[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 212 (Wednesday, December 8, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H7495-H7504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UYGHUR FORCED LABOR PREVENTION ACT
MR. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 1155) ensuring that goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China do not enter
the United States market, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1155
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
Prevention Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, the
Government of the People's Republic of China has, since 2017,
arbitrarily detained as many as 1.8 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs,
Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in a
system of extrajudicial mass internment camps, in addition to
arbitrarily detaining many in formal prisons and detention
centers, and has subjected detainees to forced labor,
torture, political indoctrination, and other severe human
rights abuses.
(2) Forced labor exists within the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region's system of mass internment camps, and
throughout the region, and is confirmed by the testimony of
former camp detainees, satellite imagery, official media
reports, publicly available documents, official statements,
and official leaked documents from the Government of the
People's Republic of China as part of a targeted campaign of
repression of Muslim ethnic minorities.
(3) In addition to reports from researchers and civil
society groups documenting evidence that many factories and
other suppliers in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are
exploiting forced labor, the Department of Commerce's Bureau
of Industry and Security on July 22, 2020, added eleven
entities to the entity list after determining the entities
had been ``implicated in human rights violations and abuses
in the implementation of China's campaign of repression, mass
arbitrary detention, forced labor and high-technology
surveillance against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other members of
Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region''.
(4) Audits and efforts to vet products and supply chains in
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region are unreliable due to
the extent forced labor has been integrated into the regional
economy, the mixing of involuntary labor with voluntary
labor, the inability of witnesses to speak freely about
working conditions given government surveillance and
coercion, and the incentive of government officials to
conceal government-sponsored forced labor.
(5) The Department of State's June 2020 Trafficking in
Persons Report found that ``Authorities offer subsidies
incentivizing Chinese companies to open factories in close
proximity to the internment camps, and to receive transferred
detainees at satellite manufacturing sites in other
provinces. Local governments receive additional funds for
each inmate forced to work in these sites at a fraction of
minimum wage or without any compensation.''.
(6) U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued 11
``Withhold Release Orders'' on products suspected to be
produced with prison or forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region. Products subject to the ``Withhold Release
Orders'' include all cotton, cotton products, tomatoes, and
tomato products as well as certain garments, hair products,
apparel, computer parts, and other products.
(7) In its 2019 Annual Report, the Congressional-Executive
Commission on China (CECC) found that products reportedly
produced with forced labor by current and former mass
internment camp detainees included textiles, electronics,
food products, shoes, tea, and handicrafts.
(8) Reports in 2020 indicated that, in recent years,
People's Republic of China Government authorities had
organized a labor training and transfer system on a mass
scale. Under this system, hundreds of thousands of rural
residents of the Tibet Autonomous Region participated in
``military-style'' training, ideological education, and
vocational training before being transferred to job postings
in the Tibetan Autonomous Region or elsewhere in China. The
similarity of the Tibet Autonomous Region system to that in
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region raised fears that
coercive practices or rights abuses may be taking place in
the Tibet Autonomous Region.
[[Page H7496]]
(9) Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307)
states that it is illegal to import into the United States
``goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part'' by forced labor. Such
merchandise is subject to exclusion or seizure and may lead
to criminal investigation of the importer.
(10) The policies of the Government of the People's
Republic of China are in contravention of international human
rights instruments signed by that government, including--
(A) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which
the People's Republic of China has signed but not yet
ratified;
(B) the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and
Cultural Rights, ratified by the People's Republic of China
in 2001; and
(C) the United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and
Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
(Palermo Protocol), to which the People's Republic of China
has been a state party since February 2010.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to prohibit the import of all goods, wares, articles,
or merchandise mined, produced, or manufactured, wholly or in
part, by forced labor from the People's Republic of China and
particularly any such goods, wares, articles, or merchandise
produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China;
(2) to encourage the international community to reduce the
import of any goods made with forced labor from the People's
Republic of China, particularly those goods mined,
manufactured, or produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region;
(3) to coordinate with Mexico and Canada to effectively
implement Article 23.6 of the United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement to prohibit the importation of goods produced in
whole or in part by forced or compulsory labor, which
includes goods produced in whole or in part by forced or
compulsory labor in the People's Republic of China;
(4) to actively work to prevent, publicly denounce, and end
human trafficking as a horrific assault on human dignity and
to restore the lives of those affected by human trafficking,
a modern form of slavery;
(5) to regard the prevention of atrocities as in its
national interest, including efforts to prevent torture,
enforced disappearances, severe deprivation of liberty,
including mass internment, arbitrary detention, and
widespread and systematic use of forced labor, and
persecution targeting any identifiable ethnic or religious
group; and
(6) to address gross violations of human rights in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region through bilateral
diplomatic channels and multilateral institutions where both
the United States and the People's Republic of China are
members and with all the authorities available to the United
States Government, including visa and financial sanctions,
export restrictions, and import controls.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON IMPORTATION OF GOODS MADE IN THE
XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), all
goods, wares, articles, and merchandise mined, produced, or
manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region of China, or by persons working with the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region government for purposes of
the ``poverty alleviation'' program or the ``pairing-
assistance'' program which subsidizes the establishment of
manufacturing facilities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region, shall be deemed to be goods, wares, articles, and
merchandise described in section 307 of the Tariff Act of
1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307) and shall not be entitled to entry at
any of the ports of the United States.
(b) Exception.--The prohibition described in subsection (a)
shall not apply if the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and
Border Protection--
(1) determines, by clear and convincing evidence, that any
specific goods, wares, articles, or merchandise described in
subsection (a) were not produced wholly or in part by convict
labor, forced labor, or indentured labor under penal
sanctions; and
(2) submits to the appropriate congressional committees and
makes available to the public a report that contains such
determination.
(c) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the
date that is 120 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT STRATEGY TO ADDRESS FORCED LABOR IN THE
XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Forced Labor Enforcement Task
Force, established under section 741 of the United States-
Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4681),
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a
report that contains an enforcement strategy to effectively
address forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
of China or products made by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz,
Tibetans, or members of other persecuted groups through
forced labor in any other part of the People's Republic of
China. The enforcement strategy shall describe the specific
enforcement plans of the United States Government regarding--
(1) goods, wares, articles, and merchandise described in
section 4(a) that are imported into the United States
directly from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or made
by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or members of other
persecuted groups in any other part of the People's Republic
of China;
(2) goods, wares, articles, and merchandise described in
section 4(a) that are imported into the United States from
the People's Republic of China and are mined, produced, or
manufactured in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
or by persons working with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region government or the Xinjiang Production and Construction
Corps for purposes of the ``poverty alleviation'' program or
the ``pairing-assistance'' program; and
(3) goods, wares, articles, and merchandise described in
section 4(a) that are imported into the United States from
third countries and are mined, produced, or manufactured in
part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or by persons
working with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region government
or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps for
purposes of the ``poverty alleviation'' program or the
``pairing-assistance'' program.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--The strategy required by
subsection (a) shall include the following:
(1) A description of the actions taken by the United States
Government to address forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region under section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930
(19 U.S.C. 1307), including a description of all Withhold
Release Orders issued, goods detained, and fines issued.
(2) A list of products made wholly or in part by forced or
involuntary labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or
made by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or members of
other persecuted groups in any other part of the People's
Republic of China, and a list of businesses that sold
products in the United States made wholly or in part by
forced or involuntary labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region or made by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Tibetans, or
members of other persecuted groups in any other part of the
People's Republic of China.
(3) A list of facilities and entities, including the
Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, that source
material from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region or by
persons working with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
government or the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps
for purposes of the ``poverty alleviation'' program or the
``pairing-assistance'' program, a plan for identifying
additional such facilities and entities, and facility- and
entity-specific enforcement plans, including issuing specific
Withhold Release Orders to support enforcement of section 4,
with regard to each listed facility or entity.
(4) A list of high-priority sectors for enforcement, which
shall include cotton, tomatoes, polysilicon, and a sector-
specific enforcement plan for each high-priority sector.
(5) A description of the additional resources necessary for
U.S. Customs and Border Protection to effectively implement
the enforcement strategy.
(6) A plan to coordinate and collaborate with appropriate
nongovernmental organizations and private sector entities to
discuss the enforcement strategy for products made in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
(c) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
annex, if necessary.
(d) Updates.--The Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force shall
provide briefings to the appropriate congressional committees
on a quarterly basis and, as applicable, on any updates to
the strategy required by subsection (a) or any additional
actions taken to address forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region, including actions described in this Act.
(e) Sunset.--This section shall cease to have effect on the
earlier of--
(1) the date that is 8 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act; or
(2) the date on which the President submits to the
appropriate congressional committees a determination that the
Government of the People's Republic of China has ended mass
internment, forced labor, and any other gross violations of
human rights experienced by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and
members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region.
SEC. 6. DETERMINATION RELATING TO CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY OR
GENOCIDE IN THE XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS
REGION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall--
(1) determine if the practice of forced labor or other
crimes against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other
Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region of China can be considered systematic and widespread
and therefore constitutes crimes against humanity or
constitutes genocide as defined in subsection (a) of section
1091 of title 18, United States Code; and
(2) submit to the appropriate congressional committees and
make available to the public a report that contains such
determination.
(b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a)--
[[Page H7497]]
(1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include
a classified annex, if necessary; and
(2) may be included in the report required by section 7.
SEC. 7. DIPLOMATIC STRATEGY TO ADDRESS FORCED LABOR IN THE
XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in
coordination with the heads of other appropriate Federal
departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees a report that contains a United
States strategy to promote initiatives to enhance
international awareness of and to address forced labor in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--The strategy required by
subsection (a) shall include--
(1) a plan to enhance bilateral and multilateral
coordination, including sustained engagement with the
governments of United States partners and allies, to end
forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of
other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region;
(2) public affairs, public diplomacy, and counter-messaging
efforts to promote awareness of the human rights situation,
including forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region; and
(3) opportunities to coordinate and collaborate with
appropriate nongovernmental organizations and private sector
entities to raise awareness about forced labor made products
from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and to provide
assistance to Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other
Muslim minority groups, including those formerly detained in
mass internment camps in the region.
(c) Additional Matters To Be Included.--The report required
by subsection (a) shall also include--
(1) to the extent practicable, a list of--
(A) entities in the People's Republic of China or
affiliates of such entities that directly or indirectly use
forced or involuntary labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region; and
(B) Foreign persons that acted as agents of the entities or
affiliates of entities described in subparagraph (A) to
import goods into the United States; and
(2) a description of actions taken by the United States
Government to address forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region under existing authorities, including--
(A) the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (Public
Law 106-386; 22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.);
(B) the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act
of 2018 (Public Law 115-441; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note); and
(C) the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act
(22 U.S.C. 2656 note).
(d) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified
annex, if necessary.
(e) Updates.--The Secretary of State shall include any
updates to the strategy required by subsection (a) in the
annual Trafficking in Persons report required by section
110(b) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22
U.S.C. 7107(b)).
(f) Sunset.--This section shall cease to have effect the
earlier of--
(1) the date that is 8 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act; or
(2) the date on which the President submits to the
appropriate congressional committees a determination that the
Government of the People's Republic of China has ended mass
internment, forced labor, and any other gross violations of
human rights experienced by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and
members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region.
SEC. 8. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS RELATING TO FORCED LABOR IN
THE XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION.
(a) Report Required.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and not less frequently than
annually thereafter, the President shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report that identifies
each foreign person, including any official of the Government
of the People's Republic of China, that the President
determines--
(A) knowingly engages in, is responsible for, or
facilitates the forced labor of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and
members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region of China; and
(B) knowingly engages in, contributes to, assists, or
provides financial, material or technological support for
efforts to contravene United States law regarding the
importation of forced labor goods from the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region.
(2) Form.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex.
(b) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President shall impose
the sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to
each foreign person identified in the report required under
subsection (a)(1).
(c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this
subsection are the following:
(1) Asset blocking.--The President shall exercise all of
the powers granted to the President under the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the
extent necessary to block and prohibit all transactions in
property and interests in property of a foreign person
identified in the report required under subsection (a)(1) if
such property and interests in property--
(A) are in the United States;
(B) come within the United States; or
(C) come within the possession or control of a United
States person.
(2) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or parole.--
(A) Visas, admission, or parole.--An alien described in
subsection (a)(1) is--
(i) inadmissible to the United States;
(ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation to
enter the United States; and
(iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled into
the United States or to receive any other benefit under the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
(B) Current visas revoked.--
(i) In general.--An alien described in subsection (a)(1) is
subject to revocation of any visa or other entry
documentation regardless of when the visa or other entry
documentation is or was issued.
(ii) Immediate effect.--A revocation under clause (i)
shall--
(I) take effect immediately; and
(II) automatically cancel any other valid visa or entry
documentation that is in the alien's possession.
(d) Implementation; Penalties.--
(1) Implementation.--The President may exercise all
authorities provided under sections 203 and 205 of the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702
and 1704) to carry out this section.
(2) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections
(b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a foreign
person that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to
violate, or causes a violation of paragraph (1) to the same
extent that such penalties apply to a person that commits an
unlawful act described in subsection (a) of such section 206.
(e) Waiver.--The President may waive the application of
sanctions under this section with respect to a foreign person
identified in the report required under subsection (a)(1) if
the President determines and certifies to the appropriate
congressional committees that such a waiver is in the
national interest of the United States.
(f) Exceptions.--
(1) Exception for intelligence activities.--Sanctions under
this section shall not apply to any activity subject to the
reporting requirements under title V of the National Security
Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) or any authorized
intelligence activities of the United States.
(2) Exception to comply with international obligations and
for law enforcement activities.--Sanctions under subsection
(c)(2) shall not apply with respect to an alien if admitting
or paroling the alien into the United States is necessary--
(A) to permit the United States to comply with the
Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations,
signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force
November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United
States, or other applicable international obligations; or
(B) to carry out or assist law enforcement activity in the
United States.
(g) Termination of Sanctions.--The President may terminate
the application of sanctions under this section with respect
to a foreign person if the President determines and reports
to the appropriate congressional committees not less than 15
days before the termination takes effect that--
(1) information exists that the person did not engage in
the activity for which sanctions were imposed;
(2) the person has been prosecuted appropriately for the
activity for which sanctions were imposed;
(3) the person has credibly demonstrated a significant
change in behavior, has paid an appropriate consequence for
the activity for which sanctions were imposed, and has
credibly committed to not engage in an activity described in
subsection (a)(1) in the future; or
(4) the termination of the sanctions is in the national
security interests of the United States.
(h) Sunset.--This section, and any sanctions imposed under
this section, shall terminate on the date that is 5 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(i) Definitions of Admission; Admitted; Alien.--In this
section, the terms ``admission'', ``admitted'', and ``alien''
have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
SEC. 9. DISCLOSURES TO THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE XINJIANG
UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION.
(a) Policy Statement.--It is the policy of the United
States to protect American investors, through stronger
disclosure requirements, alerting them to the presence of
Chinese and other companies complicit in gross violations of
human rights in United States capital markets, including
American and foreign companies listed on United States
exchanges that enable the mass internment and population
surveillance of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslim
minorities and source products made with forced labor in the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
[[Page H7498]]
Region of China. Such involvements represent clear, material
risks to the share values and corporate reputations of
certain of these companies and hence to prospective American
investors, particularly given that the United States
Government has employed sanctions and export restrictions to
target individuals and entities contributing to human rights
abuses in the People's Republic of China.
(b) Disclosure of Certain Activities Relating to the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.--
(1) In general.--Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
``(s) Disclosure of Certain Activities Relating to the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.--
``(1) In general.--Each issuer required to file an annual
or quarterly report under subsection (a) shall disclose in
that report the information required by paragraph (2) if,
during the period covered by the report, the issuer or any
affiliate of the issuer--
``(A) knowingly engaged in an activity with an entity or
the affiliate of an entity engaged in creating or providing
technology or other assistance to create mass population
surveillance systems in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
of China, including any entity included on the Department of
Commerce's `Entity List' in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region;
``(B) knowingly engaged in an activity with an entity or an
affiliate of an entity building and running detention
facilities for Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other members of
Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region;
``(C) knowingly engaged in an activity with an entity or an
affiliate of an entity described in section 7(c)(1) of the
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, including--
``(i) any entity engaged in the `pairing-assistance'
program which subsidizes the establishment of manufacturing
facilities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; or
``(ii) any entity for which the Department of Homeland
Security has issued a `Withhold Release Order' under section
307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307); or
``(D) knowingly conducted any transaction or had dealings
with--
``(i) any person the property and interests in property of
which were sanctioned by the Secretary of State for the
detention or abuse of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, or other
members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region;
``(ii) any person the property and interests in property of
which are sanctioned pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human
Rights Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note); or
``(iii) any person or entity responsible for, or complicit
in, committing atrocities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region.
``(2) Information required.--
``(A) In general.--If an issuer described under paragraph
(1) or an affiliate of the issuer has engaged in any activity
described in paragraph (1), the information required by this
paragraph is a detailed description of each such activity,
including--
``(i) the nature and extent of the activity;
``(ii) the gross revenues and net profits, if any,
attributable to the activity; and
``(iii) whether the issuer or the affiliate of the issuer
(as the case may be) intends to continue the activity.
``(B) Exception.--The requirement to disclose information
under this paragraph shall not include information on
activities of the issuer or any affiliate of the issuer
activities relating to--
``(i) the import of manufactured goods, including
electronics, food products, textiles, shoes, and teas, that
originated in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; or
``(ii) manufactured goods containing materials that
originated or are sourced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region.
``(3) Notice of disclosures.--If an issuer reports under
paragraph (1) that the issuer or an affiliate of the issuer
has knowingly engaged in any activity described in that
paragraph, the issuer shall separately file with the
Commission, concurrently with the annual or quarterly report
under subsection (a), a notice that the disclosure of that
activity has been included in that annual or quarterly report
that identifies the issuer and contains the information
required by paragraph (2).
``(4) Public disclosure of information.--Upon receiving a
notice under paragraph (3) that an annual or quarterly report
includes a disclosure of an activity described in paragraph
(1), the Commission shall promptly--
``(A) transmit the report to--
``(i) the President;
``(ii) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee
on Financial Services of the House of Representatives; and
``(iii) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate; and
``(B) make the information provided in the disclosure and
the notice available to the public by posting the information
on the Internet website of the Commission.
``(5) Investigations.--Upon receiving a report under
paragraph (4) that includes a disclosure of an activity
described in paragraph (1), the President shall--
``(A) make a determination with respect to whether any
investigation is needed into the possible imposition of
sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights
Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 2656 note) or section 8 of the
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act or whether criminal
investigations are warranted under statutes intended to hold
accountable individuals or entities involved in the
importation of goods produced by forced labor, including
under section 545, 1589, or 1761 of title 18, United States
Code; and
``(B) not later than 180 days after initiating any such
investigation, make a determination with respect to whether a
sanction should be imposed or criminal investigations
initiated with respect to the issuer or the affiliate of the
issuer (as the case may be).
``(6) Atrocities defined.--In this subsection, the term
`atrocities' has the meaning given the term in section 6(2)
of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of
2018 (Public Law 115-441; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note).''.
(c) Sunset.--Section 13(s) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as added by subsection (b), is repealed on the
earlier of--
(1) the date that is 8 years after the date of the
enactment of this Act; or
(2) the date on which the President submits to the
appropriate congressional committees a determination that the
Government of the People's Republic of China has ended mass
internment, forced labor, and any other gross violations of
human rights experienced by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and
members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (b)
shall take effect with respect to reports required to be
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission after the
date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on
Financial Services, and the Committee on Ways and Means of
the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on
Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee on
Finance of the Senate.
(2) Atrocities.--The term ``atrocities'' has the meaning
given the term in section 6(2) of the Elie Wiesel Genocide
and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-441; 22
U.S.C. 2656 note).
(3) Crimes against humanity.--The term ``crimes against
humanity'' includes, when committed as part of a widespread
or systematic attack directed against any civilian
population, with knowledge of the attack--
(A) murder;
(B) deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(C) torture;
(D) extermination;
(E) enslavement;
(F) rape, sexual slavery, or any other form of sexual
violence of comparable severity;
(G) persecution against any identifiable group or
collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic,
cultural, religious, gender, or other grounds that are
universally recognized as impermissible under international
law; and
(H) enforced disappearance of persons.
(4) Forced labor.--The term ``forced labor'' has the
meaning given the term in section 307 of the Tariff Act of
1930 (19 U.S.C. 1307).
(5) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means a
person that is not a United States person.
(6) Person.--The term ``person'' means an individual or
entity.
(7) Mass population surveillance system.--The term ``mass
population surveillance system'' means installation and
integration of facial recognition cameras, biometric data
collection, cell phone surveillance, and artificial
intelligence technology with the ``Sharp Eyes'' and
``Integrated Joint Operations Platform'' or other
technologies that are used by Chinese security forces for
surveillance and big-data predictive policing.
(8) United states person.--The term ``United States
person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted
for permanent residence to the United States; or
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the United States
or any jurisdiction within the United States, including a
foreign branch of such an entity.
SEC. 11. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS..
The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of
complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall
be determined by reference to the latest statement titled
``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation'' for this Act,
submitted for printing in the Congressional Record by the
Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such
statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Meeks) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul) each will
control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.
General Leave
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
[[Page H7499]]
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on H.R. 1155.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1155, the Uyghur Forced
Labor Prevention Act introduced by my good friend, colleague, and
chairman of the Rules Committee, Mr. McGovern.
Let me also thank Speaker Pelosi for bringing this crucial measure to
the floor, and her unwavering dedication to human rights issues in
China over the course of her public life.
This necessary and bold measure reinforces this body's commitment to
our values by responding to the PRC's human rights violations and
imposing concrete costs on the PRC for the use of Uyghur forced labor.
Since 2017, the People's Republic of China has systematically carried
out mass detention, torture, political indoctrination, restrictions on
religious attractions, and inhumane atrocities against Uyghurs and
members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang.
We have seen the People's Republic of China expand its extensive
program of repression and transform it into a system of state-sponsored
forced labor. Under the guise of vocational training or poverty
alleviation, authorities in Xinjiang have forced thousands of adults
and children to work against their will and under threat of punishment
to produce goods and raw materials that are then woven into
international supply chains and into our homes.
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, it has been
conservatively estimated that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred
out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between the years of
2017 and 2019, with some of them being sent directly from detention
centers. Some analysts estimate that over 100,000 ex-detainees in
Xinjiang are working in conditions of forced labor today.
I have seen firsthand the benefits of the American companies engaging
in China. Most American companies pay above-market wages and have
better corporate social responsibility practices than their domestic
counterparts. It would be inconsistent with core and crucial American
values for this body not to take a stand against forced labor, and to
stand up for the persecuted Uyghurs.
Many brave companies have already spoken out and made ethical choices
detrimental to their bottom line, and this bill ensures that corporate
actors that have lived their values are not at a competitive
disadvantage in the American marketplace.
This bill, which has passed the House before, prohibits the import of
goods and merchandise from Xinjiang unless the importer can prove the
products did not come from forced labor, imposes sanctions on officials
facilitating the use of forced labor against Chinese ethnic minorities,
adds important financial disclosures for public companies that do
business in the region, and calls for a diplomatic strategy to address
forced labor in Xinjiang.
This is a straightforward bill. It signals that forced labor has no
place on this planet. It signals that products made using forced labor
in Xinjiang have no place in the American marketplace. In 2021, for any
country to utilize forced labor systematically and to oppress and
exploit a population is simply unconscionable.
With the passage of this bipartisan measure, the House would hold
accountable those responsible for perpetrating these heinous crimes
that have irrevocably threatened the lives of over 1.8 million Uyghurs
and Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and ensure Americans and American
companies are not complicit in the Chinese Communist Party's human
rights atrocities.
This legislation is critical to showing that we are putting human
rights at the center of our foreign policy and economic policy. Mr.
Speaker, I support and urge my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking Chairman Meeks and Chairman
McGovern for bringing this important human rights legislation to this
floor. It is high time.
I want to start this debate with the simple truth that we cannot
afford to forget. Truly, free trade cannot involve slave labor.
Today, the Chinese Communist Party is using the forced labor of the
Uyghurs and other minorities to help bankroll its genocide against
these very same groups.
{time} 1330
The repression taking place right now in Xinjiang is breathtaking in
its scope and its brutality. It involves the detention of more than 1
million people in concentration camps. It also involves surveillance
and intensive brainwashing on a massive scale. It involves breaking up
families and taking children from their parents. And it involves forced
sterilization and forced abortions.
This should be a terrifying warning not only to China's neighbors and
to the American people but also to the world. The Chinese Communist
Party is fundamentally focused on expanding its power and its
authoritarian style of government. It views things that it does not
control, like religion, cultural identity, and the yearning of all
people for freedom, as threats that must be destroyed. Because we have
drawn the CCP into many of our most critical supply chains, it has the
ability to hold our national security hostage while it uses U.S.
consumers to subsidize its atrocities.
As many as one in five cotton garments globally are potentially
tainted with Uyghur slave labor. Last year alone, U.S. Customs and
Border Protection seized a 13-ton shipment of human hair that
originated in Xinjiang's forced labor system. It is brazen, and it is
sickening.
We must refuse to be complicit in the CCP's genocide against the
Uyghurs, and for that reason, I support the measure before us today.
I wish we could have taken this up earlier. After sending a letter to
the Speaker, we are finally at the day where we are now. Last Congress,
this legislation went straight to the floor. Two weeks ago, 10 members
of the Foreign Affairs Committee joined me in a letter urging the
Speaker to move this bill. I am grateful that our message was received.
But we could send this legislation to the President's desk today by
taking up the Senate version. Instead, we are setting this bill up for
further legislative gridlock by passing a conflicting version, although
I do applaud Chairman McGovern's efforts in this issue.
Mr. Speaker, going forward, I hope the majority in both Chambers will
move this to final passage regardless of pressure from the
administration to not advance the American values we all share.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from the
great State of Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), the sponsor of this bill.
Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Meeks for
yielding me the time and for his incredible leadership on this issue. I
also want to thank Ranking Minority Member McCaul for his leadership.
Mr. Speaker, many products used every day by people all over our
country, including clothing, food, and shoes, are made using forced
labor, the forced labor of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities held by
the Chinese Government across a network of internment camps.
It has been illegal to import forced labor products into the United
States for more than 90 years, but it is exceedingly difficult to spot
them since Chinese producers often mix together products that are the
result of both involuntary and voluntary labor. Moreover, the lack of
Chinese Government transparency and the police state atmosphere in
Xinjiang make auditing of product sourcing unreliable if not
impossible, according to the administration's ``Xinjiang Supply Chain
Business Advisory.''
Mr. Speaker, the imperative to act is clear. This is not a partisan
issue. It is a human rights issue. It is a moral issue.
There is already strong, diverse, bipartisan, and bicameral support
for
[[Page H7500]]
this legislation on both sides of the Capitol. That includes my
colleagues on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China,
Representative Chris Smith and Senator Marco Rubio, the author of the
Senate bill.
I, too, want to especially thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her
longtime advocacy for human rights in China and for her leadership in
getting this bill to the House floor today. I want to thank Chairman
Richard Neal, Chairman Gregory Meeks, and Chairwoman Maxine Waters
for their support in their committees.
The House of Representatives passed this bill in September 2020 by a
vote of 406-3, but, sadly, the Senate did nothing. It never took it up.
The Senate now passed a version of this bill in July. It is time for us
to get this done.
Two years ago, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, of
which I serve as the co-chair, held a hearing and an expert roundtable
and issued a groundbreaking staff report. This legislation would not be
possible without the hardworking staff of that Commission.
Our findings of systematic and widespread forced labor in Xinjiang
are based on testimony from camp detainees, satellite imagery of
factories being built at internment camps, and public and leaked
Chinese Government documents.
Forced labor was one of the justifications cited by the State
Department, first by Secretary Pompeo and then reiterated by Secretary
Blinken, in determining that the Chinese Government was committing
genocide against Uyghurs and members of other Muslim ethnic minority
groups.
Forced labor was listed by the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum in its November 2021 report finding that the Chinese Government
had committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act prohibits imports from
Xinjiang to the U.S. by creating a rebuttable presumption that all
goods produced in the region are made with forced labor unless U.S.
Customs and Border Protection certifies by clear and convincing
evidence that goods were not produced with forced labor.
Mr. Speaker, in 2 months, the Chinese Government will host the Winter
Olympics in the middle of a genocide. This is unconscionable. We asked
the International Olympic Committee to postpone and move the games.
They refused. Instead, the IOC made ANTA, a Chinese company implicated
in slave labor, its official sportswear uniform supplier.
I am pleased that the Biden administration has decided not to send
American diplomats to the Olympics, but Congress needs to do its part
by passing this bill before the Olympics start. We must take a clear
moral position to stand with those who are suffering from forced labor
and not with the Chinese Government, the IOC, and the big corporations
who profit off the exploitation of slave labor. Shame on them. No more
business as usual.
We must pass and put into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this. If the United States of
America stands for anything, we need to stand out loud and four-square
for human rights.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Smith), the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Global Human Rights. He also
is the co-chair of the China Commission and has been a champion for
human rights in China for three decades.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend for
yielding. I thank Mr. McCaul for his extraordinary leadership on China,
including his Commission that has made many, many recommendations. I
want to thank Chairman Meeks for his leadership as well and, of course,
Chairman McGovern, with whom I have worked on this bill, for his
leadership.
Mr. Speaker, I chaired a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing
in May titled ``China, Genocide and the Olympics,'' which helped
further underscore why H.R. 1155, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention
Act, which I have cosponsored with Jim McGovern, is so important and
so necessary.
At that hearing, we heard testimony from Rayhan Asat, whose brother,
Ekpar, a Muslim Uyghur, at last report is still incarcerated in a
concentration camp in Xinjiang. Ekpar is a tech entrepreneur, media
founder, and philanthropist who won recognition both inside of China
and outside. Indeed, our State Department thought so highly of him that
he was part of the International Visitors Leadership Program.
But upon his return, because he was a Muslim Uyghur, the Chinese
authorities arrested him and disappeared him into a concentration camp
where he has remained for 5\1/2\ years.
What happens, Mr. Speaker, to those swallowed up in these horrific
concentration camps?
That is something we heard about in another Lantos Commission hearing
this past July where Gulzira, a survivor, told us what goes on each and
every day. In addition to her horrific, firsthand description of
unspeakable physical abuse, organized forced prostitution, rape, and
every gross violation of human rights imaginable, she also gave a
firsthand account of a forced labor factory in which she made gloves
for export for 1\1/2\ years. Gulzira is one of the lucky ones because
she was released when Radio Free Asia broadcast her plight to the
world.
Mr. Speaker, there are millions of stories like hers waiting to be
told, truly nightmarish accounts of President Xi Jinping's genocide.
And make no mistake about it, this is Xi Jinping's genocide. He is
personally responsible for having ordered it.
The rape and sexual abuse of women being held in so-called internment
camps, forced abortion, and involuntary sterilization to prevent the
birth of Uyghur children are in direct violation of Article II(d) of
the U.N. Genocide Convention, which states in part that genocide
includes imposing measures intended to prevent births within a group.
Forced labor on a massive scale that allows Chinese companies to
profit--and profit big time--from modern-day slavery is also absolutely
pervasive in Xinjiang. Documents obtained by The New York Times and the
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists exposed just how
cruel these plans are, originating, again, with Xi Jinping himself who
early next year will be hosting the Olympic Games, which is outrageous.
The leaked documents show how Xi directed the crackdowns, saying that
the Communist Party must put the ``organs of dictatorship'' to work and
show ``absolutely no mercy'' in dealing with Uyghurs and other
predominantly Muslim minorities.
In one speech, President Xi said: ``The weapons of the people's
democratic dictatorship must be wielded without any hesitation or
wavering.''
Mr. Speaker, I am deeply concerned by a report from Josh Rogin in The
Washington Post just last week stating how the Biden administration and
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman sought to undermine the Uyghur
Forced Labor Prevention Act, which passed the Senate last July and the
House last Congress 406-3. According to Josh Rogin: ``Biden
administration officials have been quietly telling lawmakers to slow
down. . . . Sherman made it clear that the administration prefers a
more targeted and deliberative approach to determining which goods are
the products of forced labor.''
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record Josh Rogin's column from The
Washington Post, ``Opinion: Congress needs to act on Xi Jinping's
genocide now.''
[From the Global Opinions, Dec. 2, 2021]
Opinion: Congress Needs To Act on XI Jinping's Genocide Now
(By Josh Rogin, Columnist)
This week, a private U.K.-based investigative panel
released what it says are classified Chinese government
documents that appear to show how Chinese President Xi
Jinping personally laid the groundwork for systematic forced
assimilation of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. It's the most
damning proof to date of the ongoing Uyghur genocide. So why
can't Congress pass a simple bill to stop the products
connected to that genocide from ending up in U.S. homes and
businesses?
Yet the documents, which likely come from the same tranche
of leaked Chinese Communist Party communications revealed by
the New York Times over two years ago, add to the already
abundant evidence that the Chinese government's mass
internment, mass forced labor, forced population control,
family destruction and cultural erasure of the Uyghurs fit
the United Nation's definition of genocide as ``a crime
committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic,
racial or religious group, in whole or in part.''
[[Page H7501]]
Yet, the Democrat-led Congress can't seem to get the Uyghur
Forced Labor Prevention Act, which passed the Senate
unanimously in July, to President Biden's desk. Pointing to
procedural issues and promises of future action, Democratic
leadership in both the House and Senate can't seem to agree
on a strategy to pass the bill through both chambers, despite
publicly claiming they support it.
On Wednesday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the co-sponsor of
the, Senate's version of the bill, pushed to add it as an
amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, a must-
pass piece of legislation.
Senate Democrats objected under a procedural rule that bars
amendments that affect appropriations. Rubio called that a
dodge. ``This is about the fact that they don't want this
bill to pass over at the House,'' Rubio said on the Senate
floor, referring directly to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Rubio also said U.S. corporations that profit from forced
labor in China, such as Apple and Nike, have been lobbying
against the bill, which is true. On Thursday, Pelosi denied
Rubia's accusations of stalling and promised her chamber
would pass the House's version of the legislation, introduced
by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), which the House passed last
year 406 to 3. In an interview, McGovern told me his bill
will be voted on and likely passed again in the House next
week. But if and when that happens, that won't be the end.
The two chambers will still have passed two different
versions of the bill, with no firm plan for how to reconcile
them.
Meanwhile, Biden administration officials have been quietly
telling lawmakers to slow down. Administration sources
confirmed that in an October call between Deputy Secretary of
State Wendy R. Sherman and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the
other co-sponsor, Sherman made it clear that the
administration prefers a more targeted and deliberative
approach to determining which goods are the products of
forced labor. She also told Merkley that getting allied buy-
in was critical and more effective than unilateral action.
``To be clear, the Department of State is not opposing this
amendment,'' a State Department spokesman told me. ``We share
the Congress' concerns about forced labor in Xinjiang.'' In
other words, while the administration supports the
legislation in public, they are asking Democrats to
essentially water it down in private. Sherman's specific
criticism relates to a part of the bill that would require a
presumption that all products coming from Xinjiang are
tainted by forced labor unless the importer can prove
otherwise. This happens to be the exact provision
corporations are also objecting to. Maybe it's a coincidence.
``It isn't partisan or in any way controversial for the
U.S. to be unequivocally, resoundingly opposed to genocide
and slave labor,'' Merkley told me. ``The Senate passed this
legislation in July, and it's time to get it over the finish
line.''
There is a legitimate concern that supply chains for
everything from solar panels to sneakers could be affected by
the bill. But our dependency on products from an area where
genocide is occurring is the root of the problem. Passing the
bill now would send industry a clear signal to speed up what
they are already doing, which is to stop doing business in
areas riddled with forced labor. Also, forced labor products
from China put U.S. manufacturers at a severe disadvantage.
``We must shine a light on the inhumane practice of forced
labor, hold the perpetrators accountable and stop this
exploitation,'' Pelosi said while passing the bill last year.
``And we must send a clear message to Beijing: These abuses
must end now.''
Another year has gone and the bill still lingers. Pelosi
has been a champion for human rights in China for decades,
but the fight is not over and the ball is in her court.
Overall, it's up to both parties and both chambers to act to
stop a genocide now. There's no good reason to delay.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. We have no access, Mr. Speaker, to the
concentration camps in Xinjiang. We have no idea the supply chains. It
is closed. It is a dictatorship. There are no onsite inspections.
Again, we are talking genocide against these Muslims who are being
wiped off the face of the Earth.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act prohibits imports from
Xinjiang to the United States by creating a rebuttable presumption.
That is the core of this bill, that all goods produced in the region
are made with forced labor unless U.S. Customs and Border Protection
certifies by clear and convincing evidence that goods were not produced
with forced labor. So the rebuttable presumption is the key to this
legislation.
It is very workable. As my good friend and colleague noted, cotton,
solar panels, and so many other things are produced there. We need to
know. We need to stop them from coming here.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1
minute.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Again, if these companies can prove that it
is not made by forced labor, not made as part of this genocide, then it
would be welcomed here. But we know that is unlikely to happen.
My hope is that we will unite--Republican and Democrat, Democrat and
Republican--around this bill and get it to the President as soon as
humanly possible.
Delay is denial. People are being slaughtered each and every day in
Xinjiang, and we can do something, maybe not a whole lot, but something
to mitigate and stop this.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the
great State of New York (Mr. Suozzi), who is on the Ways and Means
Committee.
Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman and everyone who has
worked so hard on this, including Chairman McGovern.
Mr. Speaker, I stand before you as chair of the Congressional Uyghur
Caucus and as a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on
China to support passage of the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor
Prevention Act.
We need to wake up from our torpor. It has been reported for years,
but I don't think most Americans realize exactly what is going on in
China.
It was almost 50 years ago that Nixon went to China, and we have
always believed that the more the Chinese Government and the people
were exposed to the United States and the West, our way of life, our
democracy, and our economic system, the more they would become like us,
the more they would adopt concepts of freedom of expression, free
markets, and minority rights.
Well, that simply hasn't happened. Everyone in this body has seen
reliable reports and clear documentation of crimes against humanity:
forced labor, forced sterilization, mass surveillance, government-run
detention camps, mass detention, sexual violence, and torture against
the Uyghur people.
{time} 1345
The Chinese Communist Party is even forcing people to eat pork during
Ramadan, even though it violates people's religion.
It is hard to imagine that in today's world, that forced labor camps
are happening, and we know about it. And today, we are standing up to
do something about it.
The Chinese Communist Party must be held accountable. We have rules
in place now that say you can't use forced labor. But this bill is a
major step forward in mandating that everything that comes out of
Xinjiang in China will be presumed to be using forced labor and,
therefore, ineligible to be sold into the U.S. supply chain. This is
going to have a tremendous impact.
An overwhelming amount of cotton in the world comes from China, for
example. Mr. Speaker, 84 percent of that cotton that comes from China
comes from the Xinjiang region. Some people are going to say, Oh, my
gosh, if we don't do business with Xinjiang, then the cost of products
are going to go up. Well, that is too damn bad. This should shock
everyone's conscience.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30
seconds.
Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, we have to do everything we can to stand up
for our values. The world is watching us, and it starts with the Uyghur
Forced Labor Prevention Act becoming law. Let's do this, and let's do
it together.
We recognize here in our country that we went through a period of
slavery. That is why it is so offensive to us now to see slavery
actually happening in the world as we speak, where both
administrations, the prior administration and this administration, have
both said this is genocide. Standing up together in a bipartisan way is
so important.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Republican lead, Mr. McCaul,
for yielding. And Chairman Meeks, you are a force in the House
gymnasium. You are a force on the House floor, and I appreciate you,
brother.
The Chinese Communist Party does anything it can to get ahead of the
United States, Mr. Speaker. It steals
[[Page H7502]]
our intellectual property and uses Uyghur slave labor to manufacture
products. It is threatening the freedom of folks from Taiwan to Hong
Kong. Our government needs to stand up to them.
Today, we are acknowledging some of the Chinese Communist Party's
horrible, horrible behaviors. It is not enough. Additional action is
needed, Mr. Speaker.
The Chinese Communist Party knows there are no consequences for its
behavior. That needs to change. It starts with the Biden
administration. They need to do more than just finger-wagging to
effectively counter China. This administration needs to make it clear
to the Chinese Communist Party that bad behavior will be met with
action, not empty words.
President Biden also needs to set aside his climate agenda when
addressing the Chinese Communist Party. His administration tried to
kill the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act because the Uyghurs mine
the polysilicon for our solar panels. It is gross that this
administration wants to let Uyghur slavery slide to advance its climate
agenda.
I am glad we have these bills on the floor today. It is a start, but
more work needs to be done. I hope in the Foreign Affairs Committee,
both parties can work together and hold the Chinese Communist Party
accountable, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I proudly yield 2 minutes to the gentleman
from the great State of Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy.
Congress passed a law almost a century ago prohibiting the
importation of goods made with forced labor. But, you know, it was
really never enforced.
That changed in 2016, potentially, when we passed legislation to
eliminate the consumptive demand loophole that allowed people a way
around. Well, it is time that we finish the job.
Nothing is more chilling than what the Chinese are doing to the
Uyghur people. I have chaired meetings of our Trade Subcommittee that
were really appalling. It is Orwellian in terms of what they are doing
to detain Uyghurs in internment, re-education, slave labor camps; that
international concern the Chinese think will just remain on the
sideline.
Now, there are many American companies that are attempting to deal
with this, but we need to do more. We need to strengthen their resolve,
and we need to be able to get the attention of the Chinese Government.
A stronger regime is absolutely necessary. Crimes against humanity
require a response. We must not just vote our support for the Uyghur
people and other minorities across China. We need to make sure that
we are clear about who gets the benefit of the doubt.
More than a million Uyghurs have been enslaved; half of them forced
to harvest cotton, one of the Xinjiang region's largest exports. When
American consumers buy a shirt, they shouldn't have questions about
whether or not that was made with forced labor.
I strongly support this legislation to ensure that American dollars
aren't inadvertently contributing to forced labor. That is the language
that the Chinese understand; denying them access to our markets and
making sure that people are responsible for their supply chain.
This legislation, I think, is a great start. I am pleased that there
is bipartisan support for it. I hope we enact it, and then we work
together to make sure that it is enforced.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
South Carolina (Mr. Rice), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
Mr. RICE of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, China is a global thief. We
all know it. They steal American intellectual property. They steal
American jobs using currency manipulation, illegal subsidies, and
product dumping to kill American competition. And worst of all, they
produce products with slave labor.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1155, the Uyghur Forced
Labor Prevention Act. H.R. 1155's central provision establishes a
rebuttable presumption that all goods made in China's Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region are produced with forced labor.
Since 2017, China has arbitrarily detained and persecuted over 1
million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in extrajudicial, mass re-
education camps in Xinjiang. We know that China is seeking to profit
from the oppression by subsidizing companies to build factories near
these mass internment sites.
H.R. 1155 leverages the power of our enormous market to send China a
message that it cannot use its policies of repression to subsidize its
exports. We must work with our allies to ensure that all global markets
are closed to the products of Chinese theft and repression.
A core and essential provision of this bill is a rebuttable
presumption that leads to an import prohibition. In 2016, the Ways and
Means Committee led the way on a bipartisan basis in eliminating the
consumptive demand loophole from the outright ban on products made with
forced labor in Section 307 of the 1930 Tariff Act.
A few years later, we have worked with our USMCA partners to extend
the U.S. ban on products produced with forced labor throughout North
America. We are now leading the world in combating forced labor in
Xinjiang.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30
seconds.
Mr. RICE of South Carolina. For that reason, we wish that our
Democratic colleagues on the Ways and Means Committee had worked with
us to update the bill from the version that passed 14 months ago to
ensure that it establishes the most effective mechanism for blocking
imports from Xinjiang, while providing much-needed clarity to
facilitate trade by good actors.
Just as importantly, we know that China has anticipated this ban by
expanding this practice beyond Xinjiang. We need to work closely with
our colleagues in the Senate to ensure that the version of the bill
that becomes law can better assist importers to identify and
proactively eradicate goods produced with forced labor from their
supply chains, whether they arise in Xinjiang or in other locations.
This bill is just the beginning, but it sends a strong signal to
China that it cannot launder its policies of persecution and repression
in a global market.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I proudly yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman
from the great State of Virginia (Ms. Wexton).
Ms. WEXTON. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Meeks, Speaker Pelosi, and
Chairman McGovern for bringing this important legislation to the floor
and shining a light on the atrocities taking place in Xinjiang.
I represent the largest Uyghur diaspora in the U.S. and this
legislation is critically important to the Uyghur community.
I am proud to be an original cosponsor of this legislation that will
prohibit the importation of goods from Xinjiang unless it can be proven
by clear and convincing evidence that they were not made with forced
labor.
Despite international condemnation, the Chinese Government's brutal
campaign of repressive surveillance, mass detention, forced labor, and
even genocide, is rapidly expanding, and we must take steps to ensure
that U.S. companies and consumers are not complicit in the abuses.
This legislation will hold the PRC accountable for these heinous acts
and will make it clear that the U.S. will not turn a blind eye to the
plight of the Uyghurs. I urge my colleagues to support this
legislation.
Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close. I yield myself the
balance of my time.
Mr. Speaker, I know there is another bill by Senator Rubio. I hope
this bill, when it passes, can be worked out in the Senate, and I hope
the administration will not slow-roll this important measure, as has
been reported.
Out of this region we have batteries and solar panels. When Secretary
John Kerry testified, he admitted that Xinjiang's solar panel
production presents a problem for U.S. climate strategy, and I agree
with him.
In recent years, the world has stood by as the Chinese Communist
Party has detained more than 1 million ethnic minorities in
concentration camps where they are tortured, brainwashed, and put into
forced labor. This is all a
[[Page H7503]]
part of a deliberate program by the CCP to wipe out their ethnic
identity, their religion, and their culture, anything that might
compete with the Communist Party for their loyalties and affection.
We have a moral duty to speak out against these horrifying crimes;
but we have an even greater duty to avoid funding this genocide by
paying for slave labor in Xinjiang.
Many American companies have built their businesses on values that
include respect for basic human rights. The United States must continue
to lead the world in setting corporate responsibility standards. There
can no longer be business as usual with China. China is watching and
the world is watching.
I support this bill, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back the balance of my
time.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I am happy that this bipartisan effort dealing with the Uyghur Forced
Labor Prevention Act is an opportunity for this body to send a
resounding message to the world that we are engaged in a strategic
competition with China around the world. And our stance on this issue,
I believe, will define why our system is better.
But I must reply to some comments.
One, the comment that President Biden is holding us up. Well, I am
the chair of this committee, he has never told me to hold up anything.
In fact, he wants to move forward.
In fact, it is President Biden who has sanctioned officials
responsible for genocide and issued supply chain advisories in
Xinjiang.
The fact of the matter is, I think our bill is far superior. You go
to the Senate side, the Senate says, this should take 300 days to stop.
Our bill says 120 days.
For me, this is a personal situation. So I would wish that some of my
colleagues who, rightfully, want to make sure that we send a strong
message to the world that we are not going to stand for genocide. We
are not going to stand for slave labor.
But it is best if they would join us about injustice in America. It
is best if we fought together to make sure that when President Trump
talked about a Muslim ban in the United States of America--that wasn't
Joe Biden--we can't do it in America. That is the best way to lead.
{time} 1400
When we talk about moving, I want to condemn it everywhere. Dr. King
said: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
We should lead by example collectively. We should lead by going
forward with voting rights. We should lead by talking about reparations
for those who were enslaved in America. We should lead by talking about
the genocide that took place to Native Americans. We should lead by
talking about the injustice in housing. We should lead by talking about
civil rights.
So we have got to come together and stop it everywhere, and that is
what this bill does. It sends a strong message. I want to be that
example.
This just happens to be personal, so I had to say it. I don't like to
put politics in these things, but I do like to tell the truth.
Mr. Speaker, we have got to work together. I want to thank especially
Mr. McCaul. I have got to say this, too, in closing. I have got to say
this in closing, because Mr. McCaul is my friend, and we work very
closely together. I know his spirit and his heart, and he stands up. I
look forward on this committee to continue to do that.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Pelosi), the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I salute the distinguished chairman of the
Foreign Affairs Committee for his leadership in bringing this
legislation to the floor. It is historic.
I want to join him in saluting Mr. McCaul, who has been a champion
for human rights. We have worked together for years on these subjects.
I thank them both for their leadership.
As has been recognized earlier, Mr. Speaker, this week marks a
momentous milestone in human history. Seventy-three years ago tomorrow,
the international community convened in Paris to approve the United
Nations Genocide Convention.
In doing so, the world forged an historic commitment to always
condemn and combat the crime of genocide, which they had defined 2
years prior as: ``a denial of the right of existence,'' which ``shocks
the conscience of mankind'' and is ``a matter of international
concern.''
Today, in some ways, we are falling short on that promise.
In its latest Human Rights Report, our own State Department has
definitively declared that the barbaric oppression of the Uyghurs by
the Government of China amounts to genocide. We salute the
administration for that recognition.
New research by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum sheds
light on these crimes, with a survivor describing Beijing's intentions
as: ``to make us slowly disappear, so slowly that no one would
notice.''
Indeed, the erasure of the Uyghurs is precisely the definition of
genocide from three-quarters of a century ago.
That is why, with the strong bipartisan package of legislation we
will pass today, the House takes yet another bold, bipartisan step to
counter these crimes against humanity.
We are honoring the challenge to our conscience, and I thank Chairman
Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul. Congress and the country are grateful
to the relentless leaders of the legislation before us.
At the helm of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, as
well as the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Chairman Jim McGovern
has long served as a voice for the voiceless, not only in China, but
around the world.
With his Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, we are taking decisive
action against the exploitation of the Uyghur people. We are stepping
up to the plate.
I salute, again, Congressman Michael McCaul for a resounding
resolution condemning the genocide of the Uyghurs in China.
Thank you to Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton for her resolution
demanding that Beijing immediately guarantee the safety and freedom of
tennis star Peng Shuai.
I also thank Chairman Gregory Meeks, Chairman Richard Neal, and
Chairwoman Maxine Waters for their longstanding leadership in the
House's fight against forced labor.
Together, this legislation, which we will pass today, makes
unequivocally clear the House's firm commitment to human rights in
China and does so in a bipartisan way.
That has always been the case over time. Chris Smith and I have been
working on these issues for decades together, with others such as Frank
Wolf, who was here before him, and with many others on both sides of
the aisle.
Right now, Beijing is orchestrating a brutal and accelerating
campaign of repression against the Uyghur people and other Muslim
minorities.
In Xinjiang and across China, millions are enduring outrageous human
rights abuses, from mass surveillance and discriminatory policing to
mass torture, including solitary confinement and forced sterilization,
to intimidation of journalists and activists who have dared to expose
the truth. And the Chinese Government's exploitation of forced labor
reaches across the oceans to our shores and across the world.
They always say that the most horrible form of torture to a prisoner,
or somebody in one of these camps, is to say to them: Nobody knows you
are even here; nobody even cares about you. We want those people, the
Uyghurs and others oppressed in China, to know that we do care about
them, we know many of them by name, and we will never forget our
responsibility to act upon the actions that the Chinese Government is
engaged in.
That is why the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act employs America's
great economic might to combat this brutality and hold the perpetrators
accountable by blocking certain imports produced with forced labor,
leveling sanctions against the perpetrators, and imposing disclosure
requirements on companies engaged in Xinjiang.
With this strong, bipartisan legislation, we are better able to fight
forced labor, we shine a bright light on this pattern of abuse, and we
send Beijing a clear message that this genocide must end now.
[[Page H7504]]
As we focus on this genocide against the Uyghurs, we must also
remember Beijing's decades-long assault on human rights.
Those of us who have long been in this fight for human rights in
China have seen a regime of terror and repression that has only
intensified: from Tibet to Taiwan; to assaults on basic freedoms in
Hong Kong and beyond; to jailing of journalists and detaining of
dissidents; and more.
In Congress, for decades, we have taken strong bipartisan actions
fighting for human rights in China.
That is why, in 1991, Democrats and Republicans stood up together for
free speech during a visit to Tiananmen Square just 2 years after the
government's infamous crackdown.
That is why, in 1993, in a bipartisan way, we convinced the world
that China's dismal record on human rights disqualified the nation from
hosting the 2000 Olympic Games.
That is why, in 2000, I took to this floor to urge my colleagues to
block China from the World Trade Organization, arguing that we should
not put deals ahead of ideals. China has not honored the agreement.
That is why, in 2015, working together, we had a Congressional
delegation to Tibet to see the aspirations in the eyes of the
schoolchildren who have endured China's and Beijing's intimidation.
That is why, in 2019, working together, we sounded the alarms as the
Chinese Government locked up pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong.
Democrats and Republicans, House and Senate, have come together to
enact strong policies standing up for human rights in China, including:
the Tibet Policy and Support Act, the Hong Kong Human Rights and
Democracy Act, and the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act; all enacted into
law, signed into law.
For decades, many of us have fought against what they call normal
trade relations with China, because, as the world's strongest economy,
America has a moral duty to tie our trade relations with human rights.
When China joined the WTO 20 years ago this week, the world gave
Beijing a blank check to prosper from its abuses while simply hoping it
would change its behavior.
Many of us knew then, as we still know today, that this approach was
fated for failure. Today's legislation will help right this wrong.
We must respond with more than legislation. We must show leadership.
As House Speaker, I applaud and support President Biden's strong
leadership in announcing there will be no official U.S. presence at the
2022 Winter Olympics.
Allowing a country with an abysmal human rights record to host the
games makes a mockery of the Olympic Charter, which states that the
games should seek to foster ``respect for universal and fundamental
ethical principles.''
Make no mistake: our athletes can and should be celebrated. But this
year, we should celebrate them from home. They can be there; we should
be home.
As noted, when I called for the diplomatic boycott last May, the
world must not reward more than three decades of abusive and repressive
actions by the Chinese Government by giving our official imprimatur to
China.
I thank Mr. McCaul for his leadership, particularly in calling out
the Olympic Committee for making this choice.
Mr. Speaker, today we have an opportunity to forge further progress
in the fight for human rights in China, a fight that many of us have
been extraordinarily proud to help lead over our careers in Congress.
Mr. Speaker, if we do not speak out for human rights in China because
of commercial or economic ties, we lose all moral authority to speak
out against human rights violations anywhere in the world.
We must never fail to live up to our sacred duty to safeguard the
dignity and worth of every person and build a better future for
generations to come.
Proudly, this legislation, all of it--Mr. McCaul's, Mr. McGovern's,
and Ms. Wexton's leadership, the leadership of the chairman, Mr. Meeks,
and ranking member, Mr. McCaul, of the committee--has earned
overwhelming bipartisan support when we passed it in the House last
year. I hope we will do so again this year.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a strong vote for the Uyghur Forced Labor
Prevention Act and the other legislation that is before us this
afternoon and do so asking for a very strong bipartisan vote so that we
know that we will have the numbers to send a message to the Chinese
Government that this is bipartisan, bicameral, on both sides of the
Capitol, and a view shared by the President of the United States. I ask
for an ``aye'' vote all around.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I just have these last remarks.
I also want to thank Mr. Smith. As indicated by the Speaker, from the
time that I have been in Congress, his focus has been on human rights
around the world. As the Speaker indicated, and as I indicated with Mr.
McCaul and you will see coming up with these other bills, we have
worked collectively, leaving politics out of it, focused on leading the
world. That is what I look forward to, locking arms, sending that
message around the world that we are not going to allow slave labor to
flourish and to exist on this planet.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BRADY. Mr. Speaker, ending forced labor--and holding China
accountable for these gross abuses of human rights--must be a global
effort. America should lead the world in halting China's brutality, and
all democracies around the world should join us.
As I've said many times, this is a completely bipartisan issue, as
demonstrated by the overwhelming bipartisan vote in the House on a
similar bill in September 2020. The United States has no tolerance for
China's human rights abuses, in Xinjiang or anywhere.
There are real challenges to further tighten the dragnet around China
and force it to eliminate atrocities, while supporting legitimate
trade. All of us agree: we want to create opportunities for our
producers to comply with the law while removing forced labor from our
global supply chains.
And just as important, we must urge our trading partners to work with
us. Inexplicably, this entirely bipartisan issue has been pushed to the
back burner, with Democrats delaying consideration for 14 months. And
Ways & Means did not mark this bill up or update the trade provisions
in any way. This is difficult to understand, because a core provision
of this bill, which is the rebuttable presumption that importation of
goods made in Xinjiang must be blocked because they are made with
forced labor, is clearly in our Committee's jurisdiction.
This issue is not only bipartisan. It's bicameral. Both the House and
the Senate have strong bills that send a clear and unequivocal message:
the United States has zero tolerance for these abuses.
While I'm disappointed that this was delayed, taking strong action
today is an important step.
Republicans support strong and effective legislation that addresses
China's atrocities while supporting legitimate trade, and I look
forward to working with the Senate to perfect our approach and enact
this bill into law promptly.
It is vital that we stop the scourge of modern-day slavery in China.
{time} 1415
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Espaillat). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1155, 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. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion
are postponed.
____________________