[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1151 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1151
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 18, 2023
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To hold the People's Republic of China accountable for the violation of
United States airspace and sovereignty with its high-altitude
surveillance balloon.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Upholding Sovereignty of Airspace
Act'' or the ``USA Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the Department of State, surveillance
balloons owned and operated by the People's Republic of China
(PRC) have entered United States airspace multiple times since
2017 and have violated the airspace of more than 40 countries
across 5 continents.
(2) On February 10, 2023, the Department of Commerce,
Bureau of Industry and Security issued a final rule (88 Fed.
Reg. 9389) that added 6 PRC entities to the Entity List for
supporting the PRC's military modernization efforts related to
aerospace programs, including airships and balloons and related
materials and components, that are used by the People's
Liberation Army for intelligence and reconnaissance.
(3) The PRC's response has been to use misinformation and
propaganda to deflect blame for the illegal surveillance
activities of these balloons.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the presence of the PRC's high altitude surveillance
balloon over United States airspace was an unacceptable
violation of United States sovereignty;
(2) the United States should continue to neutralize foreign
aerial surveillance assets that are in United States airspace
after consideration of civilian aviation safety, safety of
United States civilians and property on the ground, as well as
the intelligence collection risk and opportunity posed by such
intrusions;
(3) the PRC's global balloon surveillance program blatantly
undermines countries' sovereignty and poses a threat to
countries around the world;
(4) the PRC should cease efforts to spread misinformation
and propaganda about its intelligence-collection efforts;
(5) the United States Government should continue to share
information about the PRC's global surveillance efforts with
allies and partners and should work jointly to hold the PRC
accountable for its illegal surveillance actions, including at
multilateral fora;
(6) the United Nations should condemn the PRC's violation,
through its global surveillance balloon program, of the
sovereignty of member states of the United Nations and call on
the PRC to ensure its balloons do not violate sovereign
airspace again;
(7) the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)
should condemn the PRC for this violation of airspace and the
PRC's ICAO commitments; and
(8) as consistent with international law, the United States
should use regulatory and enforcement tools to protect national
security and sovereignty by identifying and disrupting the
PRC's use of surveillance balloons.
SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION AND PRESSURE.
(a) Diplomatic Strategy.--The Secretary of State, in consultation
with the Director of National Intelligence and the United States
Permanent Representative to the United Nations, shall develop a
diplomatic strategy to inform allies and partners of the scope of the
PRC surveillance program and build global consensus in order to address
the PRC's global surveillance balloon program, including by--
(1) using the voice of the United States at the
International Civil Aviation Organization to support Taiwan's
participation in the events and meetings of that Organization;
(2) sharing intelligence, as appropriate about the PRC's
global balloon program and its past violation of the sovereign
airspace of allies and partners;
(3) coordinating with United States allies and partners to
identify and track future PRC surveillance balloons, counter
PRC propaganda and misinformation about its global surveillance
program, and publicly share any future violations of
sovereignty;
(4) using the voice, vote, and influence of the United
States at the United Nations and other international and
regional organizations to spur greater diplomatic pressure on
the PRC to halt its surveillance collection operations that
violate international sovereignty;
(5) raising the challenges posed by the PRC's global
surveillance balloon program at major multilateral forums,
including at the G7 and G20 summits; and
(6) coordinating with allies and partners on the imposition
and implementation of substantially similar sanctions and
export controls to ensure that commodities, software, or
technology from the United States and its allies and partners
are not supporting the PRC's global surveillance efforts.
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the
Director of National Intelligence and the United States Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report that outlines the strategy developed
pursuant to subsection (a) and describes in detail the various steps
taken by the United States in line with said strategy.
(c) Briefing.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the relevant officials of the Department of
Defense shall provide to the appropriate congressional committees a
classified briefing on other Unidentified Flying Objects that have
entered United States airspace beginning on January 20, 2017, and
ending on such date of enactment.
(d) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this section, the
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of
Representatives; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Select
Committee on Intelligence of the Senate.
SEC. 5. IMPOSITION OF EXPORT CONTROLS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Commerce shall evaluate, for
appropriate controls under the Export Administration Regulations, the
export, reexport, and in-country transfer of the items and technologies
subject to United States jurisdiction related to aerospace programs,
including airships and balloons and related materials and components,
that are used by the People's Liberation Army for intelligence and
reconnaissance, and not later than 180 days after the enactment of this
Act submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that
includes--
(1) a description of the types of items and technologies
that were evaluated for potential controls with respect to this
section; and
(2) a list of the controls that BIS has implemented or
plans to implement because of its evaluation under this
section.
(b) Appropriate Congressional Committees.--In this section, the
term ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.
SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.
(a) Imposition of Sanctions.--On and after the date that is 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President may
impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) with respect to any
PRC individual the President determines is directly managing and
overseeing the PRC's global surveillance balloon program.
(b) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions that may be imposed with
respect to a foreign person described in subsection (a) are the
following:
(1) Property blocking.--Notwithstanding the requirements of
section 202 of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act
(50 U.S.C. 1701), the President may exercise of all powers
granted to the President by that Act to the extent necessary to
block and prohibit all transactions in all property and
interests in property of the foreign person if such property
and interests in property are in the United States, come within
the United States, or are or come within the possession or
control of a United States person.
(2) Aliens inadmissible for visas, admission, or parole.--
(A) In general.--An alien described in subsection
(a) is--
(i) inadmissible to the United States;
(ii) ineligible for a visa or travel to the
United States; and
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted
or paroled into the United States or to receive
any other benefit under the Immigration and
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
(B) Current visas revoked.--
(i) In general.--The visa or other
documentation issued to an alien described in
subsection (a) shall be revoked, regardless of
when such visa or other documentation is or was
issued.
(ii) Effect of revocation.--A visa or other
entry documentation revoked under clause (i)
shall, in accordance with section 221(i) of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1201(i)), no longer be valid for travel to the
United States.
(c) Exceptions.--
(1) Exception for intelligence, law enforcement, and
national security activities.--Sanctions under this section
shall not apply to any authorized intelligence, law
enforcement, or national security activities of the United
States.
(2) Exception to comply with united nations headquarters
agreement.--Sanctions under subsection (b)(3) shall not apply
with respect to the admission of an alien to the United States
if the admission of the alien is necessary to permit the United
States to comply with the Agreement regarding the Headquarters
of the United Nations, signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947,
and entered into force November 21, 1947, between the United
Nations and the United States, the Convention on Consular
Relations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and entered into
force March 19, 1967, or other applicable international
obligations.
(d) Exception Relating to Importation of Goods.--
(1) In general.--The authorities and requirements to impose
sanctions authorized under this section shall not include the
authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the importation
of goods.
(2) Good defined.--In this subsection, the term ``good''
means any article, natural or man-made substance, material,
supply or manufactured
product, including inspection and test equipment, and
excluding technical data.
Passed the House of Representatives April 17, 2023.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.