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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 104 Engrossed in House (EH)]

<DOC>
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;
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 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 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.
```