[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On page S429, February 15, 2023, in the first column, the 
following appears: By Mr. Tester (for himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
Menendez, Mr. Peters, Mr. Manchin . . . Mr. Grassley, Mr. Scott of 
South Carolina, . . .)
  
  The online Record has been corrected to read: By Mr. Tester (for 
himself, Ms. Collins, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Peters, Mr. Manchin . . . 
Mr. Grassley, Mr. Scott of Florida, . . .)


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 


                               S. Res. 66

       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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