[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 192 (Tuesday, December 3, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H9201-H9208]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UYGHUR HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY ACT OF 2019
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(S. 178) to condemn gross human rights violations of ethnic Turkic
Muslims in Xinjiang, and calling for an end to arbitrary detention,
torture, and harassment of these communities inside and outside China,
as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 178
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 ``Uighur Intervention and
Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act of 2019'' or the
``UIGHUR Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to direct United States
resources to address human rights violations and abuses,
including gross violations of human rights, by the People's
Republic of China's mass surveillance and internment of over
1,000,000 Uighurs and other predominantly Turkic Muslim
ethnic minorities in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
Region.
SEC. 3. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.
In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional
committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on
Financial Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of
the House of Representatives; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate.
SEC. 4. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Government of the People's Republic of China has a
long history of repressing Turkic Muslims, particularly
Uighurs, in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
(2) In May 2014, Chinese authorities launched their latest
``Strike Hard against Violent Extremism'' campaign, using
wide-scale, internationally-linked threats of terrorism as a
pretext to justify pervasive restrictions on and human rights
violations of members of the ethnic minority communities of
the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The August 2016
transfer of former Tibet Autonomous Region Party Secretary
Chen Quanguo to become the Xinjiang Party Secretary prompted
an acceleration in the crackdown across the region. Scholars,
human rights organizations, journalists, and think tanks have
provided ample evidence substantiating the establishment by
Chinese authorities of ``reeducation'' camps. Since 2014,
Chinese authorities have detained no less than 800,000
Uighurs, ethnic Kazahks, Kyrgyz, and other ethnic minorities
in these camps.
(3) Those detained in such facilities have described forced
political indoctrination, torture, beatings, and food
deprivation, as well as denial of religious, cultural, and
linguistic freedoms, and confirmed that they were told by
guards that the only way to secure release was to demonstrate
sufficient political loyalty. Poor conditions and lack of
medical treatment at such facilities appear to have
contributed to the deaths of some detainees, including the
elderly and infirm.
(4) Uighurs and ethnic Kazakhs, who have now obtained
permanent residence or citizenship in other countries, attest
to receiving threats and harassment from Chinese officials.
At least five journalists for Radio Free Asia's Uighur
service have publicly detailed abuses their family members in
Xinjiang have endured in response to their work exposing
abusive policies across the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
Region.
(5) In September 2018, United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights Michele Bachelet noted in her first speech as
High Commissioner the ``deeply disturbing allegations of
large-scale arbitrary detentions of Uighurs and other Muslim
communities, in so-called re-education camps across
Xinjiang''.
[[Page H9202]]
(6) The Government of the People's Republic of China's
actions against Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur
Autonomous Region, whose population was approximately 13
million at the time of the last Chinese census in 2010, are
in contravention of international human rights laws, the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination, and the Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
both of which China has signed and ratified, and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China has
signed.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the President should condemn abuses against Turkic
Muslims by Chinese authorities and call on such authorities
immediately--
(A) to close the ``reeducation'' camps;
(B) to lift all restrictions on and ensure respect for
human rights; and
(C) to allow those inside China to reestablish contact with
their loved ones, friends, and associates outside China;
(2) the Secretary of State should--
(A) fully implement the provisions of the Frank R. Wolf
International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281); and
(B) should consider strategically employing sanctions and
other tools under the International Religious Freedom Act of
1998 (22 U.S.C. 6401 et seq.), including measures required by
reason of the designation of the People's Republic of China
as a country of particular concern for religious freedom
under section 402(b)(1)(A)(ii) of such Act that directly
address particularly severe violations of religious freedom;
(3) the Secretary of State should work with United States
allies and partners as well as through multilateral
institutions to condemn the mass arbitrary detention of
Uighurs in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and
coordinate closely with the international community on
targeted sanctions and visa restrictions; and
(4) the journalists of the Uighur language service of Radio
Free Asia should be commended for their reporting on the
human rights and political situation in the Xinjiang Uighur
Autonomous Region despite efforts by the Government of the
People's Republic of China to silence or intimidate their
reporting through the detention of family members and
relatives in China, and the United States should expand the
availability of and capacity for Uighur language programming
on Radio Free Asia in the region.
SEC. 6. UPDATING STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARD THE
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
Section 901(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act,
Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (Public Law 101-246; 104 Stat. 84)
is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (7), (8), and (9) as
paragraphs (8), (9), and (10), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
``(7) United States policy toward the People's Republic of
China should be explicitly linked with the situation in
China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, specifically as to
whether--
``(A) the mass internment of ethnic Uighur and other Turkic
Muslims in `political education' camps has ended;
``(B) all political prisoners in the region are released;
``(C) the use of high-tech mass surveillance and predictive
policing to discriminate against and violate the human rights
of members of specific ethnic groups is evident in other
parts of China; and
``(D) the Government of the People's Republic of China has
ended efforts aimed at cultural assimilation and particularly
severe restrictions of religious practice in the region;''.
SEC. 7. APPLICATION OF SANCTIONS UNDER GLOBAL MAGNITSKY HUMAN
RIGHTS ACCOUNTABILITY ACT WITH RESPECT TO
CERTAIN SENIOR OFFICIALS OF THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a list of senior
officials of the Government of the People's Republic of China
who the President determines are responsible for or who have
knowingly engaged in serious human rights abuses against
Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and
elsewhere in China. Such list shall include the following:
(1) Senior Chinese officials, such as Xinjiang Party
Secretary Chen Quanguo, who are directly responsible for the
ongoing repression in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
(2) Senior Chinese officials responsible for mass
incarceration, political indoctrination, or reeducation
efforts targeting Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim
ethnic minorities.
(b) Form.--The list required under subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form but may contain a classified
annex.
(c) Sanctions Imposed.--On the date on which the President
submits to the appropriate congressional committees the list
described in subsection (a), and as appropriate thereafter,
the President shall impose the sanctions described in section
1263(b) of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability
Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C.
2656 note) with respect to any foreign person that the
President has identified on the list.
(d) Exception for United Nations Headquarters Agreement;
Enforcement.--Subsections (e) and (f) of section 1263 of the
Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act apply with
respect to the imposition of sanctions under this section to
the same extent as such subsections apply with respect to the
imposition of sanctions under such section 1263.
(e) Waiver for National Interests.--The President may waive
the imposition of sanctions under subsection (c) if the
President--
(1) determines that such a waiver is in the national
interests of the United States; and
(2) submits to the appropriate congressional committees
notice of, and a justification for, the waiver.
(f) Regulatory Authority.--The President shall issue such
regulations, licenses, and orders as are necessary to carry
out this section.
(g) Exception Relating to Importation of Goods.--
(1) In general.--The authorities and requirements to impose
sanctions authorized under this Act shall not include the
authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the
importation of goods.
(2) Good defined.--In this subsection, the term ``good''
means any article, natural or man-made substance, material,
supply or manufactured product, including inspection and test
equipment, and excluding technical data.
SEC. 8. REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN CHINA'S XINJIANG
UIGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in
consultation with the heads of other relevant Federal
departments and agencies and civil society organizations,
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and
make available on the website of the Department of State a
report on human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uighur
Autonomous Region.
(b) Matters to Be Included.--The report required by
subsection (a) shall include the following:
(1) An assessment of the number of individuals detained in
political ``reeducation camps'' in the region and conditions
in the camps for detainees, including an assessment, to the
extent practicable, of whether detainees endure torture,
efforts at forced renunciation of their faith, or other
mistreatment.
(2) An assessment of, to the extent practicable, the number
of individuals in the region in highly-controlled forced
labor camps.
(3) A description of the methods used by People's Republic
of China authorities to ``reeducate'' Uighur detainees,
including an identification of the Chinese agencies in charge
of such reeducation.
(4) An assessment of the use and nature of forced labor in
and related to the detention of Turkic Muslims in the
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, and a description of
foreign companies and industries benefitting from such labor
in the region.
(5) An assessment of the level of access to the region
Chinese authorities grant to foreign diplomats and consular
agents, independent journalists, and representatives of
nongovernmental organizations.
(6) An assessment of the repressive surveillance,
detection, and control methods used by Chinese authorities in
the region.
(7) A description, as appropriate, of diplomatic efforts by
United States allies and other nations to address the gross
violations of universally recognized human rights in the
region and to protect asylum seekers from the region.
SEC. 9. RESTRICTIONS ON EXPORT, REEXPORT, AND IN-COUNTRY
TRANSFERS OF CERTAIN ITEMS THAT PROVIDE A
CRITICAL CAPABILITY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA TO SUPPRESS
INDIVIDUAL PRIVACY, FREEDOM, AND OTHER BASIC
HUMAN RIGHTS.
(a) Statement of Policy.--It is the policy of the United
States to protect the basic human rights of Uighurs and other
ethnic minorities in the People's Republic of China.
(b) List of Covered Items.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and as appropriate thereafter, the
President--
(A) shall identify those items that provide a critical
capability to the Government of the People's Republic of
China, or any person acting on behalf of such Government, to
suppress individual privacy, freedom of movement, and other
basic human rights, specifically through--
(i) surveillance, interception, and restriction of
communications;
(ii) monitoring of individual location or movement or
restricting individual movement;
(iii) monitoring or restricting access to and use of the
internet;
(iv) monitoring or restricting use of social media;
(v) identification of individuals through facial
recognition, voice recognition, or biometric indicators;
(vi) detention of individuals who are exercising basic
human rights; and
(vii) forced labor in manufacturing; and
[[Page H9203]]
(B) shall, pursuant to the Export Control Reform Act of
2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.), include items identified
pursuant to subparagraph (A) on the Commerce Control List in
a category separate from other items, as appropriate, on the
Commerce Control List.
(2) Support and cooperation.--Upon request, the head of a
Federal agency shall provide full support and cooperation to
the President in carrying out this subsection.
(3) Consultation.--In carrying out this subsection, the
President shall consult with the relevant technical advisory
committees of the Department of Commerce to ensure that the
composition of items identified under paragraph (1)(A) and
included on the Commerce Control List under paragraph (1)(B)
does not unnecessarily restrict commerce between the United
States and the People's Republic of China, consistent with
the purposes of this section.
(c) Special License or Other Authorization.--
(1) In general.--Beginning not later than 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall,
pursuant to the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C.
4801 et seq.), require a license or other authorization for
the export, reexport, or in-country transfer to or within the
People's Republic of China of an item identified pursuant to
subsection (b)(1)(A) and included on the Commerce Control
List pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(B).
(2) Presumption of denial.--An application for a license or
other authorization described in paragraph (1) shall be
subject to a presumption of denial.
(3) Public notice and comment.--The President shall provide
for notice and public comment with respect actions necessary
to carry out this subsection.
(d) International Coordination and Multilateral Controls.--
It shall be the policy of the United States to seek to
harmonize United States export control regulations with
international export control regimes with respect to the
items identified pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(A), including
through the Wassenaar Arrangement and other bilateral and
multilateral mechanisms involving countries that export such
items.
(e) Termination of Suspension of Certain Other Programs and
Activities.--Section 902(b)(1) of the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1990 and 1991 (Public Law
101-246; 22 U.S.C. 2151 note) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting
``and China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region'' after
``Tibet'';
(2) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(3) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``or'' after the
semicolon and inserting ``and''; and
(4) by adding the following new subparagraph:
``(F) the ending of the mass internment of ethnic Uighurs
and other Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous
Region, including the intrusive system of high-tech
surveillance and policing in the region; or''.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commerce control list.--The term ``Commerce Control
List'' means the list set forth in Supplement No. 1 to part
774 of the Export Administration Regulations under subchapter
C of chapter VII of title 15, Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) Export, in-country transfer, item, and reexport.--The
terms ``export'', ``in-country transfer'', ``item'', and
``reexport'' have the meanings given such terms in section
1742 of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C.
4801)
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Sires) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires).
General Leave
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on S. 178.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires)?
There was no objection.
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Pelosi), the Speaker of the House.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for
his leadership and thank he and Mr. Smith, two gentlemen from New
Jersey, for being champions for human rights.
I also thank Mr. McCaul and Mr. Eliot Engel, the ranking member and
the chair of the committee.
And I thank Mr. Malinowski for being a champion for human rights even
before he came to Congress.
My colleagues, next week marks 71 years since the nations of the
world gathered in Paris to enshrine our global commitment to human
rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The opening words of that declaration read: ``Recognition of the
inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members
of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in
the world.
``Whereas, disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in
barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind.''
Today, the human dignity and human rights of the Uighur community are
under threat from Beijing's barbarous actions, which are an outrage to
the collective conscience of the world.
Across the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the Uighur people and
other Muslim minorities face brutal repression: a pervasive state of
mass surveillance, including the arbitrary and nonconsensual collection
of children's DNA; the mass incarceration of 1 to 3 million innocent
people with beatings, solitary confinement, deprivation of food and
medical treatment, forced sterilizations, and other forms of torture;
incidents of mass shootings and extrajudicial killings; and the
intimidation and suppression of journalists courageously exposing the
truth.
Mihrigul Tursun, a former detainee, testified she faced treatment so
brutal that ``I thought I would rather die than go through this torture
and begged them to kill me.''
Another former detainee, Tursunay Ziyawudun, testified, ``We were all
helpless and unable to defend ourselves. We all went through all kinds
of mistreatment. The screaming, pleading, crying is still in my head.''
Today, with this bicameral and overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation,
the United States Congress is taking a critical step to counter
Beijing's horrific human rights abuses against Uighurs.
I thank Chairman Engel, Representative Brad Sherman, Representative
Suozzi, and Chairman McGovern for their leadership on this important
legislation.
We are sending a message to Beijing: America is watching, and we will
not stay silent.
This legislation helps uncover the truth, requiring reports by the
DNI, Director of National Intelligence; the State Department; and the
FBI about the depths of the crisis and about China's campaign against
journalists exposing the facts.
It creates accountability, ensuring transparency of Chinese and
foreign companies involved in the camps.
And it engages the full firepower of American law and leadership,
including by urging the application of Global Magnitsky and other
related sanctions and the full implementation of the Frank R. Wolf
International Religious Freedom Act, named for our distinguished former
colleague and human rights champion, Congressman Frank Wolf.
Sadly, Beijing's human rights abuses extend beyond the Uighurs, from
the decades-long abuse faced by the Tibetan people; to Hong Kong's
fight for democracy and rule of law; and to the jailing of journalists,
human rights lawyers, Christians, and democracy advocates on the
mainland.
In the Congress, Democrats and Republicans stand united with all
people fighting for human rights in the face of China's abuses. Last
month, we were proud to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy
Act, which has now become law, and we are grateful that the President
has signed that legislation.
If America does not speak out for human rights in China because of
commercial issues, we lose all moral authority to speak out for human
rights anyplace in the world.
In honor of the millions fighting for their dignity, safety, and
rights in China and around the world, I urge a strong bipartisan vote
for the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response
Act.
I thank Mr. Smith, Mr. Sires, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Suozzi, Chairman Eliot
Engel, and Mr. McCaul for their leadership. And I acknowledge the
leadership of Senator Rubio in the United States Senate on this
important legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank the Speaker for her very eloquent
remarks and for her tenacity in promoting human rights and respect for
the rule of law in all of China, including and especially with today's
focus on Xinjiang, where, unfortunately, Xi
[[Page H9204]]
Jinping is conducting massive, massive crimes against humanity against
the Muslim Uighurs. So I thank her for that leadership.
I thank Chairman Engel, Ranking Member McCaul, Brad Sherman, and
Ranking Member Ted Yoho for their deep and abiding commitment to the
suffering people of Xinjiang as well.
I would also like to express my special thanks to the 128 bipartisan
cosponsors of my bill, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019, H.R.
649, comprehensive human rights legislation that I introduced earlier
this year with lead Democratic cosponsor Tom Suozzi to address the
massive crimes against humanity committed by the Chinese Government
against the Uighurs.
The legislation would require the administration to categorize and
report on the human rights abuses being committed by the Chinese
Communist Party each and every day, take specific steps to sanction
Chinese officials for these abuses, especially through the use of the
Magnitsky Act, and stop, to the greatest extent possible, the Chinese
Government's efforts to create a high-tech police and surveillance
state.
With endorsement of our bill 12 months ago and cosponsorship by the
Speaker herself, as well as endorsement by the Washington Post, which
said, a full year ago, ``This has become''--that is to say, the
situation in Xinjiang--``one of the world's most urgent human rights
crises. Congress should pass the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.''
Today the Senate bill is before us, and I encourage my colleagues and
the cosponsors of H.R. 649 to vote for it.
Mr. Speaker, at a congressional hearing that I cochaired last year,
Mihrigul Tursun recounted her horrifying ordeal with torture, sexual
abuse, and detention in one of China's mass internment camps in
Xinjiang.
She broke down weeping, telling us that she pleaded with God to end
her life. Her Chinese jailers restrained her to a table, increased the
electrical currents coursing through her body, and mocked her belief in
God. She was tortured simply for being an ethnic Uighur and a Muslim in
China.
There are millions of stories like this waiting to be told about the
crimes against humanity being committed each and every day by the
Chinese Government against the Uighurs, the Kazakhs, and the Turkic
Muslims.
Given that this year is the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square
massacre, maybe we should not be surprised by the cruelty and brutality
of the Chinese Communist Party. But the size and scale of what is
happening in Xinjiang is audaciously repressive, even by China's low
standards:
The mass internment of millions of people on a scale that has not
been seen since the Holocaust; children ripped from the warm embrace of
their families to be indoctrinated in communist ideology and forced to
renounce their religious culture and language; rape, sexual abuse, and
forced abortions of women being held in internment camps; forced labor
on a scale that allows Chinese companies to profit from modern-day
slavery.
That atrocities such as these can exist in the 21st century is
astounding and enormously sad.
We cannot be silent. We must demand an end to these barbaric
practices and accountability from the Chinese Government. We must say
``never again'' to the cultural genocide and the atrocities suffered by
the Uighurs and others in China.
Chinese authorities initially denied the existence of mass internment
camps, Mr. Speaker, and even now portray them as vocational training
centers. What a cruel joke. They employed lies, censorship, and
economic coercion to stifle discussion of their crimes.
But documents obtained by The New York Times and the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists have exposed the brutality
behind Beijing's plans to radically and coercively transform the
culture and religion of ethnic Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslims in
China.
The leaked internal papers show detailed plans to intern between 1
million and 3 million Uighurs in modern-day concentration camps, where
they are subjected to severe human rights abuses and Orwellian
indoctrination efforts for those ``whose thinking has been infected.''
At the same time, Beijing instituted plans to erase the influence of
Islam in western China, bulldozing mosques and shrines, severely
throttling all religious practice, and forcing camp detainees to
renounce their faith.
The leaked documents also show that Xi Jinping himself has directed
the crackdown, saying that the Communist Party must put ``the organs of
dictatorship'' to work and show--his words--``absolutely no mercy'' in
dealing with the Uighurs and other Muslims.
In one speech exposed by the leaked documents, President Xi Jinping
says, ``The weapons of the people's democratic dictatorship must be
wielded without any hesitation or wavering.''
In 2017, he told thousands of police officers and troops standing at
attention to prepare for ``a smashing, obliterating offensive.''
According to the documents, Communist Party officials who were
reluctant to carry out Xi's draconian policies were investigated and
expunged--and worse:
``Secret teams of investigators traveled across the region,
identifying those who were not doing enough. In 2017, the party opened
more than 12,000 investigations into party members in Xinjiang.''
Xi Jinping has created, Mr. Speaker, one of the worst human rights
tragedies on the face of the Earth. Xi Jinping and his government are
directly responsible--directly responsible--for these crimes against
humanity.
Our hope is that a reckoning is coming, but only if the international
community stands up to China. I would note with some sadness, notably
absent are voices from many Muslim countries, and I have raised it
myself with many leaders of Muslim countries.
{time} 1730
They have not been as critical of China as they ought to be. They
need to speak out and to do it boldly and very clearly.
I do want to commend the Trump administration for its actions over
the past several years. They have issued strong statements and,
according to the U.S. Commerce Department just last month, 28
government agencies and businesses were placed on the Entity List and
barred.
The way the Secretary of Commerce put it: `` `The U.S. Government and
Department of Commerce cannot and will not tolerate the brutal
suppression of ethnic minorities within China,' said Secretary of
Commerce Wilbur Ross. `This action will ensure that our technologies,
fostered in an environment of individual liberty and free enterprise,
are not used to repress defenseless minority populations.' ''
These are important steps. This legislation, however, takes the next
step. More must be done. Chinese officials, as I said earlier, need to
be held accountable for crimes against humanity, including Global
Magnitsky and international sanctions and U.N. investigations.
Those who tortured Mihrigul Turson should know that justice is coming
for them as well. And the Chinese Government companies profiting from
forced labor need to be barred from selling their products made so
horribly by forced labor from coming into this country.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Let me first thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) and
the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) for their work on this
legislation.
I also want to acknowledge the work of the Congressional-Executive
Commission on China, led by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
McGovern). His expertise, and that of his staff, has made a significant
contribution to the development of this legislation.
This bill addresses one of the most egregious violations of human
rights in the world today. More than 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim
ethnic minorities have been detained by the Chinese Government and sent
to camps in Xinjiang, where they face torture, sexual abuse,
brainwashing, and other abuses in an attempt to erase their culture and
their religion.
The Chinese Government is engaging in these atrocities under the
guise of
[[Page H9205]]
antiterrorism efforts, and the victims have been denied any due
process. The severity of this disgrace was recently confirmed by a
trove of leaked confidential Chinese documents that detail just how
sinister these policies are.
Meeting with members of the Uighur American community is a sobering
experience. They have stories about family members in China who can no
longer be reached, friends who have gone missing, report after report
of violence, abuse, and mistreatment.
The intention of the top Chinese Communist Party leadership through
this campaign is clear: In the short-term, turn Xinjiang into a prison
for ethnic and religious minorities, and, in the longer term, force
these minorities to assimilate completely, erasing the evidence of
their unique culture, history, and religion.
The Chinese Government has a long record of oppressing Tibetan
Christians, the Falun Gong, and other ethnic religious minorities. But
what makes these efforts different is the use of technology to erase
the Uighur people and their way of life. In some cases, these
technologies can be traced back to American companies and research
institutions.
Unfortunately, we have yet to see an adequate response from the Trump
administration. While the administration's decision to announce its
visa restrictions and add abuse-enabling Chinese tech firms to the
Entity List were good steps, they do not go far enough. There needs to
be real consequences for those who have designed and built these
internment camps.
With the bill we are considering today, the House of Representatives
is making clear that there needs to be more serious repercussions.
Specifically, this bill calls on the Secretary of State to designate
those responsible for these abuses with Global Magnitsky sanctions,
including the freezing of their assets. It would also require the
American firms to do due diligence on where and how their technology is
being used so that they do not unwittingly become part of the Chinese
Government's campaign to violate the human rights of their own
citizens.
This legislation is a necessary response to one of the most pressing
human rights concerns in the world today. I am glad the House is
considering it, and I encourage all Members to vote for its passage.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
House of Representatives,
Committee on the Judiciary,
Washington, DC, December 3, 2019.
Hon. Eliot L. Engel,
Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Engel: This is to advise you that the
Committee on the Judiciary has now had an opportunity to
review the provisions in S. 178, the ``Uyghur Human Rights
Policy Act of 2019'' that fall within our Rule X
jurisdiction. I appreciate your consulting with us on those
provisions. The Judiciary Committee has no objection to your
including them in the bill for consideration on the House
floor, and to expedite that consideration is willing to forgo
action on S. 178, with the understanding that we do not
thereby waive any future jurisdictional claim over those
provisions or their subject matters.
In the event a House-Senate conference on this or similar
legislation is convened, the Judiciary Committee reserves the
right to request an appropriate number of conferees to
address any concerns with these or similar provisions that
may arise in conference.
Please place this letter into the Congressional Record
during consideration of the measure on the House floor. Thank
you for the cooperative spirit in which you have worked
regarding this matter and others between our committees.
Sincerely,
Jerrold Nadler,
Chairman.
____
House of Representatives,
Commtttee on Foreign Affairs,
Washington, DC, December 2, 2019.
Hon. Jerrold Nadler,
Committee on the Judiciary,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Dear Chairman Nadler: I am writing to you concerning S.
178, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019. I appreciate
your willingness to work cooperatively on this legislation.
I acknowledge that provisions of the bill fall within the
jurisdiction of the Committee on the Judiciary under House
Rule X, and that your Committee will forgo action on S. 178
to expedite floor consideration. I further acknowledge that
the inaction of your Committee with respect to the bill does
not waive any future jurisdictional claim over the matters
contained in the bill that fall within your jurisdiction. I
will also support the appointment of Committee on the
Judiciary conferees during any House-Senate conference
convened on this legislation.
Lastly, I will ensure that our exchange of letters is
included in the Congressional Record during floor
consideration of the bill. Thank you again for your
cooperation regarding the legislation. I look forward to
continuing to work with you as the measure moves through the
legislative process.
Sincerely,
Eliot L. Engel,
Chairman.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), the
ranking member.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bipartisan
UIGHUR Act.
I want to commend my colleagues, all three of them, from New Jersey--
I think this is New Jersey Day on the floor--Mr. Smith, Mr. Sires, and
Mr. Malinowski.
For the last several years, the Communist dictatorship in Beijing has
been unleashing a brutal crackdown on the Uighur and Turkic Muslims in
western China.
It is believed that between 1 to 3 million ethnic minorities have
been detained and sent to internment camps where they are indoctrinated
with state propaganda and tortured. The goal of the Chinese Government
is to strip these individuals of their religious and cultural identity.
Many people detained are never heard from again. Families have been
torn apart. Sons and daughters are left wondering if they will ever be
reunited with their moms and dads.
Some of our most senior officials, including National Security
Advisor Robert O'Brien, have described these detention centers as
``concentration camps.'' Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has referred to
China's repression as the ``stain of the century.''
The Chinese Government states that these camps are part of their
efforts to combat violent extremism. They also say these detention
centers are job training facilities. But what is happening is nothing
less than a state-sponsored and systematic campaign designed to enforce
a ``cultural genocide.''
As the beacon of hope and freedom to the rest of the world, the
United States cannot stay silent. If we do, our silence will be
remembered as our complicity; our inaction will become our appeasement.
We know that the Chinese Communist Party would love nothing more than
for the rest of the world to mirror its authoritarianism. We cannot
allow this to happen.
This legislation gives us the opportunity to take real action and
help stop these evil crimes:
First, it provides that the United States policy towards China should
be explicitly linked to the human rights abuses;
Second, it requires the application of the Global Magnitsky sanctions
on Chinese officials responsible for repression against Uighur or
Turkic Muslims;
Third, it mandates the State Department submit to Congress a report
on human rights abuses in this western province of China; and
Fourth, it restricts the export of certain U.S. technology items to
China that are used to suppress individual privacy, freedom of
movement, and basic human rights.
This is a very important bill, and, again, I would like to thank our
colleagues--and particularly Brad Sherman, who introduced this along
with Senator Rubio--for all their efforts to get this done to where we
are today.
So let's come together as Republicans and Democrats to ensure that
atrocities committed by the Communist dictatorship in Beijing will have
consequences. Let's show the world that the United States will impose a
cost on the Chinese Communist Party's leaders for their crimes now and
in the future.
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Sherman), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Asia, the
Pacific, and Nonproliferation.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in favor of S. 178, the
UIGHUR Act of 2019.
This bill has the best of both worlds: It has a Senate bill number
and House of Representatives content. The bill came over from the
Senate, and then we unanimously adopted, in the Foreign Affairs
Committee, my amendment in the nature of a substitute,
[[Page H9206]]
which put together three bills focused on the Uighur issue. It included
the work of Senators Marco Rubio and Robert Menendez found in S. 178;
the work found in H.R. 649 of Chris Smith and Tom Suozzi of this
House; and the legislation that I reintroduced with the ranking member
of the Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation Subcommittee, Ted Yoho,
H.R. 1025.
So this bill represents putting together those three bills to deal
with the detention of over 1 million Uighurs and other Muslim
minorities in Xinjiang and other Chinese repression of its Muslim
minority population.
The Chinese Government has sought to erase the distinct Uighur Muslim
culture and religious traditions through mass detentions, reeducation
camps, and a coordinated campaign under the banner ``Strike Hard
Against Violent Extremism'' launched in 2014.
Thanks to recently leaked Chinese Communist Party documents, we now
know that the impetus for this campaign came from the highest levels of
the Chinese Communist Party.
In April 2014, General Secretary Xi ordered the party officials to,
and these are the words, show ``absolutely no mercy'' in using ``organs
of dictatorship,'' another quoted phrase, to suppress Muslim
minorities. More than a million Uighurs were then imprisoned in camps.
In a country with the rule of law, you are incarcerated by the state
because you have been convicted of a defined statutory offense. Why are
1 million people behind barbed wire in the Xinjiang province of China?
The charge against them is ``their thinking has been infected by
unhealthy thoughts.''
Where in the world would anyone be free if a million people can be
incarcerated because the government has determined that their thoughts
are unhealthy?
Along with reeducation camps, the Strike Hard campaign has also
involved high-tech surveillance and monitoring of Uighurs, monitoring
and suppressing Muslim religious practice, including funeral practices,
and suppression of the Uighur language.
Beyond its borders, the party has tried to intimidate Chinese Muslim
minorities who are living abroad. And in China, some individuals with
permanent residency status in the United States have been prohibited
from leaving the region. In Xinjiang, the party has forced Uighur
families to have Han Chinese agents live in their homes.
The extent of this Chinese effort to, in effect, ``sinofy'' the
Muslim population of western China is staggering. The legislation
before us is an important start, but it is only a start in our efforts
to counter Chinese repression of its Muslim minorities, and we will
have hearings in the Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation
Subcommittee to develop additional steps that America could take.
I want to highlight two parts of this legislation. First, the bill
requires the President to impose the Global Magnitsky sanctions against
all Chinese officials who are responsible for the repression of the
Uighurs. We are long past the point when this should have been done,
and it should not be linked to ongoing negotiations on trade or any
other issue.
Second, the bill requires the Commerce Department to update our
export controls to ensure that the Commerce Control List, which covers
dual-use items, is updated to create a special regime for China.
Commerce will be required to identify items that assist in the
monitoring, surveillance, mass detention, and forced labor we see going
on in China today, and deny licenses for the export or reexport of
those items to China.
U.S. technology should not be used to further one of the most
egregious human rights abuses of our time. And in writing this
legislation and the amendment in the nature of a substitute that came
out of the Foreign Affairs Committee, we worked diligently to ensure
that we avoid capturing too much and unduly hindering legitimate and
beneficial commerce, including thorough discussions with the tech
industry.
So I thank Chairman Engel and Ranking Member McCaul, of course, our
Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who was here. I thank Senators Rubio and
Menendez, Chris Smith, and Tom Suozzi. I thank Jim McGovern for his
work, and I thank my partner in running the Asia, the Pacific, and
Nonproliferation Subcommittee, Mr. Yoho.
{time} 1745
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may
consume to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Yoho).
Mr. YOHO. Mr. Speaker, I just want to give my strong support for S.
178.
I look back over the years when we have seen this, and we have had
these discussions in our Foreign Affairs Committee about the atrocities
that are going on in the Xinjiang province.
Last year we talked about the concentration camps that we see going
up, and then there were reports about the crematoriums that were going
in. And we read advertisements to hire guards for the crematoriums.
They must be physically fit, they must be able to defend themselves,
and they need to know how to use a weapon. So they had armed
crematoriums set up in this province.
My question is: Why do you need armed crematoriums if it is a
crematorium to burn people? You know, the dead.
And I think the intent of what China is doing is self-evident. And
America, as the leader of the free world, and all countries that
believe in freedom and liberty, they must stand up against this
injustice because this is going on around the world. And if you believe
the words of General Eisenhower at Auschwitz and other Nazi
concentration camps after the end of World War II when he said: Never
again. Never again will we allow this to happen. But it is happening
right now. And it is happening in an area that we know in a country
that is suppressing freedom around the world.
We see it in Hong Kong. We have seen what they have done with Tibet.
They want to do it to any country or any population that is against the
Communist Party, the Chinese Communist Party. And this is something, if
we don't do this, this will go on. And this is where the world needs to
wake up, and they need to say, any time we buy something made in China,
we are empowering this country and Xi Jinping and the Communist Party
complex to do the same thing over and over again.
It is time we make a strong stand and S. 178 is a great start to
doing this. I look for strong support in the House. I look for it to be
signed into law and that we send a strong signal from America, being
the leaders in the free world, to the rest of the world to follow suit
and send a strong signal back to China that this is not going to be
tolerated. We will not put up with this.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the sponsors of this bill for
doing what they are doing, because this is a message for the people
around the world who don't know what is going on. It is this body that
is kind of leading the charge on this, and I am proud to be associated
with it, so thank you all.
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Suozzi).
Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Sires for yielding me this time.
I rise in strong support of the bipartisan Senate bill 178, which
holds the Chinese Government accountable for their truly horrific
treatment--let me say that again--truly horrific treatment of the
Uighur Muslim minorities, including the mass internment of over 1
million people who are subjected to systemized brainwashing, sexual
abuse, and forced labor in western China.
I want to start by thanking Chairman Engel and Subcommittee Chairman
Sherman for bringing attention to this issue and supporting this
legislation to penalize China for its egregious human rights violations
against the Uighurs. I am proud to have worked with Representative
Chris Smith from New Jersey and Senator Marco Rubio from Florida to
help write part of this truly bipartisan legislation.
Mr. Speaker, Uighur families are prohibited from practicing their
Muslim faith. They are often separated from their family members and
prohibited from reading the Koran, making their daily prayers, and in
some instances are forced to eat pork even during Ramadan, which, of
course, violates their religion.
The so-called reeducation camps in China where Uighurs are forced to
work in food, textile, or manufacturing
[[Page H9207]]
jobs in or near the mass internment camps are, of course, repugnant to
our values and violate human rights.
The brutal religious-based persecution of the Uighurs in China is
alarming, but it is not new. China has continued to repress anyone who
does not conform to their system, including Tibetans, Christians, and,
of course, the people of Hong Kong, as we have seen in recent events.
Since President Nixon went to China in 1971, most Americans have
believed that with increased economic integration and exposure to our
system of democracy in the west, the Chinese Government would some day
adopt some of our fundamental values. This clearly has not happened.
Not only does the Chinese Government reject any real steps towards
democracy, continue its unfair trade practices, and cheat by stealing
our intellectual property, but it also continually violates human
rights.
The United States must hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable
for its repression of the Uighurs and active disregard for
international law.
I urge my colleagues to support the passage of this important and,
again, truly bipartisan legislation.
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of
my time.
Mr. Speaker, beyond what has been done to date, Chinese companies
profiting from forced labor in Xinjiang must be prohibited from
exporting goods to the United States and to other countries. The
administration has, to its credit, blocked one Chinese company for
forced labor manufacturing, but there are many other companies,
particularly in the manufacturing of cotton and garments, that are
profiting off the slavery of detained Uighurs. Many more companies need
to be barred from entry into the U.S. market.
In addition to the crimes against humanity that Xi Jinping has
imposed upon the people of Xinjiang, the United States also needs to
address the high-tech authoritarianism of the future being auditioned
in Xinjiang.
Beijing is using Xinjiang as a proving ground for an all-knowing
police and surveillance state. The technology used to construct China's
high-tech police state is being exported around the world to some
countries in Africa, central Asia, and beyond. Every petty dictator and
aspiring totalitarian can use this technology to crush democratic
aspirations, human rights, religious freedom, and the rule of law.
Let me also say a word or two about Uighur Americans, like the great
Rebiya Kadeer, who I have been friends with since 2006--I have had her
at hearings. She is an unbelievable leader. Her entire family and
extended family, dozens of people, have been rounded up and have been
put into prison. Nury Turkel, Rushan Abbas, and Gulchehra Hoja have had
their families, as well, threatened and detained because they dared to
speak up here in the United States.
So many Uighur Americans have experienced the agony of family
detentions and disappearances, again, a cruelty laid at the feet of Xi
Jinping. He not only goes after the individual, he goes after the whole
family. And again, the women in prisons in China are sexually abused
and tortured. The men are abused, as well.
For those watching us today, the message you hear should be clear.
The United States wants to hold the Chinese Government and the Chinese
companies accountable for crimes against humanity and the cruelty they
inflict on your families and your loved ones. We will not be silent.
Justice is coming. We are demanding accountability.
I also want to take a moment to thank the reporters of Radio Free
Asia's Uyghur Service. Their families have been rounded up and put into
prison, into concentration camps by Xi Jinping's dictatorship. This is
beyond horrific, and we need to respond accordingly.
I also want to thank and note the contribution of Dr. Scott Flipse to
the legislation before us today, and also the Uyghur Human Rights
Policy Act and, frankly, to the Hong Kong Democracy and Human Rights
Act that was signed into law just a few days ago.
I also want to thank former CECC staff directors Paul Protic and
Elyse Anderson and current staff members Jon Stivers, Peter Mattis,
Megan Fluker, and Amy Reger for helping this Congress shine a bright
light on the atrocities.
And, of course, our full and subcommittee staffers, as well, have
done yeoman's work on this terrible issue.
We are united today. We need to be united with all Americans in
saying, never again.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
It has been more than 3 years since the Chinese authorities have
accelerated and expanded their repressive campaign in Xinjiang. The
global response to these abuses, up until now, has been insignificant,
partly due to the successful campaign by Beijing to coerce silence from
those who speak out.
Where there has been talk, there has sadly been little action. Today,
we have an opportunity to turn the tide by sending a strong message of
support to the Uighur people and accountability for those Chinese
officials who have violated their own people's rights and religious
freedom for years with impunity.
I urge my colleagues to join me today in sending a strong message to
both the perpetrators and the victims alike with an overwhelming vote
in support for this legislation.
Mr. Speaker, before I yield, I would like to point out that there are
three Members of the New Jersey delegation here. Two of them are
refugees from communism.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, today I am proud the House of
Representatives is considering S. 178, the ``Uighur Intervention and
Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act'' or the ``UIGHUR Act.''
In the last year, Chinese authorities have expanded their network of
mass internment camps, where it is now estimated that 1.8 million or
more Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims have been involuntarily detained
in approximately 1,400 extrajudicial internment facilities in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
Detainees are subjected to torture, extended solitary confinement,
and political indoctrination. Many scholars and human rights groups
argue that these practices may amount to ``crimes against humanity.''
Over the last month, leaks of highly classified Chinese government
documents uncovered operations manuals for the mass internment camps
and exposed details about the mass detention and surveillance systems
in Xinjiang. Among the findings in the Chinese government's own
documents:
Reeducation centers are designed to ``wash clean the brains'' of
those interned in them;
Those who show signs of resistance are subjected to ``assault-style
re-education'' efforts;
Children of detainees are reportedly often placed in orphanages,
welfare centers, and boarding schools;
Special security measures are mandated to ensure detainees cannot
``escape,'' thereby refuting Chinese government assertions that
detainees are there voluntarily; and
The establishment and expansion of the mass internment camps are part
of a systematic policy directed by General Secretary Xi Jinping and
carried out by XUAR Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo as well as
other senior officials at the central and local levels.
Further, we also have become more aware of the widespread use of a
government-subsidized and large-scale system of forced labor in both
mass internment camps and in factories throughout the Xinjiang region.
Satellite imagery, personal testimonies, and official documents
indicate that detainees in camps, and some who have been released, are
forced to work in food production, textile, and other manufacturing
jobs. Products reportedly produced with forced labor include:
Textiles, such as yarn, clothing, gloves, bedding, and carpet;
Electronics, including cell phones and computers; Food products, shoes,
tea, and handicrafts.
Current U.S. law prohibits the import of any product made with forced
labor. Any U.S. or international company that produces or has a supply
chain in Xinjiang may be complicit with forced labor and human rights
violations. Customs and Border Protection rightly stopped the import of
some goods from Xinjiang, but much more needs to be done to ensure that
Americans are not purchasing products made with forced labor.
The UIGHUR Act is an essential update and strengthening of U.S.
policy in response to gross human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The bill
calls on the President to submit a list to
[[Page H9208]]
Congress of Chinese officials responsible for the mass incarceration,
political indoctrination, or reeducation efforts and to impose Global
Magnitsky Act sanctions for all those on the list. It also includes
needed export restrictions on technology critical to the Chinese
government's ability to suppress human rights and individual privacy.
With passage of this legislation, it should be clear that Congress
stands in solidarity with the Uyghur people and other suppressed
minorities affected by the mass internment and surveillance system in
the Xinjiang region, and we will continue to do all we can to support
the full exercise of their human rights in Xinjiang and in China.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Sires) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, S. 178, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________