introduced in the Senate (S. 1817) by Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and in the House (H.R. 3593) by Representatives Greg Stanton (D-AZ), Garret Graves (R-LA), and Dina Titus (D-NV).

Other states joining Arkansas in the letter include Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia.

To read the letter, click here.

To download a PDF version of this release, click here.

About Attorney General Tim Griffin

Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.

Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 27 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.

He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.

Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.

Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.

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