[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6270 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6270

To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers to make 
certain disclosures relating to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 12, 2020

  Ms. Wexton (for herself, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Norton, and Mr. Carson of 
   Indiana) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers to make 
certain disclosures relating to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, 
                        and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act 
of 2020''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Since early 2017, the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China has conducted a policy of disappearance, mass 
        internment, and imprisonment of Turkic Muslims, particularly 
        Uyghurs, in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
            (2) Since 2014, Chinese authorities have detained between 
        800,000 and possibly up to three million Uyghurs, ethnic 
        Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other ethnic minorities in forced 
        education, training, and labor camps.
            (3) The bi-partisan, bi-cameral Congressional-Executive 
        Commission on China's 2019 Annual Report found numerous reports 
        of forced labor associated with government repression of ethnic 
        minority groups in the XUAR. Detainees performed forced labor 
        in factories both within and outside of internment camps in 
        XUAR.
            (4) Radio Free Asia reported in January 2019 that 
        authorities had also sent Uyghurs and Kazakhs from the XUAR to 
        other provinces in China for forced labor.
            (5) Comments in March 2018 from the president of the China 
        National Textile and Apparel Council suggested that textile 
        manufacturers were working with XUAR authorities to exploit 
        forced labor.
            (6) Companies that work in the XUAR are at great risk of 
        complicity in the human rights abuses being committed in the 
        region.
            (7) In a March 2020 report, the Australian Strategic Policy 
        Institute identified 27 factories in nine Chinese provinces 
        that are using Uyghur labor transferred from Xinjiang. These 
        factories indirectly supply global brands, including many 
        American multinational companies.
            (8) Forced labor in XUAR is Chinese government policy and 
        due diligence efforts to ensure clean supply chains is nearly 
        impossible due to mass surveillance, pervasive police presence, 
        and intimidation of workers.
            (9) The human rights policies, practices, and impacts of 
        publicly traded companies in the United States are material to 
        securities reporting.
            (10) An increasing percentage of investors consider human 
        rights risks as a part of their investment decision-making 
        process.

SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES RELATING TO THE XINJIANG 
              UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION.

    Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(s) Disclosure of Certain Activities Relating to the Xinjiang 
Uyghur Autonomous Region.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than the end of the 180-day 
        period beginning on the date of enactment of this subsection, 
        the Commission shall issue rules to require each issuer 
        required to file an annual report under this section or section 
        15(d) or a proxy statement under section 14 to disclose in each 
        such report or proxy statement whether, during the period 
        covered by the report or proxy statement--
                    ``(A) the issuer or any affiliate of the issuer, 
                directly or indirectly, engaged with an entity or the 
                affiliate of an entity to import--
                            ``(i) manufactured goods, including 
                        electronics, food products, textiles, shoes, 
                        and teas, that originated in the XUAR; or
                            ``(ii) manufactured goods containing 
                        materials that originated or are sourced in the 
                        XUAR;
                    ``(B) with respect to any goods or materials 
                described under subparagraph (A), whether the goods or 
                material originated in forced labor camps; and
                    ``(C) with respect to each manufactured good or 
                material described under subparagraph (A)--
                            ``(i) the nature and extent of the 
                        commercial activity related to such good or 
                        material;
                            ``(ii) the gross revenue and net profits, 
                        if any, attributable to the good or material; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) whether the issuer or the affiliate 
                        of the issuer intends to continue with such 
                        importation.
            ``(2) Availability of information.--The Commission shall 
        make all information disclosed pursuant to this subsection 
        available to the public on the website of the Commission.
            ``(3) Reports.--
                    ``(A) Annual report to congress.--The Commission 
                shall--
                            ``(i) conduct an annual assessment of the 
                        compliance of issuers with the requirements of 
                        this subsection; and
                            ``(ii) issue a report to Congress 
                        containing the results of the assessment 
                        required under clause (i).
                    ``(B) GAO report.--The Comptroller General of the 
                United States shall periodically evaluate and report to 
                Congress on the effectiveness of the oversight by the 
                Commission of the disclosure requirements under this 
                subsection.
            ``(4) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Forced labor camp.--The term `forced labor 
                camp' means--
                            ``(i) any entity engaged in the `pairing 
                        assistance' program which subsidizes the 
                        establishment of manufacturing facilities in 
                        XUAR;
                            ``(ii) any entity using convict labor, 
                        forced labor, or indentured labor described 
                        under section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 
                        U.S.C. 1307); and
                            ``(iii) any other entity that the 
                        Commission determines is appropriate.
                    ``(B) XUAR.--The term `XUAR' means the Xinjiang 
                Uyghur Autonomous Region.''.
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