; Whereas, in January and February 2023, for example, the People’s Republic of China brazenly launched a surveillance balloon over the continental United States, which was part of a repeated pattern by China, and as a result of China’s long history of targeting Americans, the Department of Justice has indicted dozens of entities affiliated with the Chinese Government for cyberattacks and surveillance, and the United States Government in July 2020 took the extraordinary measure of closing the Chinese Consulate in Houston, Texas, because of espionage operations being carried out in the Mission; Whereas, despite China’s extensive surveillance operations targeting Americans, media outlets registered as Chinese agents under FARA had over two dozen journalists who had received credentials from the Congressional Media Galleries in the 118th Congress, and another 16 journalists received credentials in the 118th Congress through media outlets reportedly owned or controlled by senior members of the Chinese Communist Party, including two journalists who received credentials through the China News Service, which is not registered under FARA, but which was designated in June 2020 by the Department of States as a foreign mission because the outlet was effectively controlled by the Chinese Government ; Whereas the State of Qatar has reportedly engaged in extensive espionage and surveillance operations to target American political leaders who have been up for consideration for top Cabinet positions in both the Trump and Biden administrations, as well as numerous senior Members of Congress, and in 2018, for example, Qatari agents reportedly helped generate multiple high-profile media articles based on hacked materials to target then-Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce because of his committee’s support of the Hamas Sanctions Bill, which was opposed by the State of Qatar