To prohibit payment by the United States Government of any request or claim by the Government of the People's Republic of China for reimbursement of the costs associated with the United States Navy EP-3 aircraft that was forced to land on Hainan Island, China, on April 1, 2001.

July 17, 2001

Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. HYDE, Mr. STUMP, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. COX, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. KING, Mr. TANCREDO, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, and Mr. ROHRABACHER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

To prohibit payment by the United States Government of any request or claim by the Government of the People's Republic of China for reimbursement of the costs associated with the United States Navy EP-3 aircraft that was forced to land on Hainan Island, China, on April 1, 2001.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds the following:

(1) On April 1, 2001, a Chinese F-8 fighter flew dangerously close to a United States Navy EP-3 aircraft on a routine reconnaissance and surveillance mission in international airspace off the coast of China, and collided with it, resulting in structural damage to the EP-3 aircraft.

(2) The crew of the EP-3 aircraft transmitted a series of `Mayday' distress calls and were able to successfully land at the nearest airfield, the Lingshui military airfield on Hainan Island, China, due to the heroic actions of the American crew to keep the plane in the air until it could land safely.

(3) The 24 crewmembers of the EP-3 aircraft were detained against their will for 11 days before being released, in clear violation of international rules governing the treatment of these personnel and despite repeated requests for their release by the United States Government, and the Chinese Government boarded and removed equipment from the EP-3 aircraft, notwithstanding its status under international law as property of the United States.

(4) The Chinese Government refused to allow the United States to repair the downed EP-3 aircraft in Hainan, and fly it back to the United States, and instead demanded that the United States cut the plane into pieces, and return it to the United States on a leased transport aircraft.

(5) The Chinese Government has presented a bill to the United States Government for $1,000,000, which allegedly covers the expenses for the 24 crewmembers of the EP-3 aircraft during their 11-day detention in Hainan, `repatriation' charges, and expenses linked to the recovery of the aircraft.

(6) The accident was caused by reckless action by a Chinese pilot with a long, documented history of taking overly aggressive actions in intercepting United States reconnaissance aircraft operating in international airspace and the Chinese Government failed to comply with its international obligations immediately to return the EP-3 crewmembers.

(7) The United States Government has already incurred significant costs associated with the recovery of the EP-3 aircraft, including dispatching contract personnel and United States Government employees to the Chinese island of Hainan to cut the aircraft into pieces and pack it aboard a cargo plane and leasing the cargo plane itself.

(8) The United States is currently evaluating the disassembled EP-3 aircraft at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Georgia to determine what repairs must be made to the plane to make it airworthy and mission ready, and whether a new $80,000,000 EP-3 aircraft will need to be purchased to replace the disassembled aircraft if it cannot be safely returned to service.

(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS- It is the sense of Congress that the United States should make a complete accounting of all costs associated with the downing of the EP-3 aircraft, the recovery of the crew and aircraft from Hainan Island, China, and repairs to the plane or its replacement, and make a formal request to the Chinese Government for reimbursement of all of these costs.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON PAYMENT OF FUNDS TO THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT RELATING TO COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE UNITED STATES NAVY EP-3 AIRCRAFT INCIDENT.

No funds available to any department or agency of the United States Government may be used to pay any request or claim by the Government of the People's Republic of China for reimbursement of the costs associated with the detention of the crewmembers of the United States Navy EP-3 aircraft that was forced to land on Hainan Island, China, on April 1, 2001, or for reimbursement of any of the costs associated with the return of the aircraft to the United States, until the Chinese Government first provides reimbursement to the United States Government for the costs associated with the return of the crewmembers and the aircraft to the United States and for either the cost of repairing the aircraft to make it fully airworthy and mission ready or the cost of replacing the aircraft.

END