In President Biden’s State of the Union Address, he boldly proclaimed, “Make no mistake: As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did.”
He made this statement after he allowed a Chinese spy balloon to enter and exit U.S. air space – twice – and float across the entirety of our country (and a large chunk of Canada) for about a week gathering intelligence on some of our most sensitive national security facilities.
So, did Biden “protect our country” as he said? Congress, exercising its constitutional oversight responsibility and powers, should find out by demanding that he answer the following questions:
1. How long before the balloon first entered U.S. air space in Alaska did you know that it was headed toward this country, and what actions did you take at that time to identify the object and conduct a threat assessment?
2. What actions did you consider to identify the object, gather information on its makeup, function, and mission, and stop or destroy the balloon or otherwise protect U.S. national security before it entered Alaskan air space?
3. What actions did you consider to identify the object, gather information on its makeup, function, and mission, and stop or destroy the balloon or otherwise protect U.S. national security while it was in U.S. air space over Alaska?
4. The balloon left Alaskan air space and traveled through Canadian airspace before again entering U.S. airspace in Montana. What actions did you take to coordinate with the Canadian government to identify the object, gather information on its makeup, function, and mission, and stop or destroy the balloon or otherwise protect U.S. national security and the national security of our close NATO ally Canada, before it entered Canada and before it reentered U.S. air space?
5. What actions did you consider to identify the object, gather information on its makeup, function, and mission, and stop or destroy the balloon or otherwise protect U.S. national security after it reentered U.S. air space in Montana and throughout the three more days that it traveled over this country?
6. Describe in detail everything that we know about the balloon, its design, capabilities, functions, and mission.
7. Your administration has said that the balloon could not be shot down because it would spread debris over an area of approximately 20 square miles, thereby endangering the lives and property of countless people. Could the balloon have been shot down while it was over the hundreds of undeveloped miles of land in Alaska without presenting such dangers to people or property? If so, why did you not order the balloon to be shot down at that time?
8. Did you request, or were you presented with, any other options to disable the balloon without creating such a debris field? If so, what were those options, and why did you not employ any of them. If not, why not?
9. Did you request, or were you provided with, any options to disable any surveillance capabilities on the balloon? If so, what were those options, and did you order that any of them be employed? If so, explain what was done and to what effect. If there were options available that you did not order to be employed, explain why you did not issue any such order. If no such options were presented, explain why not.
10. Did you request, or were you provided with, any options to shield any sensitive national security facilities from surveillance from that balloon before it reached those facilities? If so, what were those options, and did you order that any of them be employed? If so, explain what was done and to what effect. If there were options available that you did not order to be employed, explain why you did not issue any such order. If no such options were presented, explain why not.
11. What actions have you taken or ordered to assess what intelligence the balloon conveyed to China or any other foreign entity? Describe in detail what intelligence was conveyed by that balloon to China or any other foreign entity.
12. What actions have you taken or ordered to assess the damage that was done to U.S. national security as a result of the balloon being allowed to fly unfettered across the country? Describe in detail the damage that was done to U.S. national security as a result of the balloon being allowed to fly unfettered across the country.
13. Describe any actions you have taken or ordered to learn lessons from this incident. Describe in detail all lessons that have been learned from this incident.
14. Have you ordered an assessment of any increase in the likelihood that China and/or other belligerent countries will take like actions against this country as a result of China’s unmitigated success in its actions against us on this occasion? Describe whether and to what extent there is any such increased risk.
15. Describe in detail all plans that have been implemented or that are in the process of being implemented to prevent this kind of incident from ever occurring again.
16. Describe in detail how this situation will be handled differently if it happens again.
17. Have you ordered an assessment of how China and other countries would handle such a situation if it happened within their borders? If so, describe in detail how China and other belligerent countries would handle such situations, how their handling of the situation would differ from how you handled it, and whether their handling of the situation would be more or less effective than the way you handled it.
18. If the assessment of how China and other belligerent countries would handle this kind of tactic being used against them concluded that they would be as powerless against it as you claimed to be, have you considered employing this tactic against them? Why or why not?
19. Other than delaying a trip by Secretary Blinken to China, describe every action you have taken or are in the process of taking to hold China accountable for its attack on American sovereignty and national security.
20. Describe every action you have taken or are in the process of taking to deter China and other countries from employing this or other similar tactics against this country in the future.
The United States very likely suffered very serious damage to our national security as a result of the way this president handled this situation. At a minimum, his handling of the situation projected weakness – yet again – that will encourage belligerence from America’s enemies. It is crucial that he be held accountable to explain his actions.
