Support for the Uyghur Muslims: H.R. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act and H.R. 6270 Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARSON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer my unequivocal support for the Uyghur Muslim people, and to support the Uyghur bills being considered in the House.

For several years, China has violated international human rights through the mass surveillance and internment of as many as 1,800,000 Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang--an Autonomous Region in western China. Those detained in internment camps have described forced political indoctrination, torture, beatings, food deprivation, and denial of religious, cultural, and linguistic freedoms. What are the alleged high crimes that warrant such inhumane punishment against Uyghurs? Wearing long beards, refusing alcohol, or other behaviors that Chinese authorities deem to be signs of ``religious extremism.''

Alarmingly, there is a widespread forced labor system that exists inside the mass internment camps as confirmed by the testimony of camp survivors, satellite imagery, and leaked official documents from the Chinese government. In its 2019 Annual Report, the Congressional- Executive Commission on China found that goods produced with forced labor included textiles, electronics, food products, shoes, tea, and handicrafts. We can not allow these goods to reach our shores. America must not profit off the denial of religious freedom and basic human rights that is perpetuated against Uyghur Muslims.

That is why I support the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act of 2020, H.R. 6270, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, H.R. 6210. These bills will hold private companies wishing to import goods into the U.S. accountable by ensuring that they demonstrate a clean supply chain where goods or raw materials are not produced using forced labor. Additionally, these bills will authorize the President of the United States to apply targeted sanctions on anyone responsible for the labor trafficking of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

There is no doubt that the United States has economically benefitted from the bilateral relationship with China. Yet, the United States' moral authority must be paramount to the economic relationship we have enjoyed. We must be willing to sacrifice any monetary gain. Our core democratic and constitutional principles to practice religion freely must be unwavering. In the plight of religious freedom around the world and for the Uyghur Muslims in China--the United States stands with you.

I urge my colleagues to support the Uyghurs and I urge my colleagues to support these bills

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