The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee passed two bills, one aimed at ensuring that forced labor products from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region do not enter the U.S. market, and the other condemning Chinese authorities for genocide and crimes against humanity against the Uighurs and other ethnic and religious groups.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), No. H.R. 1155, and Resolution No. H. Res. 317 on Wednesday afternoon (April 21) by voice vote without objection.
“Despite the Chinese authorities’ attempts to cover up their atrocities, it is becoming increasingly clear that the ongoing abuses against the Uighurs, the people of Xinjiang, constitute the definition of genocide under the Geneva Conventions,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said during the committee’s markup. , D-N.Y., speaking at the committee’s markup session, said.
“The Forced Uighur Labor Prevention Act adds further practical teeth to the committee’s response,” Rep. Meeks continued, “This bill would prohibit the importation of goods and commodities from Xinjiang and impose sanctions on officials who perform forced labor on Chinese minorities, while calling for a diplomatic strategy to address the problem of forced labor in the region.”
The Forced Uighur Labor Prevention Act, co-sponsored by Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) from Massachusetts and Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) from New Jersey, contains a ” rebuttable presumption” that all goods produced in the XUAR are presumed to have been manufactured by forced labor and are prohibited from entering the United States unless “clear and convincing” evidence is presented to rebut the presumption. The U.S.
The bill also authorizes the President to impose sanctions on anyone who imposes forced labor on the Uighur and other Muslim populations in Xinjiang, and requires listed U.S. companies to disclose financial information about their contacts with Chinese companies and entities.
Rep. Meeks, a Democrat who just took office this year as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the committee’s charge must incorporate multiple business, economic, environmental and strategic considerations in every piece of legislation it passes, but most importantly must not make any compromises on core American values and principles.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) of Texas, the committee’s ranking Republican member, presented a photo during his address to the deliberative session and said, “This is exactly what’s really happening in China right now.”
“This picture you see on the screen right now shows the horrific truth of the genocide,” McCaul said, “hundreds of Uighurs being taken off the train, shackled, blindfolded and taken into internment camps.”
“We have a moral obligation today and tomorrow to acknowledge these crimes-genocides-that are facts. The Chinese Communist Party is watching closely what we are doing here today, and in fact, the whole world is watching,” McCaul said, adding that both current Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his predecessor Mike Pompeo have taken the position that what is happening in China is genocide.
“It’s time for the U.S. Congress to go further and speak out against the genocide and crimes against humanity being committed by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Rep. McCaul.
After passing through the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the two bills related to human rights in Xinjiang will next go to the full House of Representatives for a pending vote.
Last September, the House had passed the Forced Uighur Labor Prevention Act by an overwhelming majority of 406 to 3 in the last Congress, but the bill did not advance in the Senate until the Congress expired.
After the start of the new Congress, a bipartisan group of House members, including McGovern and Smith, reintroduced an updated version of the bill in February of this year. Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) from Florida and Democratic U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) from Oregon joined forces in January to introduce a new Senate version of the bill.
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