Companion to Rep. Banks' Bill to Expand Sanctions on Uyghur Human Rights Abusers Introduced by Menendez, Rubio
Press Release
U.S. Senators Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced companion legislation to House Armed Services Committee Member Jim Banks' bill, the Sanctioning Supporters of Slave Labor Act, to expand the current scope of sanctions on those committing human rights abuses against Uyghurs. The bill would impose secondary sanctions on those that do business with and provide support for foreign entities who have been sanctioned for their Uyghur human rights abuse.
Currently, U.S. law authorizes mandatory sanctions on any foreign persons involved in severe human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including those connected to Uyghur slave labor. However, companies doing business with these sanctioned persons can still access the U.S. financial system.
Said Rep. Banks: "Congress must respond to the Chinese Communist Party's ongoing genocide with bipartisan, bicameral opposition. I am very grateful to Senators Menendez and Rubio for introducing my bill in the Senate and I hope that my Democrat colleagues in the House become equally willing to reach across the aisle and join my bill. We must end US complicity in the Communist Party's slave labor and human right's abuses and pass the Sanctioning Supporters of Slave Labor Act."
Rep. Banks introduced the Sanctioning Supporters of Slave Labor Act in the House in early June. NBA free agent and outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party's human right's abuses Enes Kanter Freedom traveled to Washington D.C. to endorse Rep. Banks' legislation at a Republican Study Committee lunch on June 8th.
In July 2021 the Republican Study Committee and its Chairman Jim Banks introduced the Countering Communist China Act, which is comprehensive legislation to tackle the threat of Communist China. The bill pushes back against Communist Party abuses by banning imports from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and requiring President Biden to send Congress a strategy to end the Uyghur genocide.
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