No Dollars to Uyghur Forced Labor Act

Floor Speech

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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).
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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.

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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.

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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.

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