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Interview

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Let's talk about this all now with Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York. He's on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressman, good to see you. Do you agree with the decision Secretary Blinken made to at least for now postpone his trip to China?

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Yes, I think that's the right decision. You know, China got caught with their hand in the cookie jar here, and I think we need more explanation, frankly, from the Biden administration, especially since it's clear they were aware of this for several days. But the fact that they have, you know, come into U.S. air space and violated our sovereignty and, frankly, I think there's certainly a question of the privacy of Americans here, I think there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

So, I definitely think it was the right thing to do, to pause this trip. You know, China is our greatest geopolitical threat. And the reason Speaker McCarthy and the House Republican majority have created the Select Committee on China is for reasons like this.

TAPPER: Yeah.

LAWLER: We are, you know, in a serious situation with them, and we need to take them serious as an adversary.

TAPPER: The balloon was spotted earlier this week over the state of Montana, which is where 100 intercontinental ballistic missiles are buried in missile silos at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

Are you confident the Chinese government was not able to access any top secret information or military secrets?

LAWLER: I'm not. I think there's serious concern. I mean, you know, obviously, the Pentagon is aware. I think, you know, there are questions as to why this was not shot down, this spy balloon shot down, as soon as we were aware it came into American air space. But, you know, I think there are a lot of questions still to be answered. And I think, obviously, the Biden administration should work closely with Congress here to provide those answers as quickly as possible.

TAPPER: On that subject, the Pentagon says that the decision was made not to shoot the balloon down, at least right now, because debris could injure or kill people on the ground, seriously damage buildings. Take a listen to what former defense secretary under the Trump administration, Mark Esper, said about that subject, shooting it down on CNN earlier today.

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TAPPER: What do you think?

LAWLER: I don't think he's wrong at all. Obviously the Chinese are saying one thing, that this is about weather and obviously we have great concern that this is about spying. So, I think if we're able to, you know, bring this down safely, certainly, and examine the balloon and the technology that is being used as part of it, certainly that is something that would, I'm sure, be of great interest to the Pentagon.

TAPPER: Former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger who's also a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, he suggested that maybe the Chinese government is trying to make the U.S. shoot down the balloon so the Chinese can get a better idea of the U.S. air capabilities. Can planes get up that high and function in that way. Do you think that's possible?

LAWLER: Look, I think we could play a lot of hypotheticals and what- ifs here, but the bottom line is, this balloon should not be flying over U.S. air space. The fact it continues to, unimpeded, is a problem. So I think the Biden administration needs to act to bring this to a swift resolution here and certainly as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I am very interested in getting answers to many of these questions.

TAPPER: What kind of surveillance does the United States do over countries like China? I imagine, we do -- the United States does quite a bit perform I don't know if we limit it to satellites in outer space or what, but what might the counterargument or the greater context be on that?

LAWLER: Look, I'm not going to get into all of the dynamics. Obviously, every country, you know, does certain things to protect their own interest, but I think the bottom line here is that this is a very clear violation of international law, very clear violation of American sovereignty and air space. And we have an obligation to address it.

So, I think, you know, for the immediate, we need to bring this to a swift resolution. And, you know, it just, again, speaks volumes to the situation with respect to China. They are our greatest geopolitical threat. They are a threat economically, they are a threat militarily. And we need to take it serious.

That is why, as part of the House Republican majority, we created this select committee on China and we are going to be raising a lot of questions about this, including this latest incident.

TAPPER: Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York, thank you so much. Good to see you again.

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