Hawley Announces Senate Resolution Condemning CCP for Spy Balloon

The sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recovering a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 5, 2023. U.S. Navy via AP

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) will introduce a resolution in the Senate condemning the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for flying a spy balloon over the United States.

The balloon—first reported on Feb. 1 after it was spotted in the skies over Billings, Montana—traveled the length of the country, collecting data over multiple U.S. missile and nuclear weapons sites before it was eventually shot down off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.

Hawley’s resolution (pdf) not only denounces the CCP’s invasion of U.S. airspace to conduct surveillance but also calls upon President Joe Biden to “be transparent with the American people and Congress” about the incident and “all other attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to conduct surveillance on United States citizens, territory, and assets.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) speaks during a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight on Capitol Hill in Washington on Aug. 3, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

‘Gross Violation of American Sovereignty’

In a Feb. 9 statement announcing the resolution, Hawley said: “The CCP’s deployment of a surveillance balloon into U.S. airspace was a gross violation of American sovereignty and cannot be tolerated. All members of the U.S. Senate should condemn China’s actions and expect full transparency about the details of this incident.”

Hawley’s announcement coincided with the unanimous passage Thursday of a similar resolution (pdf) in the House—put forth by Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas)—in a rare moment of bipartisan agreement.

“Last week, the nation watched in shock as a Chinese surveillance balloon traversed much of the United States, including sensitive American military sites like Maelstrom Air Force Base in Montana,” McCaul said in a statement.

“That base is one of the three places where our Minuteman III ICBM nuclear missiles are stored. Americans were rightfully, deeply disturbed by this brazen violation of sovereignty by the Chinese Communist Party.”

The House resolution, the congressman added, “sends a clear, bipartisan message to the CCP and to our adversaries around the world that this kind of aggression will not be tolerated. It tells the world, in one united voice, that our national security is not a partisan issue. We stand together today with one voice as Americans.”

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), speaks at a bipartisan news conference on the ongoing Afghanistan evacuations, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Aug. 25, 2021. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden briefly referred to the incident in his State of the Union address, characterizing the end result of the balloon being shot down as one of triumph.

“I am committed to work with China where it can advance American interests and benefit the world. But make no mistake about it: As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”

Republicans, however, saw the situation differently.

“I thought it was unfortunate when he said that America’s enemies are weaker today, that he’s standing up to China,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told The Epoch Times after the speech.

“Sadly, the entire world laughed at the president while a Chinese spy balloon hovered over America for over a week. … We should have shot it down the instant it entered U.S. airspace.”

Hawley, echoing Cruz’s disappointment, said, “I thought it was a total failure to level with the American people about what’s happened this last week, about his administration’s failure to deter China, and about the fact that he’s made us more dependent on China, with everything from his energy policies to his military decisions.”

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter flies over a debris field during recovery efforts of a high-altitude surveillance balloon on Feb. 4, 2023. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. j.g. Jerry Ireland

Some Democrats have also been critical of the administration’s response to the balloon, like Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, who led a Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the subject Thursday.

“The American people deserve answers about the Chinese spy balloon that was first publicly reported to be in U.S. airspace above my home state of Montana,” Tester said in opening the hearing.

“Montanans and folks all across this country value their freedom and privacy. Those are American values that China wants to destroy on their way to replacing us as the world’s leading superpower.”

While pressing administration officials for answers, Tester later noted: “I don’t want a damn balloon going across the United States when we potentially could have taken it down over the Aleutian Islands. I’ve got a problem with a Chinese balloon flying over my state, much less the rest of the country.”