Republican Senator Josh Hawley (Mo.) has called on the Biden administration to be investigated for their “baffling response” to the Pentagon’s discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon that had floated over the U.S. missile installation in Montana.
Hawley explained that the Senate Homeland Security Committee had an “obligation” to gain “a full understanding of the surveillance that the Chinese government is currently conducting.”
Hawley added that this investigation should extend to the Biden admin’s “baffling response thus far.”
Hawley added that the Committee should seek an explanation from the Biden administration about why it chose to observe the surveillance balloon rather than shoot it down.
The Republican Senator described the intrusion as “a gross violation of American sovereignty.”
Hawley made his request in a letter to Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, dated February 3.
Hawley described “China’s foray into America’s sovereign airspace” as “deeply disturbing,” insisting that the discovery called “for an immediate investigation.”
The Republican Senator added that the discovery is “a matter of homeland security,” noting that the Senate Committee should “hear from” Biden admin’s senior members “to understand their response, or lack thereof, so far.”
When explaining why it hadn’t shot down the surveillance balloon, the Pentagon revealed it hadn’t because of the risk posed by falling debris.
Hawley also rejected the assertion by the Chinese foreign ministry that the balloon was a “civilian airship used for research,” which they described as primarily “meteorological purposes,” that had been blown off course by the weather.
