[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 29 (Monday, February 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Unidentified Flying Objects

  Madam President, on an entirely different matter, there is something 
unusual going on in our Nation's skies, and President Biden needs to 
communicate and level with the American people.
  About 2 weeks ago, the American people learned that a Chinese spy 
balloon had crossed into our airspace and was taking its time 
surveilling our homeland. We watched it tour a big chunk of the country 
before the administration finally, belatedly took it down.
  Since then, the public has seemingly heard about another new 
unidentified flying object seemingly on a daily basis. Yesterday one of 
our F-16s shot down something they still have not identified near Lake 
Huron. The day before that, in consultation with Canada, an American F-
22 shot down something else over the Yukon. The day before that, we 
took out something else over Alaska. The administration has still not 
been able to divulge any meaningful information about what was shot 
down.
  What in the world is going on? Has the Biden administration just 
dialed the sensitivity of our radars all the way up? If so, what are 
these objects that we are just now noticing for the very first time? 
Are they benign science projects and wayward weather balloons or 
something more nefarious that we have somehow been missing all this 
time?
  President Biden owes the American people some answers.
  What are we shooting down? Where did they come from? Whether they are 
hostile or not, is there coherent guidance about when to shoot them 
down? If the administration knew all along about China's surveillance 
efforts, why did it not have options to shoot that balloon down before 
it maneuvered itself all across the country? Did the right people in 
the government know about this surveillance threat? Did ODNI and DOD 
not adequately share intelligence about the growing threat?
  How did we get into a position where the greatest Nation in the world 
doesn't know what it is traversing our own airspace? How long has the 
domain awareness gap that NORTHCOM Commander General VanHerck has 
identified existed, and what has the Department done about it?
  The Commander in Chief owes the country some answers.