U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) recently unveiled bipartisan legislation to ensure that Chinese goods made with Uyghur forced labor do not enter the United States.
“The Chinese government is committing gross violations of human rights against the Uyghurs and Muslim minorities, and the United States cannot ignore what is happening nor in any way enable the continued abuse of the Uyghurs,” Sen. Moran said last week. “I’ve repeatedly condemned the abuses carried out by China and they must be held accountable.”
Sen. Moran on Jan. 27 signed on as an original cosponsor of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, S. 65, which is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). Among the cosponsors are U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Steve Daines (R-MT), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Todd Young (R-IN), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).
The U.S. State Department earlier this year issued a determination that the Chinese Communist Party is committing crimes against humanity and genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
“This bipartisan legislation would prevent goods created from the forced labor and abuse of the Uyghurs from ending up on American soil, making certain the Chinese Communist Party does not profit from slave labor,” said Sen. Moran.
The legislation has been referred to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Last year, Sen. Moran also was an original cosponsor of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020, S. 3744, which was signed into law in June 2020 as the first piece of legislation regarding Uyghurs.