March 9, 2017–The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee has scheduled a March 15 hearing on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to examine “public policy issues related to the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems in the national airspace system. It will explore practical applications for this emerging technology, as well as developing economic, privacy, and safety implications,” the committee said.  The scheduled witnesses are Earl Lawrence, director of the Office of Unmanned Aircraft Systems at the Federal Aviation Administration; Diana Marina Cooper, vice president–legal and policy affairs at Precision Hawk USA Inc., and president of the sUAV Coalition; Ben Fowke, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Xcel Energy; Brendan Schulman, VP–policy and legal affairs at DJI; University of California–Los Angeles engineering and public policy professor John Villasenor; and Emilio Gonzalez, director and CEO of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department.  The hearing is slated to begin at 10 a.m. in Room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.