POINTS OF INTEREST

🇺🇸 🇨🇳 🎥 🎈🛸 President Biden Delivers Remarks on the United States’ Response to Recent Aerial Objects

Streamed live on Feb 16, 2023

START TRANSCRIPT

0:05
The President: Good afternoon.
0:09
Last week, in the immediate aftermath of the incursion
0:12
by China’s high-altitude balloon,
0:15
our military, through the North American Aerospace
0:18
Defense Command — so-called NOR- —
0:20
NORAD — closely scrutinized the —
0:25
our airspace, including enhancing our radar
0:27
to pick up more slow-moving objects
0:30
above our country and around the world.
0:33
In doing so, they tracked three unidentified objects:
0:37
one in Alaska, Canada, and over Lake Huron in the Midwest.
0:42
They acted in accordance with established parameters
0:45
for determining how to deal with unidentified aerial objects
0:48
in U.S. airspace.
0:50
At their recommendation,
0:52
I gave the order to take down these three objects
0:56
due to hazards to civilian commercial air traffic
0:58
and because we could not rule out the surveillance
1:01
risk of sensitive facilities.
1:04
We acted in consultation with the Canadian government.
1:07
I spoke personally with Prime Minister Trudeau
1:10
and Ca- — from Canada on Saturday.
1:13
And just as critically, we acted out of an abundance of caution
1:16
and at an opportunity that allowed us to take down these —
1:20
these objects safely.
1:22
Our military and the Canadian military
1:24
are seeking to recover the debris
1:26
so we can learn more about these three objects.
1:29
Our intelligence community is still assessing
1:31
all three incidences. They’re reporting to me daily
1:34
and will continue their urgent efforts to do so,
1:37
and I will communicate that to the Congress.
1:40
We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were.
1:43
But nothing — nothing right now suggests
1:45
they were related to China’s spy balloon program
1:48
or that they were surveillance vehicles from other —
1:51
any other country.
1:52
The intelligence community’s current assessment
1:55
is that these three objects were most likely balloons
1:57
tied to private companies, recreation,
2:00
or research institutions studying weather
2:03
or conducting other scientific research.
2:06
When I came into office,
2:07
I instructed our intelligence community
2:09
to take a broad look at the phenomenon
2:11
of unidentified aerial objects.
2:14
We know that a range of entities,
2:16
including countries, companies, and research organizations
2:19
operate objects at altitudes for purposes
2:21
that are not nefarious,
2:23
including legitimate scientific research.
2:28
I want to be clear: We don’t have any evidence
2:29
that there has been a sudden increase
2:31
in the number of objects in the sky.
2:33
We’re now just seeing more of them,
2:35
partially because the steps we’ve taken
2:38
to increase our radars — to narrow our radars.
2:41
And we have to keep adapting our approach to delaying —
2:45
to dealing with these challenges.
2:46
That’s why I’ve directed my team to come back to me
2:49
with sharper rules for how we will deal
2:52
with these unidentified objects moving forward,
2:54
distinguishing — distinguishing between those that are likely
2:57
to pose safety and security risks
3:00
that necessitate action and those that do not.
3:04
But make no mistake, if any object presents a threat
3:07
to the safety and security of the American people,
3:09
I will take it down. I’ll be sharing with Congress
3:13
these classified policy parameters
3:15
when they’re completed, and they’ll remain classified
3:19
so we don’t give our roadmap
3:21
to our enemies to try to evade our defenses.
3:24
Going forward, these parameters will guide
3:26
what actions we will take while responding to unmanned
3:29
and unidentified aerial objects.
3:32
We’re going to keep adapting them
3:33
as the challenges evolve, if it evolves.
3:35
In addition, we’ve derived —
3:37
I’ve directly my National Security Advisor
3:39
to lead a government-wide effort to make sure
3:41
we are positioned to deal safely
3:44
and effectively with the objects in our airspace.
3:47
First, we will establish a better inventory
3:50
of unmanned airborne objects in space —
3:54
above the United States’ airspace
3:56
and make sure that inventory is accessible and up to date.
4:01
Second, we’ll implement further measures
4:03
to improve our capacity to detect unmanned objecti- —
4:06
objects in our airspace.
4:09
Third, we’ll update the rules and regulations
4:12
for launching and maintaining unmanned objects
4:15
in the skies above the United States of America.
4:18
And fourth, my Secretary of State will lead an effort
4:21
to help establish a global — a globa- —
4:24
a common global norms in this largely unregulated space.
4:29
These steps will lead to safer and more secure skies
4:32
for our air travelers, our military, our scientists,
4:35
and for people on the ground as well.
4:38
That’s my job as your President and Commander-in-Chief.
4:41
As the events of the previous days have shown,
4:44
we’ll always act to protect the interest of the American people
4:47
and the security of the American people.
4:50
Since I came into office,
4:51
we’ve developed the ability to identify, track,
4:54
and study high-altitude surveillance balloons
4:56
connected with the Chinese military.
4:59
When one of these high-altitude surveillance balloons
5:01
entered our airspace over the continental United States
5:04
earlier in the month,
5:06
I gave the order to shoot it down
5:08
as soon as it would be safe to do so.
5:10
The military advised against shooting it down over land
5:13
because of the sheer size of it.
5:14
It was the size of multiple school busses,
5:18
and it posed a risk to people on the ground
5:20
if it was shot down where people lived.
5:23
Instead, we tracked it closely, we analyzed its capabilities,
5:27
and we learned more about how it operates.
5:30
And because we knew its path, we were able to protect
5:32
sensitive sites against collection.
5:35
We waited until it was safely over water,
5:38
which would not only protect civilians
5:40
but also enable us to recover substantial components
5:43
for further analys- — for further analytics.
5:47
And then we shot it down, sending a clear message —
5:50
clear message:
5:52
The violation of our sovereignty is unacceptable.
5:55
We will act to protect our country, and we did.
5:58
Now, this past Friday, we put restrictions on six firms
6:02
that directly support
6:03
the People’s Republic Liberation Army —
6:05
the People’s Lib- —
6:06
the People’s Liberation Army aerospace program
6:09
that includes airships and balloons,
6:12
denying them access to U.S. technology.
6:15
We briefed our diplomatic partners
6:17
and our allies around the world,
6:19
and we know about China’s program
6:21
and where their balloons have flown.
6:23
Some of them have also raised
6:25
their concerns directly with China.
6:27
Our exports [experts]
6:28
have lifted components of the Chinese balloon’s
6:30
payload off the ocean floor. We’re analyzing them as I speak,
6:35
and what we learn will strengthen our capabilities.
6:38
Now, we’ll also continue to engage with China,
6:41
as we have throughout the past two weeks.
6:44
As I’ve said since the beginning of my administration,
6:47
we seek competition, not conflict, with China.
6:50
We’re not looking for a new Cold War.
6:53
But I make no apologize — I make no apologies,
6:56
and we will compete. And we’ll be res- —
7:00
we’ll responsibly manage that competition
7:02
so that it doesn’t veer into conflict.
7:04
This episode underscores the importance
7:06
of maintaining open lines of communication
7:09
between our diplomats and our military professionals.
7:12
Our diplomats will be engaging further,
7:14
and I will remain in communication with President Xi.
7:18
I’m grateful for the work over the last several weeks
7:20
of our intelligence, diplomatic, and military professionals
7:24
who have proved once again to be the most capable in the world.
7:27
And I want to thank you all.
7:29
Now, look, the other thing I want to point
7:31
is that we are going to keep our allies
7:34
and the Congress contemporaneously informed
7:36
of all we know and all we learn.
7:39
And I expect to be speaking with President Xi,
7:43
and I hope we have a —
7:44
we are going to get to the bottom of this.
7:46
But I make no apologies for taking down that balloon.
7:48
Thank you very much.
7:49
(Cross-talk by reporters.)
8:07
>> The President: Give me a break, man.
8:09
(Cross-talk by reporters.)
8:17
>> The President: You can come to my office
8:18
and ask the question when you have more polite people.
8:20
(inaudible).

END TRANSCRIPT

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