Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi Praises Bipartisan Cooperation in Producing Uyghur & Taiwan Deterrence Reports

May 24, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During yesterday’s executive business meeting of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), in remarks made before the committee, commended the bipartisan efforts that helped produce the policy recommendations that were overwhelmingly adopted by the committee, on the topics of ending the CCP’s Uyghur genocide and Taiwan deterrence efforts.

The findings and recommendations in the report are consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and the United States’ One China Policy that have been the foundation for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait for decades.

Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi’s full remarks can be found at the end of this release.

Coverage of Wednesday’s executive business meeting:

Special House Panel Takes Aim at China in Proposed Laws [Wall Street Journal]
US House China panel recommends Congress take action over Taiwan, Uyghurs [Reuters]
Bipartisan China panel issues a blueprint to address Taiwan and Uyghur mistreatment [NBC News]
House's China select committee adopts recommendations on Taiwan and Uyghurs [Washington Examiner]
US House panel urges further action Uyghur forced labor [Radio Free Asia]

Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi Remarks

The Chinese Communist Party’s Ongoing Uyghur Genocide

Thank you, Chairman Gallagher, for your leadership in producing our first two committee reports. You and your staff truly worked in a bipartisan way to incorporate priorities on the Democratic side. I want you to know that we are grateful for those efforts.

Consistent with our mandate, the select committee will attempt to produce a bipartisan report after every hearing that includes our findings and legislative recommendations that we will subsequently try to advance during this congress. I’m not aware of any other committee or commission that does this and it is exciting to be working in an innovative way and breaking new ground.

I am proud to support “The CCP’s Ongoing Uyghur Genocide” report and hope it has the unanimous support. A few weeks ago we heard harrowing testimony of Uyghur and Muslim women who were jailed in mass internment camps in Xinjiang. The pain and suffering these women endured is horrifying. We know that the evidence has included not only first-hand testimony but also thousands of pages of leaked internal CCP documents, photographs, and satellite imagery.

The genocide is real and it is not too late to confront these atrocities so that “never again,” can actually become a reality. This report provides a blueprint for congressional action including recommendations to:

Pass legislation to sanction key PRC tech companies involved in the genocide;
Strengthen US diplomatic efforts and foreign assistance programs that promote awareness of Uyghur human rights abuses including Radio Free Asia and the National Endowment for Democracy;
Strengthen enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act by reducing the de minimis threshold for duty free shipments from the PRC and providing additional resources for Customs and Border Protection to identify products made with forced labor; and
Prohibit the TSP and federal retirement accounts from investing in US-sanctioned PRC entities.

This report and these recommendations deserve the full support of this select committee and indeed the entire Congress. I look forward to their adoption and our work together, Democrats and Republicans, to move these recommendations into legislation as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Ten For Taiwan

Thank you again Chairman Gallagher for your bipartisanship in the formation of the “Ten for Taiwan” report. This report included the contributions of many members of the select committee and the result is a bipartisan compromise.

It must be clear that the goal of these recommendations are to actively deter aggression and prevent conflict because the cost of any conflict with the CCP would be unimaginably high for Taiwan, the U.S., the Indo-Pacific region and the PRC.

It should be clear that the findings and recommendations in the report are consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and the United States’ One China Policy that have been the foundation for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait for decades.

Make no mistake, the CCP’s increasingly aggressive words and actions towards Taiwan are to be taken seriously and appropriate policies are necessary to deter further aggression and avoid conflict.

The recommendations include jumpstarting our munitions industrial base and quickly providing Taiwan U.S. weapons systems already approved by Congress.

The second recommendation in particular is important that focuses on developing joint plans with allies and partners and boosting economic engagement including a tax agreement, advancing trade negotiations, and joint standards and procedures to combat coercive economic policies. It also includes a recommendation that the NATO plus arrangement include India.

The U.S.-Taiwan relationship is built on a foundation of security, prosperity, and our shared democratic values. The people of Taiwan deserve to live in peace and free from threats and intimidation.

I believe the policies included in this report would further peace and stability in the region and deter aggression. I fully support the findings and recommendations and hope it has the unanimous support of the select committee.

Thank you.

###