Young, Rubio, Merkley, Colleagues Reintroduce Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee andthe Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC),Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Senate colleagues reintroduced the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. This bipartisan bill will ensure that goods made with Uyghur forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) do not enter the United States. Earlier this year, the State Department issued a determination that the Chinese Communist Party is committing crimes against humanity and genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

“Each day, the world becomes more aware of the horrific human rights abuses being committed by the Chinese Communist Party against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, China. Governments and industries alike need to speak up for those being oppressed and enslaved in these modern-day concentration camps,” said Senator Young. “It is unconscionable that western companies would benefit from modern day slavery. These human rights atrocities must stop and I am glad to work with my bipartisan colleagues to help bring an end to these abuses.”  

Additional cosponsors include: Senators James Risch (R-Idaho), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), and Ben Cardin (D-Md.).