[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 66 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 66
Condemning the use by the People's Republic of China of a high-altitude
surveillance balloon over the territory of the United States as a
brazen violation of United States sovereignty.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 15, 2023
Mr. Tester (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Peters, Mr.
Manchin, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Durbin, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Kelly,
Ms. Cortez Masto, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Capito, Ms. Murkowski, Ms. Lummis,
Mr. Grassley, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Cramer, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr.
Hagerty, Mrs. Britt, and Mr. Braun) submitted the following resolution;
which was considered and agreed to
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the use by the People's Republic of China of a high-altitude
surveillance balloon over the territory of the United States as a
brazen violation of United States sovereignty.
Whereas, on February 2, 2023, the Department of Defense publicly announced it
was tracking over United States territory a high-altitude surveillance
balloon belonging to the People's Republic of China (PRC);
Whereas the Department of Defense acknowledged that North American Aerospace
Defense Command (NORAD) first began tracking the surveillance balloon on
January 28, 2023, prior to the entry of the balloon into United States
airspace;
Whereas the Secretary of Defense has stated that the balloon ``was being used by
the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental
United States'';
Whereas the surveillance balloon traveled near sensitive national security
facilities of the United States, including Malmstrom Air Force Base in
Montana;
Whereas, on February 4, 2023, a United States Air Force aircraft, at the
direction of the President acting consistent with military advice, shot
down the surveillance balloon in the territorial airspace of the United
States off the coast of South Carolina;
Whereas, on February 4, 2023, the Department of Defense submitted a request for
a call between the Secretary of Defense and the Minister of National
Defense of the PRC, Wei Fenghe, a request that the PRC subsequently
declined;
Whereas open lines of communication between the United States and the civilian
and military officials of the PRC remain critical to avoid
miscommunication or escalation to conflict;
Whereas the United States intelligence community has linked the surveillance
balloon of the PRC to a broader surveillance program run by the People's
Liberation Army, and United States officials have briefed officials from
other countries that may have also been targeted;
Whereas intelligence collection by the PRC directed against the United States
poses a threat to the interests and security of the United States and
extends beyond the capabilities demonstrated by the February 2023
incident and related incidents;
Whereas, while the PRC has a long history of intelligence collection operations
against national security entities of the United States, reports of its
espionage have risen significantly in the past decade;
Whereas the Chinese Communist Party spread false claims about the nature and
purpose of the surveillance balloon, falsely claiming it to be a weather
balloon that veered off course due to ``force majeure'';
Whereas, on February 3, 2023, the Secretary of State postponed his trip to the
PRC and referred to the balloon incident as an ``irresponsible act and a
clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law that
undermined the purpose of the trip'';
Whereas Article I of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, also known
as the Chicago Convention, states that ``every State has complete and
exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory'';
Whereas the substantial increase in the detection of unidentified aerial
phenomena since February 4, 2023 warrants further investigation and
attention to domain awareness gaps identified by United States Northern
Command; and
Whereas it is in the national security interest of the United States to deter
foreign adversaries from engaging in intelligence collection and other
malign activities within United States territory and airspace: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns the brazen violation of United States
sovereignty by the People's Republic of China (PRC);
(2) denounces the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) to deceive the international community through false
claims about its intelligence collection campaigns in violation
of United States sovereignty, and those regarding other nations
where similar incidents have occurred;
(3) determines that it should be the policy of the United
States to act promptly, responsibly, and decisively to deter
and stop foreign aerial surveillance platforms violating United
States sovereignty, including those directed by or connected to
the CCP; and
(4) calls on the President to keep Congress fully informed
by continuing to provide comprehensive briefings on the
February 2023 incident, previous incidents, and the broader
efforts of the PRC in this area that include--
(A) a complete account of all known violations of
United States national airspace by the PRC in recent
years, regardless of platform;
(B) a complete account of similar past incidents of
the PRC's use of surveillance balloons around the
world;
(C) a timeline of events for the February 2023
incident, from first detection to the eventual
shootdown of the balloon;
(D) an assessment of what surveillance data the PRC
was potentially able to collect or transmit via the
balloon while it was over United States territory;
(E) an assessment of the value of the intelligence
that the United States obtained while the balloon
transited the United States and from the recovery and
analysis of physical debris;
(F) a detailed account of what measures were taken
to mitigate the intelligence collection threat posed by
the balloon, the costs of those measures, and the
impact on the regular operations of the affected
installations, platforms, and personnel;
(G) a description of what options were identified
to mitigate the threat, and a description and timing of
the recommendations the United States military made
regarding those options;
(H) an account of diplomatic communications, past
and ongoing, between the United States and the PRC
regarding the February 2023 incident, including any
demarches by Department of State personnel and
subsequent responses by the PRC;
(I) a detailed description of plans, capabilities,
and methods to deter and defeat intelligence collection
activities conducted by the PRC or other foreign
adversaries in United States national airspace and any
additional authorities or resources needed from
Congress to ensure detection and defeat of these
activities in the future;
(J) a detailed description of efforts of the United
States to enhance cooperation with partners, allies,
and countries affected by the global surveillance
balloon program of the PRC to push back on the PRC's
practices in this area; and
(K) a description of efforts to hold the Government
of the PRC, and entities associated with the design,
development, management, and deployment of the PRC
surveillance balloon program, accountable for the
violation of United States sovereignty and the
sovereignty of other countries.
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