Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), a member of the tax-writing House Ways Committee, today offered an amendment to address Chinese communist crimes against Muslims and other minorities. The amendment was blocked by committee Republicans on a party-line vote.

“We know that the Chinese Communist Party operates concentration camps,” Congressman Pascrell said in introducing his amendment.  “And we know that China persecutes Uyghur and Turkic peoples in Western China. I am talking about millions of Muslims facing vicious reprisal and crackdown at the hands of the Chinese dictator. My amendment also includes a simple, commonsense provision to combat Chinese abuse of Muslim minorities. My amendment would expand the study to include China’s use of Muslim slave labor and make this flawed bill better. I urge its approval.”

In addition to expand the study in the bill to include China’s use of Muslim slave labor, the Pascrell amendment would also have banned imports of cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo unless it was proven those imports were not tied to Chinese forced labor.

“Chinese communist crimes around cobalt mining in DRC have been exposed and highlighted by my friend and colleague, Mr. Smith of New Jersey. But rather than talking a good game, I believe the most powerful committee in Congress can take stronger, more aggressive action. My amendment would ban imports of cobalt from the DRC unless the Customs and Border Protection can prove the cobalt was not produced with forced labor. What can and should be an aggressive policy instead is a report. We can be and must be bolder. My amendment presuming that China is guilty and banning DRC cobalt would do just that.”