Global Courant
More than a dozen Republican senators are demanding that President Biden finally answer the question as to why he floated a Chinese spy balloon over the mainland US earlier this year.
Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Marco Rubio, R-FL, Senate Armed Forces Committee member Roger Wicker, R-MS, said in a new letter that Biden is yet to face public accountability for the “flagrant violation of US sovereignty.” .”
In the letter, the senators expressed frustration with Biden, his alleged failure to deal with China’s continued threats to US security, and demand his administration’s assessment of the spy balloon.
The Republicans have written other letters to the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence and the White House.
REPUBLICANS DEMAND ANSWERS AFTER TOP OFFICIAL WITHDRAWAL ACROSS CHINA PROSPECTS OF EXCELLENT TRIP
US President Joe Biden congratulated fighter pilots for downing a Chinese balloon off the East Coast after it flew over the US for several days. during a layover in Hagerstown, Maryland, on Feb. 4, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Previous letters were sent to the White House in both March and February.
“While four months have passed since a Chinese surveillance balloon was allowed to fly across the United States, your government has yet to give the American people a full account of how this spy platform was allowed to travel across sovereign US territory, what the balloon was carrying, and what it did during its mission has gathered,” the lawmakers said.
CHINESE SPY BALLOON INSIDE OUR SKY: WHAT WE KNOW
They continued: “Your government has also failed to take appropriate steps to hold the People’s Republic of China responsible for this blatant violation of US sovereignty. Therefore, we urge you to immediately direct all relevant government officials to release, as appropriate, information to the U.S. public regarding the Chinese spy balloon.”
US Air Force pilot looks down at suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it hovered over the Central Continental in the United States on Feb. 3, 2023. (U.S. Department of Defense / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, is demanding answers from President Biden about the Chinese spy balloon that drifted across the US before being shot down. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Lawmakers have described the use of the balloon as deliberate espionage by the Chinese Communist Party because it was carrying surveillance equipment.
It was allowed to drift from Alaska and across the country before finally being shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
CRITICS SEE CHINESE SPY BALLOON AS BIDEN’S LATEST POLICY BLOOD
The People’s Republic of China, under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, has only increased its brutal threats to our national security.
They were joined in signing the letter by Republican Senators Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Jim Risch of Idaho, Susan Collins of Maine, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, John Cornyn of Texas, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Michael Rounds of South Dakota, and Jerry. Moran of Kansas, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Rick Scott of Florida, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, and Dan Sullivan of Alaska .
A ship scans the sea during efforts to retrieve and recover the Chinese spy balloon after the Chinese spy balloon was shot down on February 5, 2023 in Myrtle Beach SC, United States. (Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Chinese and American international relations were tense in the wake of the Chinese spy balloon shooting down. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Read the full text of the letter below:
Dear Mr President:
We are writing to express our deep concern about your administration’s lack of transparency regarding the information it has collected on the surveillance platform that powers the People’s Republic of China (PRC) deployed over our country.
In your State of the Union address this year, you promised the American people that you would protect the United States from the threats of the People’s Republic of China to our sovereignty. Although four months have passed since a Chinese surveillance balloon was allowed to fly across the United States, your government has yet to give the American people a full account of how this spy platform was allowed to travel over sovereign American territory, what the balloon carried, and what it collected during his mission. Nor has your government taken appropriate action to hold the People’s Republic of China responsible for this blatant violation of US sovereignty. Therefore, we urge you to immediately direct all relevant government officials to release information about the Chinese spy balloon to the U.S. public, as appropriate.
The People’s Republic of China, under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, has only increased its brutal threats to our national security. In addition to deploying a spy platform on US soil, the People’s Republic of China has carried out dangerous maneuvers against US aircraft in the South China Sea and US ships navigating international waters, and continues to support Russia’s vicious war against Ukraine, US companies operating in China actively harassing, blatant human rights violations, while at the same time threatening a free and democratic Taiwan.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
We note with deep concern how, in a recent report in The New York Times, officials in your government acknowledged that a May 2023 PRC malware attack against Guam was “part of a massive Chinese intelligence-gathering effort that could cover cyberspace, outer space and, as Americans discovered with the balloon incident, the lower atmosphere.” It is time for your administration to fully expose Beijing’s intelligence-gathering efforts against the United States and the threats posed by such activities.
Therefore, we urge you to release to the American people all pertinent information that the United States has gathered regarding the Chinese spy balloon. In particular, we note that the Financial Times reported last April that “China is refusing to allow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to visit Beijing over concerns that the FBI will release the results of an investigation into the suspected Chinese spy balloon crash.” We therefore call on you to stand up against Beijing’s attempts to force the United States to remain silent about the PRC’s violation of US sovereignty and immediately release the FBI’s findings on the PRC’s spy balloon. to give.
Further, we encourage you to explore all options to respond decisively to and deter significant violations of the PRC that pose a threat to U.S. national security and interests. Beijing continues to test US resolve and erode US credibility – we must respond forcefully or risk further aggression from US adversaries.
Fox News Digital reached out to both Rubio and Wicker for additional comment, but no response was immediately received.
Fox News’ Kelly Phares contributed to this report.
