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RELEASE: Congressman Moran’s Bill to End Uyghur Forced Labor Passes Foreign Affairs Committee

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 21, 2023
  • Rep. Moran Official Portrait

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Nathaniel Moran (TX-01) released the following statement after his legislation, No Dollars to Uyghur Forced Labor, was passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee:

“The Chinese Communist Party’s blatant disregard of human rights and cruel enslavement of the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang region of China is detestable. The United States must not be complicit in funding projects using goods made with slave labor, which is why I introduced the No Dollars to Uyghur Forced Labor Act, ensuring no American taxpayer dollars are used to give China profit for raw goods or materials produced in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) - where China exploits ethnic minorities. America remains a beacon for liberty – that City on a Hill. Let us behave as such.

“We must oppose China’s malign influence worldwide by sending a message that we will not condone the detainment and persecution of Uyghurs. I thank Chairman McCaul for his leadership and support for my bill, and I look forward to its consideration on the House Floor.”

Additional information:

  • On June 12, 2023, Congressman Moran introduced H.R. 4039 which was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
  • On June 21, 2023, H.R. 4039 was marked up in the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was reported favorably out of the committee.

Background information:

The Chinese Communist Party is oppressing the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities and detaining them in “reeducation centers” for forced labor in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. Many raw materials such as textiles, bricks, cotton, polysilicon, are produced using forced labor in this region such and then sold globally where they are manufactured into a final product. 

While the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act prohibited goods made wholly or partly in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region from entering U.S. supply chains, we must ensure that the United States is not funding projects with partners overseas that import goods or raw materials from the Xinjiang region. 

H.R. 4039 will prohibit funds to the Department of State or the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to finance global projects in partnership with companies or organizations that import products mined, produced, or manufactured in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China.