Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) say that recent drone sightings in "safety-sensitive" areas--like the Boston Red Sox' Fenway Park, says Markey--have put an exclamation point on their call for FAA to publish a proposed rule to let the public know who is flying where.

Drones are used for, among many other things, TV and movie production, as well as live sports and news.

In a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the senators cite various sightings, including during the baseball game and one at Newark Liberty Airport that led to flights being halted.

They point out that Congress directed the FAA to come up with drone-identification standards in 2016, with a two-year deadline that passed nearly a year ago, and that the legislation is key to insuring privacy as well as safety.

The senators say the rules would allow the public, the FAA, law enforcement, and others to track drones and identify their operators.

Related: Sen, Markey Says Privacy Regs Should Precede Drone Rules

The FCC proposed to loosen its commercial drone rules to allow commercial drones to be flown over people and at night "under certain conditions." Markey said identification rules should be a linchpin of any rule allowing drone flights over people.

A number of TV and movie producers have been granted waivers of general drone flight rules.

C-SPAN, the public service platforms funded and supported by the cable industry, will provide live gavel-to-gavel coverage of a lot of gavels this week as Congress holds confirmation hearing sessions (a couple are two-day affairs) on a host of Donald Trump's nominees for top administration posts.

A spokesperson for the Senate Small Business Committee said that at press time there was no date yet for the confirmation hearing of Small Business Administration nominee Linda McMahon (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/trump-taps-wwes-linda-m...), co-founder and former CEO of WWE, the TV wrestling empire.

The President-elect has yet to announce nominees for the chairmanship of the FCC. If past is prologue that may not come until after the election, with an interim chair, likely senior commission Republican Ajit Pai, tapped from sitting commissioners in the interim, particularly since that agency will be 2-1 Republican as of Jan. 20.

For political junkies and others, here is the lineup for C-SPAN coverage of the nominees getting vetted on the Hill this week:

Tuesday (Jan. 10)

9:30 a.m. Senate Judiciary: Sen. Jeff Sessions, Attorney General (Day 1). Live on C-SPAN3, C-SPAN Radio and C-SPAN.org.

3:30p-7:30 p.m. Senate Homeland Security: John Kelly, Homeland Security Secretary. Live on C-SPAN.org.

Wednesday (Jan. 11)

9:15 a.m.-4 p.m. Senate Foreign Relations: Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State (Day 1). Live on C-SPAN3, C-SPAN Radio and C-SPAN.org.

9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Senate Judiciary: Sen. Jeff Sessions, Attorney General (Day 2). Live on C-SPAN.org.

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions: Betsy DeVos, Education Secretary. Live on C-SPAN.org.

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Senate Intelligence: Rep. Mike Pompeo, CIA Director. Live on C-SPAN.org.

10:15 a.m.-1 p.m. Senate Commerce: Elaine Chao, Transportation Secretary. Live on C-SPAN.org.

Thursday
9:30a.m.-1:30 p.m. Senate Armed Services: James Mattis, Defense Secretary. Live on C-SPAN3, C-SPAN Radio and C-SPAN.org.

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Senate Commerce: Wilbur Ross, Commerce Secretary. Live on C-SPAN.org.

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Senate Banking: Ben Carson, Housing & Urban Development Secretary. Live on C-SPAN.org.