NORFOLK, Va. — President Joe Biden said he won’t apologize for taking down a suspected Chinese spy balloon at the start of the month.
He spoke Thursday, also giving an update on the investigation into three other unidentified objects the military shot down last week. He said they likely didn’t pose any threats.
Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner shared their concerns about the objects earlier in the day.
A fighter jet from Langley Air Force Base brought down a suspected Chinese spy balloon on February 4, off the South Carolina coast.
“Make no mistake, if any object presents a threat to the safety and security of the American people, I will take it down,” President Biden said at a Thursday press conference.
The balloon floated into U.S. airspace a week prior. On Thursday, Biden said he waited to act at the advice of military leaders.
“It was the size of multiple school busses and posed a risk to people on the ground,” Biden said.
Sen. Kaine is eager to learn more from the balloon debris collected.
“The timing was inexcusable, but it did give us a deeper window in the Chinese aerial surveillance program, and we will get more information about it when we unpack the material we have been able to recover,” Sen. Kaine said.
Now, all eyes are on three flying objects shot down last week over Alaska, Canada and Lake Huron. Biden said they are likely tied to research or private companies.
Sen. Kaine and Sen. Warner said even if the objects aren't a threat, they were in civilian airspace, which raises concerns.
“I am hoping we find some of the remnants as soon as possible,” Sen. Warner said.
“Why would there be any objects up in civilian airspace without permission or clear marking, or without transmitting signals?” Sen. Kaine said.
Both lawmakers said they’d like to dig into this issue. They want updates to the rules and regulations when it comes to the use of the atmosphere and space.
“We don’t have a great system of both notifying the FAA, and even if you do notify, how we continue to monitor some of these entities that literally float in the wind,” Sen. Warner said.
“We have to have rules of the road to keep people safe,” Sen. Kaine said.
Biden said he asked his team to come back with sharper rules for dealing with unidentified objects in American airspace moving forward.
Once complete, he said he will share the policy parameters with Congress.