WASHINGTON– U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, today released the following statement in response to press reports that the Biden administration downed the Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean: 

“Allowing a spy balloon from the Communist Party of China to travel across the entire continental United States before contesting its presence is a disastrous projection of weakness by the White House,” Wicker said. “It is clear that standard protocol for defense of U.S. airspace was ignored. If press reports are correct, the Biden Administration hoped to hide this incident from the American people from the start. The White House owes Congress and the American people answers about this failure, and I intend to get those answers without delay.”