(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) President Joe Biden dismissed as “not a major breach” the China spy balloon that he let float across the country, and that military and national security analysts have linked to surveillance and intelligence-gathering programs run by the Communist government’s military, even as a united U.S. House blasted the act as “a brazen violation of United States sovereignty.”
The House unanimously voted 419-0 to approve a resolution “condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s use of a high-altitude surveillance balloon over United States territory.”
“An event like this, Mr. Speaker, must not happen again. And it cannot go unanswered,” Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, a sponsor of the resolution, said.
“They only understand one thing, and that is force, and that’s projecting power, and we need to project power and force and strength against the Chinese Communist Party.”
McCaul tossed a non-subtle slap at Biden’s woeful lack of leadership on the issue, and advised that the nation’s security must be preserved.
“They must understand that we do desire peace, but infringing upon our sovereignty leads us down a dangerous path,” McCaul said in reference to China. “Our adversaries must believe that any future incursion into American airspace by a spy balloon or any other vehicle will be met with decisive force. And that is why the House should pass this resolution.”
Biden took a different approach, dismissing the overt spying as part of doing business.
“It’s not a major breach,” he said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo. “Look, the total amount of intelligence gathering that’s going on by every country around the world is overwhelming.”
Biden says the Chinese spy balloon he let traverse the entire country gathering surveillance was “not a major [security] breach.” pic.twitter.com/dnMFciOJRB
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 10, 2023
Biden reportedly did at least acknowledge that letting a hostile country fly a spy balloon across the U.S. was “a violation of international law.”
“It’s our airspace. And once it comes into our space, we can do what we want with it,” Biden said.
He decide to let it spy on America.
The tepid response has drawn bi-partisan criticism, with lawmakers from both parties demanding answers to how the balloon was even allowed to enter American airspace and accountability for the administration’s lack of transparency.
“Do we have a plan for the next thing that happens and how we are going to deal with it?” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., demanded during a Thursday Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing.
“Because, quite frankly, I’ll just tell you I don’t want a damn balloon going across the United States when we potentially could have taken it down over the Aleutian Islands … or in some of the areas in Montana,” Tester said.
Look, I’ve got a problem with Chinese surveillance flying over my state, and I’m going to keep pushing to make sure a plan is in place to stop it from happening again. pic.twitter.com/bn6HWnX8OB
— Senator Jon Tester (@SenatorTester) February 9, 2023
