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;
•HRES 104 EH 
Whereas, while the PRC has a long history of intelligence col-
lection 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 post-
poned his planned trip to the PRC and referred to the 
balloon incident as an ‘‘irresponsible act and a clear vio-
lation of U.S. sovereignty and international law that un-
dermined 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 bal-
loon 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
•HRES 104 EH 
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 di-
rected 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 infiltra-
tions of the national airspace by the PRC over the 
past several years, regardless of platform; 
(B) a complete account of similar past inci-
dents 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 even-
tual 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 ter-
ritory; 
(E) a detailed account of what measures were 
taken to mitigate the intelligence collection threat
•HRES 104 EH 
posed by the balloon, the costs of those measures, 
and the impact on the regular operations of the af-
fected installations, platforms, and personnel; 
(F) a description of what options were identi-
fied to mitigate the threat, and a description and 
timing of the recommendation the U.S. military 
made to the President regarding those response op-
tions; 
(G) a detailed account of diplomatic commu-
nications between the United States and the PRC 
regarding this incident, including any demarches by 
Department of State personnel and subsequent re-
sponses by the PRC; and 
(H) a detailed description of plans, capabilities, 
and methods to deter and defeat intelligence collec-
tion activities conducted by the PRC or other for-
eign 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.