Susan Collins actually said...

"This was a serious and blatant attempt by the Chinese to collect valuable data."

"But do you think if we had an American surveillance balloon going over sensitive Chinese Military sites; that the Chinese Government would have, for a minute, hesitated before taking it down?"

"Then what explains that delay, days of delay?"

"Well, I have got to tell you, I think they would not hesitate if we violated their territorial airspace, to disable, and take down our surveillance platform."