[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1151 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1151

To hold the People's Republic of China accountable for the violation of 
     United States airspace and sovereignty with its high-altitude 
                         surveillance balloon.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 24, 2023

 Mr. Meeks (for himself and Mr. McCaul) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition 
  to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To hold the People's Republic of China accountable for the violation of 
     United States airspace and sovereignty with its high-altitude 
                         surveillance balloon.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace 
Act'' or the ``USA Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to the Department of State, surveillance 
        balloons owned and operated by the People's Republic of China 
        (PRC) have entered United States airspace multiple times since 
        2017 and have violated the airspace of more than 40 countries 
        across 5 continents.
            (2) On February 10, 2023, the Department of Commerce, 
        Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule (88 Fed. 
        Reg. 9389) that added 6 PRC entities to the Entity List for 
        supporting the PRC's military modernization efforts related to 
        aerospace programs, including airships and balloons and related 
        materials and components, that are used by the People's 
        Liberation Army for intelligence and reconnaissance.
            (3) The PRC's response has been to use misinformation and 
        propaganda to deflect blame for the illegal surveillance 
        activities of these balloons.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

     It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the presence of the PRC's high altitude surveillance 
        balloon over United States airspace was an unacceptable 
        violation of United States sovereignty;
            (2) the United States should continue to neutralize foreign 
        aerial surveillance assets that are in United States airspace 
        after consideration of civilian aviation safety, safety of 
        United States civilians and property on the ground, as well as 
        the intelligence collection risk and opportunity posed by such 
        intrusions;
            (3) the PRC's global balloon surveillance program blatantly 
        undermines countries' sovereignty and poses a threat to 
        countries around the world;
            (4) the PRC should cease efforts to spread misinformation 
        and propaganda about its intelligence-collection efforts;
            (5) the United States Government should continue to share 
        information about the PRC's global surveillance efforts with 
        allies and partners and should work jointly to hold the PRC 
        accountable for its illegal surveillance actions, including at 
        multilateral fora;
            (6) the United Nations should condemn the PRC's violation, 
        through its global surveillance balloon program, of the 
        sovereignty of member states of the United Nations and call on 
        the PRC to ensure its balloons do not violate sovereign 
        airspace again;
            (7) the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) 
        should condemn the PRC for this violation of airspace and the 
        PRC's ICAO commitments; and
            (8) as consistent with international law, the United States 
        should use regulatory and enforcement tools to protect national 
        security and sovereignty by identifying and disrupting the 
        PRC's use of surveillance balloons.

SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION AND PRESSURE.

    (a) Diplomatic Strategy.--The Secretary of State, in consultation 
with the Director of National Intelligence and the United States 
Permanent Representative to the United Nations, shall develop a 
diplomatic strategy to inform allies and partners of the scope of the 
PRC surveillance program and build global consensus in order to address 
the PRC's global surveillance balloon program, including by--
            (1) sharing intelligence, as appropriate about the PRC's 
        global balloon program and its past violation of the sovereign 
        airspace of allies and partners;
            (2) coordinating with United States allies and partners to 
        identify and track future PRC surveillance balloons, counter 
        PRC propaganda and misinformation about its global surveillance 
        program, and publicly share any future violations of 
        sovereignty;
            (3) using the voice, vote, and influence of the United 
        States at the United Nations and other international and 
        regional organizations to spur greater diplomatic pressure on 
        the PRC to halt its surveillance collection operations that 
        violate international sovereignty;
            (4) raising the challenges posed by the PRC's global 
        surveillance balloon program at major multilateral forums, 
        including at the G7 and G20 summits; and
            (5) coordinating with allies and partners on the imposition 
        and implementation of substantially similar sanctions and 
        export controls to ensure that commodities, software, or 
        technology from the United States and its allies and partners 
        are not supporting the PRC's global surveillance efforts.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Director of National Intelligence and the United States Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations, shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report that outlines the strategy developed 
pursuant to subsection (a) and describes in detail the various steps 
taken by the United States in line with said strategy.
    (c) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this section, the 
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent 
        Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
        Representatives; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Select 
        Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.

SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF EXPORT CONTROLS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce shall evaluate, for 
appropriate controls under the Export Administration Regulations, the 
export, reexport, and in-country transfer of the items and technologies 
subject to United States jurisdiction related to aerospace programs, 
including airships and balloons and related materials and components, 
that are used by the People's Liberation Army for intelligence and 
reconnaissance, and not later than 180 days after the enactment of this 
Act submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that 
includes--
            (1) a description of the types of items and technologies 
        that were evaluated for potential controls with respect to this 
        section; and
            (2) a list of the controls that BIS has implemented or 
        plans to implement because of its evaluation under this 
        section.
    (b) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this section, the 
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.

SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.

    (a) Imposition of Sanctions.--On and after the date that is 180 
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President may 
impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any 
PRC individual the President determines is directly managing and 
overseeing the PRC's global surveillance balloon program.
    (b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions that may be imposed with 
respect to a foreign person described in subsection (a) are the 
following:
            (1) Property blocking.--Notwithstanding the requirements of 
        section 202 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act 
        (50 U.S.C. 1701), the President may exercise of all powers 
        granted to the President by that Act to the extent necessary to 
        block and prohibit all transactions in all property and 
        interests in property of the foreign person if such property 
        and interests in property are in the United States, come within 
        the United States, or are or come within the possession or 
        control of a United States person.
            (2) Aliens inadmissible for visas, admission, or parole.--
                    (A) In general.--An alien described in subsection 
                (a) is--
                            (i) inadmissible to the United States;
                            (ii) ineligible for a visa or travel to the 
                        United States; and
                            (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 
                        or paroled into the United States or to receive 
                        any other benefit under the Immigration and 
                        Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
                    (B) Current visas revoked.--
                            (i) In general.--The visa or other 
                        documentation issued to an alien described in 
                        subsection (a) shall be revoked, regardless of 
                        when such visa or other documentation is or was 
                        issued.
                            (ii) Effect of revocation.--A visa or other 
                        entry documentation revoked under clause (i) 
                        shall, in accordance with section 221(i) of the 
                        Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
                        1201(i)), no longer be valid for travel to the 
                        United States.
    (c) Exceptions.--
            (1) Exception for intelligence, law enforcement, and 
        national security activities.--Sanctions under this section 
        shall not apply to any authorized intelligence, law 
        enforcement, or national security activities of the United 
        States.
            (2) Exception to comply with united nations headquarters 
        agreement.--Sanctions under subsection (b)(3) shall not apply 
        with respect to the admission of an alien to the United States 
        if the admission of the alien is necessary to permit the United 
        States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters 
        of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, 
        and entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United 
        Nations and the United States, the Convention on Consular 
        Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and entered into 
        force March 19, 1967, or other applicable international 
        obligations.
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