Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Young Kim (CA-40), who serves as chairwoman of the Indo-Pacific Subcommittee, spoke on the House floor in support of her bill, the Uyghur Policy Act (H.R. 2766).
This bipartisan, bicameral bill would create a comprehensive, multilateral strategy to raise international awareness of the persecution of Uyghurs, direct the State Department to effectively respond to human rights challenges in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and push back on the CCP efforts to silence Uyghur voices.
Watch HERE or read her remarks below.
Thank you Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of my legislation- H.R. 2766, the Uyghur Policy Act.
The Uyghur Policy Act comes at a critical time. Chairman Xi is trying to rebrand Xinjiang as a business and tourist destination and seeks to erase Uyghurs from the international community’s memory.
The Chinese Communist Party continues to deny carrying out genocide against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities, and we have verified reports of forced sterilization, forced labor, brainwashing, and gang rape in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Despite the CCP being exposed for these crimes, Chairman Xi is doubling down. In a visit to the region recently, he called for stricter regulations on the practice of religion and protection of “hard-won stability.”
We are running out of time to act.
The Uyghur Policy Act will help us lead from a position of strength and will address several shortcomings in our existing approach to responding to these human rights abuses.
It authorizes the State Department to appoint a Special Coordinator for Uyghur issues, which will consolidate the State Department’s diplomatic strategy to ensure that department-wide resources are better coordinated to respond to the Uyghur genocide.
The United States must show through words and through actions that we will have Uyghurs’ backs in their fight against the CCP’s tyranny.
H.R. 2766 mandates Uyghur language instruction at the Foreign Service Institute and require the State Department to station a Uyghur-fluent officer at Mission China locations.
The bill also authorizes support for Uyghur human rights activists and directs the U.S. Agency for Global Media to disseminate news and information regarding Uyghur genocide.
We must act now to leverage U.S. soft power, garner international support for Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and equip the State Department with the tools it needs to better respond to Xi Jinping’s genocidal campaign.
I thank Indo-Pacific Subcommittee Ranking Member Ami Bera for leading this legislation with me, and the 106 bipartisan cosponsors who helped me get this legislation to the floor.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
