H. Res. 104 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

February 9, 2023. 

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 has since acknowledged 

that North American Aerospace Defense Command 

(NORAD) first began tracking the surveillance balloon 

on January 28, 2023, prior to its entry 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 

United States national security facilities, including 

Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana; 

Whereas, on February 4, 2023, a United States Air Force 

aircraft shot down the surveillance balloon off the coast 

of South Carolina; 

Whereas the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) intelligence 

collection directed against the United States poses a 

threat to United States interests and security; 
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Whereas, while the PRC has a long history of intelligence collection operations against United States national security 

entities, reports of its espionage have risen significantly 

in recent years; 

Whereas the CCP attempted to 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’’ events; 

Whereas, on February 3, 2023, the Secretary of State postponed his planned 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 although PRC surveillance balloons have previously 

violated United States airspace, this incident differs from 

those prior violations due to the length of time the balloon spent over United States territory; and 

Whereas it is in the United States national security interest 

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 House of Representatives— 

(1) condemns the PRC’s brazen violation of United 

States sovereignty; 

(2) denounces the CCP’s efforts to deceive the 

international community through false claims about its 
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intelligence collection campaigns in violation of United 

States sovereignty; 

(3) determines that it should be the policy of the 

United States to promptly and decisively act to prevent 

foreign aerial surveillance platforms, including those directed by or connected to the CCP, from violating 

United States sovereignty; and 

(4) calls on the Biden administration to continue to 

keep Congress apprised by providing comprehensive 

briefings on this incident that include— 

(A) a complete account of all known infiltrations of the national airspace by the PRC over the 

past several 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 complete timeline of events for the most 

recent infiltration 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) a detailed account of what measures were 

taken to mitigate the intelligence collection threat 
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posed by the balloon, the costs of those measures, 

and the impact on the regular operations of the affected installations, platforms, and personnel; 

(F) a description of what options were identified to mitigate the threat, and a description and 

timing of the recommendation the U.S. military 

made to the President regarding those response options; 

(G) a detailed account of diplomatic communications between the United States and the PRC 

regarding this incident, including any demarches by 

Department of State personnel and subsequent responses by the PRC; and 

(H) a detailed description of plans, capabilities, 

and methods to deter and defeat intelligence collection activities conducted by the PRC or other foreign adversaries in the national airspace system and 

any additional authorities needed from Congress to 

ensure detection and defeat of these activities in the 

future. 

Attest: 

Clerk.