(CNSNews.com) - Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) says he and other lawmakers from both parties believe that China sending a spy balloon to invade U.S. territory "was a major breach," despite administration assertions that they were able to minimize China's intelligence-gathering.

Following a classified briefing for senators on Thursday, Wicker told Fox News on Friday: "It is highly likely that some parts of this spy balloon and the apparatus that goes with it were manufactured actually in the United States."

"There is no reason why the Chinese communist party, led by Xi Jinping, who wants to dominate the Pacific, should have anything made in the United States of America or anything with English language on it," he added.

At Thursday's State Department briefing, spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. was able to "minimize the intelligence collection value of this particular (spy) system because we identified it early on, and we took prudent steps, including steps on the ground, that would minimize its ability provide valuable intelligence back to the PRC."

Price said "China acted irresponsibly by violating our sovereignty," and he said the Biden administration "acted responsibly and prudently to protect our interests."

He also said China has violated the sovereignty of some 40 countries across five continents" in recent years.

He refused to name the countries, however.

"We will let other countries speak to what has happened to them. We – what we think is important is for the American public and people around the world to at least have a broad sense of what this was.

"This, to us, was very clearly a violation of our sovereignty, but this program did not only target the United States.

“And so just as we have confronted virtually every other challenge we face from the PRC with allies and partners by our side, part of what we are doing in the engagement with our allies and partners, both here in D.C. and embassies around the world, is to make sure that a broad array of countries understand this threat and are in a position to protect against it."