Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi Condemns State Department Human Rights Report Rollback as Gift to the Chinese Communist Party

WASHINGTON – Today, Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s drastic reductions to the State Department’s annual human rights reports:

“By gutting the State Department’s human rights reports, the Trump Administration is giving Beijing exactly what it wants: silence in the face of the CCP’s genocide against Uyghurs and persecution of Tibetans, Hong Kong democracy advocates, Christians, and others. For decades, these reports have been essential tools for exposing abuses, guiding sanctions, and supporting those seeking refuge from persecution. Diluting them for political convenience betrays our values and tells every dictator that America’s commitment to human rights is negotiable and that their repression will face fewer consequences.”

For nearly 50 years, the State Department’s annual human rights reports have provided a comprehensive, fact-based account of government abuses across the globe. Policymakers, courts, journalists, and advocates rely on them to shape foreign policy, enforce human rights conditions on foreign aid, and provide evidence for asylum and refugee claims. The Trump Administration’s decision to strip key findings from these reports — including those on forced labor, mass internment, religious persecution, and other internationally recognized abuses — undermines U.S. credibility and emboldens authoritarian regimes.