Feb 3, 2023
GOP lawmakers are calling for the United States to shoot down the alleged Chinese spy balloon found floating over Montana on Wednesday. The Pentagon said it would not shoot down the balloon, arguing it "does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground at this time," and China blamed the incursion into U.S. airspace on a civilian aircraft that had deviated off course. Montana is home to sensitive nuclear military installations. "It was a mistake to not shoot down that Chinese spy balloon when it was over a sparsely populated area," Sen. Marco Rubio (FL), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, tweeted. "This is not some hot air balloon, it has a large payload of sensors roughly the size of two city buses & the ability to maneuver independently." "President Biden should stop coddling and appeasing the Chinese communists," Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) tweeted on Friday. "Bring the balloon down now and exploit i
