"I don't want a damn balloon going across the United States."

Defense Department officials testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense about the Chinese surveillance balloon that entered the West before being shot down by fighter jets off the coast of South Carolina. Senators also expressed their opinions on the matter.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME): "Thank you also for holding this important hearing on the brazen incursion into America's airspace by a Chinese surveillance balloon...This was not a harmless weather balloon...this was a serious and blatant attempt by the Chinese to college valuable data."

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT): "I don't want a damn balloon going across the United States when we potentially could have taken it down over the Aleutian Islands...I've got a problem with a Chinese balloon flying over my state, much less the rest of the country."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): "As an Alaskan I am so angry...Alaska is the first line of defense for America...It seems to me the clear message to China is, 'we got free range in Alaska, because they’re going to let us cruise over that until it gets to more sensitive areas.'"

Melissa Dalton, defense assistant secretary for homeland defense & hemispheric affairs, and others, defended decision to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon over water. "The balloon itself was 200 feet tall, with a jetliner size payload."

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By: C-SPAN
Title: "I don't want a damn balloon going across the United States."
Sourced From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfBln8eupJg

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