ATEST Supports Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
September 10, 2020
The Honorable James Risch Chairman
Senate Foreign Relations Committee United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Bob Menendez Ranking Member
Senate Foreign Relations Committee United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Risch and Ranking Member Menendez:
We are writing to express our support for S. 3471, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and ask that it be brought up for a vote in the next Senate Foreign Relations Committee business meeting. This legislation takes important steps to ensure the United States does not import goods made by forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China and holds accountable bad actors engaged in the unconscionable human rights abuses being perpetuated against the Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim-majority peoples in Xinjiang. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is a bicameral bill that was introduced with strong bipartisan support in the United States Senate on March 12, 2020, by Senators Marco Rubio, Jeff Merkley, Marsha Blackburn, Tom Cotton, Steve Daines, Mitt Romney, Chris Van Hollen, Todd Young, Dick Durbin, and Ted Cruz.
The organizations signing this letter work to combat and prevent human trafficking and forced labor, and we are horrified by the brutal oppression of the Uyghurs and other minority groups by the Chinese government. As numerous reports by government agencies, journalists, and civil society organizations have detailed, the Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim-majority peoples in Xinjiang have been subjected to forced labor, extrajudicial mass internment, torture, and other terrible human rights abuses. S. 3471 rightly creates a rebuttable presumption that, given the systematic use of forced labor in Xinjiang, all goods from that area are prohibited entrance into the United States under Section 307 of the Tariff Act, which bans imports into the United States of goods made wholly or in part by forced labor. The bill also creates targeted sanctions to go after any foreign person knowingly responsible for the forced labor of the Uyghurs and other minorities, or who knowingly engages in or provides support to import into the United States goods from Xinjiang made by forced labor.
While forced labor is a serious global problem that must be addressed around the world, its use against the Uyghurs and other Turkic and Muslim-majority peoples in Xinjiang has been particularly reprehensible. The United States must continue taking robust action to address these horrific human rights abuses, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act takes important steps to combat forced labor in Xinjiang. We ask your support for swift passage of S. 3471 in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Sincerely,
Humanity United Action
Alliance to End Slavery & Trafficking
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Human Trafficking Legal Center
T’ruah
The McCain Institute for International Leadership