IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1151 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2023 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

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

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) According to the Department of State, sur7 veillance balloons owned and operated by the Peo8 ple’s Republic of China (PRC) have entered United 

9 States airspace multiple times since 2017 and have 

10 violated the airspace of more than 40 countries 

11 across 5 continents. 

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

13 Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security issued 

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

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

16 military modernization efforts related to aerospace 

17 programs, including airships and balloons and re18 lated materials and components, that are used by 

19 the People’s Liberation Army for intelligence and re20 connaissance. 

21 (3) The PRC’s response has been to use misin22 formation and propaganda to deflect blame for the 

23 illegal surveillance activities of these balloons. 

24 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

25 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) the presence of the PRC’s high altitude sur2 veillance balloon over United States airspace was an 

3 unacceptable violation of United States sovereignty; 

4 (2) the United States should continue to neu5 tralize foreign aerial surveillance assets that are in 

6 United States airspace after consideration of civilian 

7 aviation safety, safety of United States civilians and 

8 property on the ground, as well as the intelligence 

9 collection risk and opportunity posed by such intru10 sions; 

11 (3) the PRC’s global balloon surveillance pro12 gram blatantly undermines countries’ sovereignty 

13 and poses a threat to countries around the world; 

14 (4) the PRC should cease efforts to spread mis15 information and propaganda about its intelligence16 collection efforts; 

17 (5) the United States Government should con18 tinue to share information about the PRC’s global 

19 surveillance efforts with allies and partners and 

20 should work jointly to hold the PRC accountable for 

21 its illegal surveillance actions, including at multilat22 eral fora; 

23 (6) the United Nations should condemn the 

24 PRC’s violation, through its global surveillance bal25 loon program, of the sovereignty of member states of 


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1 the United Nations and call on the PRC to ensure 

2 its balloons do not violate sovereign airspace again; 

3 (7) the International Civil Aviation Organiza4 tion (ICAO) should condemn the PRC for this viola5 tion of airspace and the PRC’s ICAO commitments; 

6 and 

7 (8) as consistent with international law, the 

8 United States should use regulatory and enforce9 ment tools to protect national security and sov10 ereignty by identifying and disrupting the PRC’s use 

11 of surveillance balloons. 

12 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION AND PRESSURE. 

13 (a) DIPLOMATIC STRATEGY.—The Secretary of 

14 State, in consultation with the Director of National Intel15 ligence and the United States Permanent Representative 

16 to the United Nations, shall develop a diplomatic strategy 

17 to inform allies and partners of the scope of the PRC sur18 veillance program and build global consensus in order to 

19 address the PRC’s global surveillance balloon program, in20 cluding by— 

21 (1) using the voice of the United States at the 

22 International Civil Aviation Organization to support 

23 Taiwan’s participation in the events and meetings of 

24 that Organization; 


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1 (2) sharing intelligence, as appropriate about 

2 the PRC’s global balloon program and its past viola3 tion of the sovereign airspace of allies and partners; 

4 (3) coordinating with United States allies and 

5 partners to identify and track future PRC surveil6 lance balloons, counter PRC propaganda and misin7 formation about its global surveillance program, and 

8 publicly share any future violations of sovereignty; 

9 (4) using the voice, vote, and influence of the 

10 United States at the United Nations and other 

11 international and regional organizations to spur 

12 greater diplomatic pressure on the PRC to halt its 

13 surveillance collection operations that violate inter14 national sovereignty; 

15 (5) raising the challenges posed by the PRC’s 

16 global surveillance balloon program at major multi17 lateral forums, including at the G7 and G20 sum18 mits; and 

19 (6) coordinating with allies and partners on the 

20 imposition and implementation of substantially simi21 lar sanctions and export controls to ensure that com22 modities, software, or technology from the United 

23 States and its allies and partners are not supporting 

24 the PRC’s global surveillance efforts. 


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

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

3 consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and 

4 the United States Permanent Representative to the 

5 United Nations, shall submit to the appropriate congres6 sional committees a report that outlines the strategy devel7 oped pursuant to subsection (a) and describes in detail 

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

9 said strategy. 

10 (c) BRIEFING.—Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the relevant officials 

12 of the Department of Defense shall provide to the appro13 priate congressional committees a classified briefing on 

14 other Unidentified Flying Objects that have entered 

15 United States airspace beginning on January 20, 2017, 

16 and ending on such date of enactment. 

17 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

18 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com19 mittees’’ means— 

20 (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

21 Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

22 House of Representatives; and 

23 (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

24 the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate. 


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1 SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF EXPORT CONTROLS. 

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

3 evaluate, for appropriate controls under the Export Ad4 ministration Regulations, the export, reexport, and in5 country transfer of the items and technologies subject to 

6 United States jurisdiction related to aerospace programs, 

7 including airships and balloons and related materials and 

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

9 Army for intelligence and reconnaissance, and not later 

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

11 report to the appropriate congressional committees that 

12 includes— 

13 (1) a description of the types of items and tech14 nologies that were evaluated for potential controls 

15 with respect to this section; and 

16 (2) a list of the controls that BIS has imple17 mented or plans to implement because of its evalua18 tion under this section. 

19 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

20 In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com21 mittees’’ means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

22 House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 

23 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

24 SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 

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

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


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1 this Act, the President may impose the sanctions described 

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

3 President determines is directly managing and overseeing 

4 the PRC’s global surveillance balloon program. 

5 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions that 

6 may be imposed with respect to a foreign person described 

7 in subsection (a) are the following: 

8 (1) PROPERTY BLOCKING.—Notwithstanding 

9 the requirements of section 202 of the International 

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

11 the President may exercise of all powers granted to 

12 the President by that Act to the extent necessary to 

13 block and prohibit all transactions in all property 

14 and interests in property of the foreign person if 

15 such property and interests in property are in the 

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

17 or come within the possession or control of a United 

18 States person. 

19 (2) ALIENS INADMISSIBLE FOR VISAS, ADMIS20 SION, OR PAROLE.— 

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

22 subsection (a) is— 

23 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 

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

25 United States; and 


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1 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 

2 or paroled into the United States or to re3 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra4 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

5 seq.). 

6 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—The visa or other 

8 documentation issued to an alien described 

9 in subsection (a) shall be revoked, regard10 less of when such visa or other documenta11 tion is or was issued. 

12 (ii) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.—A visa 

13 or other entry documentation revoked 

14 under clause (i) shall, in accordance with 

15 section 221(i) of the Immigration and Na16 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1201(i)), no longer 

17 be valid for travel to the United States. 

18 (c) EXCEPTIONS.— 

19 (1) EXCEPTION FOR INTELLIGENCE, LAW EN20 FORCEMENT, AND NATIONAL SECURITY ACTIVI21 TIES.—Sanctions under this section shall not apply 

22 to any authorized intelligence, law enforcement, or 

23 national security activities of the United States. 

24 (2) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH UNITED NA25 TIONS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Sanctions 


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

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

3 the admission of the alien is necessary to permit the 

4 United States to comply with the Agreement regard5 ing the Headquarters of the United Nations, signed 

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

7 force November 21, 1947, between the United Na8 tions and the United States, the Convention on Con9 sular Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and 

10 entered into force March 19, 1967, or other applica11 ble international obligations. 

12 (d) EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF

13 GOODS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and require15 ments to impose sanctions authorized under this sec16 tion shall not include the authority or requirement 

17 to impose sanctions on the importation of goods. 

18 (2) GOOD DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

19 term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or man20 made substance, material, supply or manufactured 


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1 product, including inspection and test equipment, 

2 and excluding technical data. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 17, 2023. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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