I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1151 

To hold the People’s Republic of China accountable for the violation of 

United States airspace and sovereignty with its high-altitude surveillance 

balloon. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2023 

Mr. MEEKS (for himself and Mr. MCCAUL) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To hold the People’s Republic of China accountable for the 

violation of United States airspace and sovereignty with 

its high-altitude surveillance balloon. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Upholding Sovereignty 

5 of Airspace Act’’ or the ‘‘USA Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) According to the Department of State, sur2 veillance balloons owned and operated by the Peo3 ple’s Republic of China (PRC) have entered United 

4 States airspace multiple times since 2017 and have 

5 violated the airspace of more than 40 countries 

6 across 5 continents. 

7 (2) On February 10, 2023, the Department of 

8 Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security issued 

9 a final rule (88 Fed. Reg. 9389) that added 6 PRC 

10 entities to the Entity List for supporting the PRC’s 

11 military modernization efforts related to aerospace 

12 programs, including airships and balloons and re13 lated materials and components, that are used by 

14 the People’s Liberation Army for intelligence and re15 connaissance. 

16 (3) The PRC’s response has been to use misin17 formation and propaganda to deflect blame for the 

18 illegal surveillance activities of these balloons. 

19 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

20 It is the sense of Congress that— 

21 (1) the presence of the PRC’s high altitude sur22 veillance balloon over United States airspace was an 

23 unacceptable violation of United States sovereignty; 

24 (2) the United States should continue to neu25 tralize foreign aerial surveillance assets that are in 


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1 United States airspace after consideration of civilian 

2 aviation safety, safety of United States civilians and 

3 property on the ground, as well as the intelligence 

4 collection risk and opportunity posed by such intru5 sions; 

6 (3) the PRC’s global balloon surveillance pro7 gram blatantly undermines countries’ sovereignty 

8 and poses a threat to countries around the world; 

9 (4) the PRC should cease efforts to spread mis10 information and propaganda about its intelligence11 collection efforts; 

12 (5) the United States Government should con13 tinue to share information about the PRC’s global 

14 surveillance efforts with allies and partners and 

15 should work jointly to hold the PRC accountable for 

16 its illegal surveillance actions, including at multilat17 eral fora; 

18 (6) the United Nations should condemn the 

19 PRC’s violation, through its global surveillance bal20 loon program, of the sovereignty of member states of 

21 the United Nations and call on the PRC to ensure 

22 its balloons do not violate sovereign airspace again; 

23 (7) the International Civil Aviation Organiza24 tion (ICAO) should condemn the PRC for this violaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Mar 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1151.IH H1151

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1 tion of airspace and the PRC’s ICAO commitments; 

2 and 

3 (8) as consistent with international law, the 

4 United States should use regulatory and enforce5 ment tools to protect national security and sov6 ereignty by identifying and disrupting the PRC’s use 

7 of surveillance balloons. 

8 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION AND PRESSURE. 

9 (a) DIPLOMATIC STRATEGY.—The Secretary of 

10 State, in consultation with the Director of National Intel11 ligence and the United States Permanent Representative 

12 to the United Nations, shall develop a diplomatic strategy 

13 to inform allies and partners of the scope of the PRC sur14 veillance program and build global consensus in order to 

15 address the PRC’s global surveillance balloon program, in16 cluding by— 

17 (1) sharing intelligence, as appropriate about 

18 the PRC’s global balloon program and its past viola19 tion of the sovereign airspace of allies and partners; 

20 (2) coordinating with United States allies and 

21 partners to identify and track future PRC surveil22 lance balloons, counter PRC propaganda and misin23 formation about its global surveillance program, and 

24 publicly share any future violations of sovereignty; 


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1 (3) using the voice, vote, and influence of the 

2 United States at the United Nations and other 

3 international and regional organizations to spur 

4 greater diplomatic pressure on the PRC to halt its 

5 surveillance collection operations that violate inter6 national sovereignty; 

7 (4) raising the challenges posed by the PRC’s 

8 global surveillance balloon program at major multi9 lateral forums, including at the G7 and G20 sum10 mits; and 

11 (5) coordinating with allies and partners on the 

12 imposition and implementation of substantially simi13 lar sanctions and export controls to ensure that com14 modities, software, or technology from the United 

15 States and its allies and partners are not supporting 

16 the PRC’s global surveillance efforts. 

17 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in 

19 consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and 

20 the United States Permanent Representative to the 

21 United Nations, shall submit to the appropriate congres22 sional committees a report that outlines the strategy devel23 oped pursuant to subsection (a) and describes in detail 

24 the various steps taken by the United States in line with 

25 said strategy. 


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1 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

2 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

5 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

6 House of Representatives; and 

7 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

8 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. 

9 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF EXPORT CONTROLS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall 

11 evaluate, for appropriate controls under the Export Ad12 ministration Regulations, the export, reexport, and in13 country transfer of the items and technologies subject to 

14 United States jurisdiction related to aerospace programs, 

15 including airships and balloons and related materials and 

16 components, that are used by the People’s Liberation 

17 Army for intelligence and reconnaissance, and not later 

18 than 180 days after the enactment of this Act submit a 

19 report to the appropriate congressional committees that 

20 includes— 

21 (1) a description of the types of items and tech22 nologies that were evaluated for potential controls 

23 with respect to this section; and 


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1 (2) a list of the controls that BIS has imple2 mented or plans to implement because of its evalua3 tion under this section. 

4 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

5 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com6 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

7 House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 

8 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

9 SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

10 (a) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—On and after the 

11 date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act, the President may impose the sanctions described 

13 in subsection (b) with respect to any PRC individual the 

14 President determines is directly managing and overseeing 

15 the PRC’s global surveillance balloon program. 

16 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions that 

17 may be imposed with respect to a foreign person described 

18 in subsection (a) are the following: 

19 (1) PROPERTY BLOCKING.—Notwithstanding 

20 the requirements of section 202 of the International 

21 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701), 

22 the President may exercise of all powers granted to 

23 the President by that Act to the extent necessary to 

24 block and prohibit all transactions in all property 

25 and interests in property of the foreign person if 


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1 such property and interests in property are in the 

2 United States, come within the United States, or are 

3 or come within the possession or control of a United 

4 States person. 

5 (2) ALIENS INADMISSIBLE FOR VISAS, ADMIS6 SION, OR PAROLE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—An alien described in 

8 subsection (a) is— 

9 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 

10 (ii) ineligible for a visa or travel to the 

11 United States; and 

12 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 

13 or paroled into the United States or to re14 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra15 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

16 seq.). 

17 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—The visa or other 

19 documentation issued to an alien described 

20 in subsection (a) shall be revoked, regard21 less of when such visa or other documenta22 tion is or was issued. 

23 (ii) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.—A visa 

24 or other entry documentation revoked 

25 under clause (i) shall, in accordance with 


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1 section 221(i) of the Immigration and Na2 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), no longer 

3 be valid for travel to the United States. 

4 (c) EXCEPTIONS.— 

5 (1) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE, LAW EN6 FORCEMENT, AND NATIONAL SECURITY ACTIVI7 TIES.—Sanctions under this section shall not apply 

8 to any authorized intelligence, law enforcement, or 

9 national security activities of the United States. 

10 (2) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA11 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 

12 under subsection (b)(3) shall not apply with respect 

13 to the admission of an alien to the United States if 

14 the admission of the alien is necessary to permit the 

15 United States to comply with the Agreement regard16 ing the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 

17 at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into 

18 force November 21, 1947, between the United Na19 tions and the United States, the Convention on Con20 sular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and 

21 entered into force March 19, 1967, or other applica22 ble international obligations. 

Æ 


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