Susan Collins actually said...

"Why wouldn't a foreign military surveillance aircraft, violating U.S. airspace inherently be considered to have hostile intent?"

"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?"

"The best way to avoid conflict with China is for President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party to have no doubt regarding the resolve of the U.S. Government to defend our territory and our interests."

"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."