A 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.

III ★(Star Print) 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. MUR- KOWSKI, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR66.ATS SR66 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS 2 SRES 66 ATS1S 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 na- tional 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 con- sistent 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 surveil- lance 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 se- curity of the United States and extends beyond the capa- VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR66.ATS SR66 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS 3 SRES 66 ATS1S bilities demonstrated by the February 2023 incident and related incidents; Whereas, while the PRC has a long history of intelligence col- lection operations against national security entities of the United States, reports of its espionage have risen signifi- cantly 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 post- poned his trip to the PRC and referred to the balloon in- cident 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 unidenti- fied 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 in- telligence collection and other malign activities within United States territory and airspace: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR66.ATS SR66 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS 4 SRES 66 ATS1S (1) condemns the brazen violation of United 1 States sovereignty by the People’s Republic of China 2 (PRC); 3 (2) denounces the efforts of the Chinese Com- 4 munist Party (CCP) to deceive the international 5 community through false claims about its intel- 6 ligence collection campaigns in violation of United 7 States sovereignty, and those regarding other na- 8 tions where similar incidents have occurred; 9 (3) determines that it should be the policy of 10 the United States to act promptly, responsibly, and 11 decisively to deter and stop foreign aerial surveil- 12 lance platforms violating United States sovereignty, 13 including those directed by or connected to the CCP; 14 and 15 (4) calls on the President to keep Congress 16 fully informed by continuing to provide comprehen- 17 sive briefings on the February 2023 incident, pre- 18 vious incidents, and the broader efforts of the PRC 19 in this area that include— 20 (A) a complete account of all known viola- 21 tions of United States national airspace by the 22 PRC in recent years, regardless of platform; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR66.ATS SR66 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS 5 SRES 66 ATS1S (B) a complete account of similar past in- 1 cidents of the PRC’s use of surveillance bal- 2 loons around the world; 3 (C) a timeline of events for the February 4 2023 incident, from first detection to the even- 5 tual shootdown of the balloon; 6 (D) an assessment of what surveillance 7 data the PRC was potentially able to collect or 8 transmit via the balloon while it was over 9 United States territory; 10 (E) an assessment of the value of the intel- 11 ligence that the United States obtained while 12 the balloon transited the United States and 13 from the recovery and analysis of physical de- 14 bris; 15 (F) a detailed account of what measures 16 were taken to mitigate the intelligence collection 17 threat posed by the balloon, the costs of those 18 measures, and the impact on the regular oper- 19 ations of the affected installations, platforms, 20 and personnel; 21 (G) a description of what options were 22 identified to mitigate the threat, and a descrip- 23 tion and timing of the recommendations the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR66.ATS SR66 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS 6 SRES 66 ATS1S United States military made regarding those 1 options; 2 (H) an account of diplomatic communica- 3 tions, past and ongoing, between the United 4 States and the PRC regarding the February 5 2023 incident, including any demarches by De- 6 partment of State personnel and subsequent re- 7 sponses by the PRC; 8 (I) a detailed description of plans, capabili- 9 ties, and methods to deter and defeat intel- 10 ligence collection activities conducted by the 11 PRC or other foreign adversaries in United 12 States national airspace and any additional au- 13 thorities or resources needed from Congress to 14 ensure detection and defeat of these activities in 15 the future; 16 (J) a detailed description of efforts of the 17 United States to enhance cooperation with part- 18 ners, allies, and countries affected by the global 19 surveillance balloon program of the PRC to 20 push back on the PRC’s practices in this area; 21 and 22 (K) a description of efforts to hold the 23 Government of the PRC, and entities associated 24 with the design, development, management, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR66.ATS SR66 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS 7 SRES 66 ATS1S deployment of the PRC surveillance balloon 1 program, accountable for the violation of 2 United States sovereignty and the sovereignty 3 of other countries. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Feb 16, 2023 Jkt 047007 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR66.ATS SR66 pbinns on DSKBC47HB2PROD with BILLS