[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H554-H555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NO DOLLARS TO UYGHUR FORCED LABOR ACT

  Mrs. KIM of California. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 4039) to prohibit the use of funds supporting 
any activities within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the 
People's Republic of China, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4039

       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 ``No Dollars to Uyghur Forced 
     Labor Act''.

     SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS SUPPORTING ANY ACTIVITIES 
                   WITHIN THE XINJIANG UYGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION OF 
                   THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

       (a) In General.--No funds available to the Department of 
     State or the United States Agency for International 
     Development may be used to develop, design, plan, promulgate, 
     implement, or execute a policy, program, or contract that 
     knowingly uses goods, wares, articles, or merchandise mined, 
     produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Xinjiang 
     Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China or 
     produced by a covered entity, unless such activity is 
     specifically authorized pursuant to subsection (b).
       (b) Specific Authorization.--The Secretary of State may 
     specifically authorize an activity otherwise prohibited by 
     subsection (a) if--
       (1) the Secretary--
       (A) obtains in writing an assurance from the relevant 
     program partner, implementor, or contractor that such 
     partner, implementor, or contractor--
       (i) will not use goods, wares, articles, or merchandise 
     mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in 
     Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the PRC with respect to 
     the program; and
       (ii) will develop a system to ensure compliance with the 
     requirements in subsection (a); and
       (B) provides notice to the Chair and Ranking Member of the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
     and the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate not later than 15 days before 
     authorizing the activity; and
       (2) the activity is not otherwise prohibited.
       (c) Report.--The Secretary of State shall submit to the 
     Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
     and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 
     on an annual basis for three years that describes--
       (1) all activities prohibited by subsection (a) that were 
     carried out in violation of such prohibition and not 
     specifically authorized pursuant to subsection (b) in the 
     previous year;
       (2) any challenges in enforcing the requirements of this 
     section; and
       (3) a plan to improve enforcement of the requirements of 
     this section.
       (e) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) The term ``covered entity'' means an entity listed 
     pursuant to clause (i), (ii), (iv), or (v) of section 
     2(d)(2)(B) of Public Law 117-78 (135 Stat. 1527) under the 
     strategy developed by section 2(c) of such Public Law 117-78.
       (2) The term ``forced labor'' has the meaning given that 
     term in section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
     1307).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Kim) and the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. 
Manning) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. KIM of California. Madam 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 this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from California?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. KIM of California. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support for H.R. 4039, the No Dollars 
to Uyghur Forced Labor Act.
  The Chinese Communist Party is engaged in a terrible genocide against 
the Uyghur Muslims. Through their Belt and Road Initiative, the CCP 
fuels these atrocities by trapping nations in debt and by exploiting 
their weakness to finance the CCP's nefarious activities.
  We must not stoop to the level of the Chinese Communist Party. 
America and our values are better than that.
  The No Dollars to Uyghur Forced Labor Act ensures that no American 
taxpayer dollars may be used to give the CCP profit for goods or raw 
materials produced using forced labor in the Xinjiang region in China.
  Many basic goods such as bricks, cotton, and hair products are being 
produced in the Xinjiang region. These are all fundamental resources to 
commerce.
  However, the U.S. has strength in our companies and global partners 
to build robust supply chains free of this forced labor that is being 
used to bankroll genocide.
  I thank my colleague from Texas (Mr. Moran), for introducing this 
bill, of which I am a proud cosponsor. The bill received unanimous 
support from the Foreign Affairs Committee at our markup last year.
  Madam Speaker, I urge strong support of this bill, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Ms. MANNING. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4039, No Dollars to 
Uyghur Forced Labor Act, as amended.
  In both this Congress and the last Congress, the House Foreign 
Affairs Committee has shed light on the People's Republic of China's 
grave human rights abuses, including holding a hearing on the ongoing 
genocide in Xinjiang and advanced efforts to hold the PRC accountable 
for its use of forced labor.
  In April 2021, the committee marked up the Uyghur Forced Labor 
Prevention Act, probably the most significant human rights legislation 
dealing with China in decades. The bill, which passed the committee and 
the House, both as a standalone measure and as part of our China-
focused competition legislation, was eventually signed into law by 
President Biden.
  That bill's purpose was to ensure that goods made with forced labor 
would not end up on American store shelves and, in turn, in American 
homes.
  Today, we want to make sure that the standards we use at home also 
apply to American activities abroad. That is why H.R. 4039 calls on the 
State Department and USAID to verify that they are not funding any 
programs or projects that unwittingly use goods or materials made using 
forced labor.

                              {time}  1615

  Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Moran for introducing this 
bill, as

[[Page H555]]

well as Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Meeks for their leadership 
in passing it out of committee in a bipartisan manner.
  When it comes to genocide and forced labor, Congress must be clear. 
There is no place in this world for such brutality.
  Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting 
this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. KIM of California. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Moran), a member of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee and the author of this bill.
  Mr. MORAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 
4039, the No Dollars to Uyghur Forced Labor Act, and I urge my 
colleagues to vote in support of this important measure.
  Slavery in any form is repugnant and morally wrong. America--the home 
of the brave and the land of the free--should not be complicit in the 
Chinese Communist Party's genocide, oppression, and enslavement of 
Uyghur Muslims.
  Currently, the China Communist Party is using over 100,000 Uyghur 
Muslims as slave labor. The No Dollars to Uyghur Forced Labor Act will 
ensure that the U.S. plays no part in this atrocity.
  Specifically, H.R. 4039 prohibits the State Department and USAID from 
developing or designing international contracts with companies that 
import or source any raw materials or goods that were manufactured, 
produced, or mined from the Xinjiang region of China.
  My legislation would also require a report to Congress identifying 
all violations in the previous year with a plan to improve enforcement 
and compliance.
  Xinjiang is an important region to China's economy. It represents 
one-sixth of China's land mass, and is home to most of their cotton, 
coal, and natural gas reserves. It is considered the core hub for 
China's Belt and Road Initiative, which is China's primary tool to 
exert economic influence across the globe.
  Many basic goods that we consider to be part of our everyday lives 
are being produced by forced labor in Xinjiang--raw materials like 
yarn, bricks, nails, cotton, hair products, gloves, and polysilicon, 
which is commonly used for solar panel manufacturing--all essential 
resources for global commerce.
  There is no excuse for the United States to continue in any 
partnership with companies that do business in Xinjiang and perpetuate 
these gross human rights abuses that the CCP has been committing 
against ethnic minorities for decades.
  In addition to those enslaved, between 1 and 2 million people have 
been detained arbitrarily by the CCP and placed in what they call 
reeducation centers where they have little to no freedom and undergo 
intense indoctrination at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.
  Many who have endured these centers note that they were just paid 2 
pennies or less to make a pair of gloves. Those who are enslaved are 
unable to leave, see their families, or communicate with their loved 
ones.
  The CCP's tactics of threats, intimidation, confinement, and physical 
and emotional abuse is intended to oppress its people, force 
assimilation, and in the process, grow its economic influence 
worldwide.
  Victims have no hope of life elsewhere. They know they will be 
monitored by police through oppressive surveillance systems. Survivors 
recount that the CCP cancel passports and lure minorities to China only 
then to detain them and use them for forced labor.
  The CCP reels in Uyghurs by offering free health services and then 
invades their lives and privacy by taking their DNA, fingerprints, and 
blood samples, which are then exported to malign actors. Unfortunately, 
this is just the beginning of their captivity and their oppression.
  If that is the society that the CCP is creating, we in the United 
States must act aggressively and immediately to make perfectly clear 
that we will not condone such brutality and such a cruel regime. What 
is more, the United States will not be a party to these atrocities.
  America must continue to act with strength on the foreign stage. We 
cannot allow totalitarian regimes to grow in strength and influence 
around the world. If we do, then what is happening to the Uyghurs in 
China will surely follow wherever China builds its empire. We simply 
cannot let this happen.
  We, in the United States, must stand for morality, we must stand for 
goodness, and we must stand for freedom.
  Madam Speaker, I call on my colleagues to do just that by passing 
H.R. 4039.
  Ms. MANNING. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume 
for the purpose of closing.
  Madam Speaker, H.R. 4039 builds on the important work Congress has 
already done to rid our domestic supply chains of forced labor goods by 
ensuring that our global programs aren't supporting such goods either. 
By asking our State Department and USAID program partners and 
contractors to ensure they aren't using forced labor goods, we will 
help make global supply chains freer.
  This is a preventative measure meant to guarantee that U.S. 
international projects and programs are beyond reproach and fully 
consistent with our values. In so doing, H.R. 4039 will ensure that we 
practice our principles when it comes to human rights.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. KIM of California. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Moran for his 
leadership on this legislation.
  Madam Speaker, I urge the passage of H.R. 4039, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4039, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________