Washington, DC – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks applauded the passage of H.R. 1151 Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace Act. The bill, which passed the House 405-6, holds the People’s Republic of China (PRC) accountable for the violation of US sovereignty with its high-altitude surveillance balloon. 

Ranking Member Gregory W. Meeks delivered the following remarks: 
 
M. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1151, and I yield myself as much time as I may consume. 

I am the proud sponsor of H.R. 1151, the Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace or “USA” Act. I want to thank Chairman Mike McCaul for co-leading this bill and for his partnership on the House Foreign Affairs Committee in presenting a united front on this issue.  

On January 28th 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 US sovereignty. The Biden Administration closely monitored and tracked the balloon while it was over US soil, and took action to limit the balloon’s ability to collect useful information that the PRC could not gather otherwise. On February 4th, once it no longer posed a danger to Americans on the ground, the US 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.   

With this bipartisan legislation, the House can declare that such a violation of international law and US 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 countries’ sovereignty around the world. 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.   

The PRC must respect global norms and rules. When it doesn’t, the United States and the international community must hold it to account. For this reason, I support this legislation and ask my colleagues to do the same.   

And I reserve the balance of my time.