Democrats’ Unworkable Bill Does Nothing to Stop CCP’s Human Rights Abuses
Washington,
September 30, 2020 -
Today, Democrats are pushing through H.R. 6270, the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act of 2020, in an attempt to appear “tough on China” for political gain. This messaging bill has already been proven unworkable and will only hurt U.S. public companies and does nothing protect the Uyghur people from the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) human rights abuses.
The top Republican on the Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets Subcommittee, Bill Huizenga (MI-2), led the Republican opposition to H.R 6270. Watch Ranking Republican Huizenga’s floor remarks here.
Excerpts from Ranking Republican Huizenga’s floor remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Mr. Chair, Republicans are unwavering in our support to hold China accountable for the human rights violations that are occurring in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or XUAR.
“In fact, I would remind my colleagues that we passed H.R. 6210 last week on a bipartisan basis to address these human rights violations. Moreover, to date, the Trump Administration has taken significant action to punish human rights violators in the Region, including recent sanctions and additions to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.”
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“The framework of this bill is deeply flawed. First, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has no foreign policy expertise. The SEC’s three-part mission is to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation. The Treasury and State Department handle the sanctions regime. We should, instead, be working with both the State Department and the Treasury to hold bad actors accountable, not the SEC.”
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“This bill’s framework has been proven disastrous. Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act mandated disclosures relating to the use of conflict minerals that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country. Implementation of Section 1502 cost billions of dollars—Democratic estimates put it over $7B—and the provisions led to devastating job losses for Africans.”
The top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), offered a Motion to Recommit to reaffirm that sanctions are the appropriate tool to stop China’s persecution of the Uyghur people. Sanctions target the bad actors that are committing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and it would be illegal for any US firm—public or private—to do any business with a sanctioned entity.
Watch Ranking Republican McHenry’s floor remarks here.
Excerpts from Ranking Republican McHenry’s remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Republicans stand with the Trump Administration against communism and the global threat the Chinese government poses, while Democrats have excused the Chinese Communist Party’s actions for years.
“Just last year we offered House Democrats an opportunity in our Committee to stand up against the Chinese Communist Party and stand up for the human rights of religious minorities when we considered the reauthorization of the US Export-Import Bank.
“Instead of joining us, Democrats voted to allow companies owned by the Chinese Communist Party to receive U.S. taxpayer subsidies. Subsidies that support the very people committing these human rights atrocities to which they are now all of a sudden opposed.”
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“A vote for this amendment says that we are serious about ending the human rights atrocities that are being committed by the Chinese Communist Party against the Uyghur people.”
