USA Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (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, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I have a feeling that while there is going to be agreement, myself and the comments of my colleague over there might be slightly different, but I rise in support of H.R. 1151, the Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace or USA Act.

It is an important piece of legislation because of what has happened to the United States of America and to Americans.

In early February, I think everybody watched this on the news for days on end. Our Nation found itself in what we thought was an impossible situation.

Looking up into the sky, Americans saw a strange object floating overhead. Some wondered if it was a bird or a plane. Some wondered if it was a UFO from some distant planet.

It was none of those things. It was a high-tech balloon sent by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on the United States of America and all of our people.

It floated slowly across North America in the full width of the continental United States from Alaska to the South Carolina coast.

In States across the country, Americans saw the balloon, but what was more concerning was what the balloon saw.

It conducted surveillance, it conducted reconnaissance, and it came away with intelligence on the United States of America that we did not want China to have.

Now, while the Biden administration sat on its hands, this balloon, minute after minute after minute, gained valuable information on some of our most sensitive military sites.

We now know that the United States had been tracking the balloon since at least January 28, that being the day that it entered U.S. airspace, but very likely before that. The administration hasn't disclosed exactly what date it began tracking the balloon.

Yet, the Biden administration didn't act. They didn't shoot it down, that is to say, until 7 days later, until it had crossed the entire breadth of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, China is determined to topple the United States of America. Xi Jinping will stop at nothing to achieve that goal.

We have known this for years, but in February, we saw the proof with our own eyes. This is not an abstract concern. We can literally watch it invade the American homeland.

Congress needs to step up and send a clear message to the Chinese Communist Party. It will not be allowed to violate our sovereignty, to use American technology for its own military purposes, or to spy on American citizens.

This shouldn't be an argument anywhere in the United States of America. This bipartisan legislation is an important step in sending that message and denying the CCP those abilities.

This bill does three important things. It sanctions Chinese Communist Party officials who were involved in the spy balloon program.

It requires the Secretary of State to develop a strategy to confront the People's Republic of China's global surveillance activities.

It requires the Commerce Department to consider export controls for U.S. technologies that are being used by the People's Liberation Army for intelligence and reconnaissance purposes.

Under no circumstances should Americans know that the Chinese Communist Party is spying on them across the breadth of our country and know that their government is not doing anything to respond to that.

It degrades the trust that Americans have in their government, in their safety, in their defense institutions, in their intelligence agencies. That can't be what America knows about its government.

This has been bipartisan legislation. I thank the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Meeks, for introducing the bill.

Along with Chairman Michael McCaul, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill and in curbing the CCP's malign influence in the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

House of Representatives,

Committee on Armed Services,

Washington, DC, April 17, 2023.

Hon. Michael T. McCaul,

Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,

Washington, DC.

Dear Chairman McCaul: It has come to our attention that

H.R. 1151, the ``Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace Act,'' was

substantially modified following its consideration in your

Committee to include language within the jurisdiction of the

House Armed Services Committee.

In the spirit of comity and expeditious consideration of

this legislation, we will not formally consider H.R. 1151. We

do so with the understanding that by waiving consideration of

the bill, the Committee on Armed Services does not waive any

future jurisdictional claims over the subject matters

contained in the bill which fall within the Armed Services

Committee's Rule X jurisdiction or create any precedent for

future accommodation.

Please place a copy of this letter and your response

acknowledging our jurisdictional interests into the

Congressional Record. Thank you for the cooperative spirit in

which you have worked regarding this matter and others

between our respective Committees.

Sincerely,

Mike D. Rogers,

Chairman, House Armed Services Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1151 is an important step in addressing very real threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.

I again thank Ranking Member Meeks and Chairman McCaul for this bill which earned bipartisan support in the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I believe it deserves our unanimous support.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1151, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am the proud sponsor of H.R. 1151, the Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace or the USA Act.

First, I thank Chairman Michael McCaul for co-leading this bill and for his partnership on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and presenting a united front on this very important issue.

On January 28 of this year, a PRC surveillance balloon intruded our airspace. The balloon then flew across our Nation, trying to gather intelligence from sensitive American military sites. This was an unacceptable violation of U.S. sovereignty.

The Biden administration closely monitored and tracked the balloon while it was over U.S. soil and took action to limit the balloon's ability to collect useful information that the PRC could not gather otherwise.

On February 4, once it no longer posed a danger to Americans on the ground, the United States military shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina.

President Biden safely and successfully took down the balloon in a way that allowed us to collect the debris and learn more about the PRC's surveillance program and capabilities.

Since that day, the Biden administration has smartly declassified additional information about the PRC's global program and shared it with our allies and partners.

We have learned that the United States and Canada aren't alone. PRC surveillance balloons have violated the sovereignty of over 40 nations across 5 continents.

This blatant disregard for the airspace and sovereignty of other nations is not only contrary to international rules, it is dangerous and provocative.

I have been deeply concerned by Beijing's response. Instead of apologizing, Beijing has resorted to denials and absurd misinformation and propaganda. Instead of making amends, Beijing has exacerbated tensions between our nations.

Now, I know that the United States of America will not be brought down by any balloon. We are the greatest and the strongest Nation on this planet.

That is why it was important to have this bipartisan legislation. By doing that, the House can clearly declare that such a violation of international law and U.S. sovereignty will not be tolerated and must not happen again.

H.R. 1151 calls on the administration to coordinate with our allies and partners and work within international organizations to call Beijing out for its repeated infringement of country sovereignty around the entire planet.

It also authorizes the President to hold responsible parties accountable through sanctions and calls for reporting and export controls by the Bureau of Industry and Security to disrupt the PRC's Military-Civil Fusion efforts related to its surveillance balloon program.

Mr. Speaker, the PRC must respect global norms and values. When the PRC doesn't, the United States and the international community must stay together to hold Beijing accountable.

Mr. Speaker, Russia's invasion of Ukraine made clear that the rules- based global order is under attack. Russia and China are increasingly not just bending the rules, they are breaking them. The PRC's violation of our sovereignty is just one example of this.

In the competition with China, we must be vigilant and vocal about upholding our values and upholding international rules.

To succeed in this competition, we must be smart, prioritizing the challenges and strategies to address them while working diplomatically alongside our partners and allies and friends.

The PRC's global surveillance program was a challenge not only to the

United States but to the sovereignty of nations around the world, and it deserves a policy response. That is why this bill is very important.

It is also why, again, I thank Chairman McCaul and Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for working collectively in a bipartisan way.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1151, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, had my vote for H.R. 1151, the ``Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace Act'' been cast, it would have been recorded as AYE. Had my vote for H. Res. 240, ``Condemning recent actions taken by the Russian military to down a United States Air Force drone'' been cast, it would have been recorded as AYE. Had I been present, I would have voted AYE on Roll Call No. 183, and AYE on Roll Call No. 184.

Madam Speaker, due to extreme weather and the subsequent travel delays in South Florida, I missed the first vote of the series today.

Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall No. 183.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to attend votes due to a medical procedure. Had I been present, I would have voted yea on rollcall No. 183 (H.R. 1151), and yea on rollcall No. 184 (H. Res. 240).