South Miami-Dade News

WASHINGTON, DC - On July 24, 2023, Congressman Carlos Giménez (FL-28) and Rep. Jennifer Wexton (VA-10) led the introduction of the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act which would require publicly traded companies to review and disclose any links that their products may have to Uyghur forced labor in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It is estimated that over 100,000 Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities are forced to work in Xinjiang for goods ranging from clothing to technology, tainting our supply chains with forced labor. 

The Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act would direct the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to establish rules requiring publicly traded companies to release annual reports on all imported goods that are sourced from Xinjiang to ensure products were not produced with Uyghur forced labor. This legislation would build on the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which went into effect June of last year, by intensifying the scrutiny of all imported goods whose supply chains include products from Xinjiang.

“The murderous Communist regime in Beijing continues to profit off of forced labor and the ongoing genocide against the Uyghur people of East Turkestan,” said Congressman Carlos A. Giménez. “Our bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act is a landmark piece of legislation that codifies America’s commitment to freedom, democracy, and Human Rights by ensuring that products manufactured in Communist China, using forced and exploitative labor, are adequately labeled as such. As a Member of the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, I look forward to continuing working across the aisle to protect America from the CCP’s deceptive, barbaric tactics.”

“Products made with forced labor have no place on American store shelves,” said Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton. “The American people deserve to know whether the clothes they wear or the technology they use every day was produced using forced labor. To make that happen we need greater scrutiny of goods sourced from the Chinese government’s prolific forced labor scheme involving the detention of tens of thousands of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. My Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act takes the necessary next steps to build on major bipartisan progress Congress has made to stand up against the Chinese government’s exploitation of Uyghurs and crack down on this human rights atrocity.”

"The reintroduction of the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act holds immense significance for Uyghurs in the United States, including myself, who are well aware that the goods imported from China may be made with the forced labor of our family members. By holding companies accountable and ensuring transparency in supply chains, this bill will play a crucial role in identifying and addressing complicit actors, while ensuring the effective implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The level of transparency expected in the bill is what consumers, investors, and stakeholders need in order to sustainably eradicate Uyghur forced labor from our supply chains forever,” said Rushan Abbas, Executive Director of the Campaign for Uyghurs.

“The world's most profitable companies should not be able to hide whether they're benefitting from Uyghur forced labor—it's as simple as that. If the goal is to expose and eliminate forced labor from global supply chains connected to these corporate giants, this legislation would help do just that,” said Omer Kanat, Executive Director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project.

Congressman Carlos A. Giménez serves as Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, the Select Committee on China, and the Armed Services Committee. He is the only Cuban-born Member of the 118th Congress, having been forced from his homeland shortly after the Communist takeover of the island. Rep. Giménez represents Miami-Dade County and the Florida Keys. 

Original source can be found here.