No Funds for Forced Labor Act

Bill: 118-hr-7125
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Wexton, Jennifer [D-VA-10]
Introduced: 2024-01-29
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2024-01-29
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7125 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 29, 2024 Ms. Wexton (for herself, Mr. Gallagher , Mr. Krishnamoorthi , Mr. Rose , Mr. Sherman , Mrs. Kim of California , Mr. Meeks , and Mr. Nunn of Iowa ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the United States Executive Directors at the international financial institutions to advocate opposition to projects that make use of forced labor.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the No Funds for Forced Labor Act . 2. Findings The Congress finds as follows: (1) The International Labor Organization has expressed deep concern about the extensive use of forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region . (2) In its 2022 annual report, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) found that Authorities in the XUAR (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) maintained a system of forced labor that involved former mass internment camp detainees and other Turkic and Muslim individuals. . (3) In 2022, the Atlantic Council published a report detailing that the World Bank’s private lending body, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), determined that several IFC clients were active participants in the People’s Republic of China campaign against the Uyghur people and Uyghur culture in the XUAR. 3. Sense of the Congress It is the sense of the Congress that— (1) international financial institutions should not fund, finance, or provide loan guarantees to any entity that has been credibly accused of using forced labor; and (2) the United States should work with allies, partners, and all countries around the globe to eliminate forced labor and ensure that international financial institutions do not fund projects that use forced labor. 4. United States opposition to international financial institution loans for projects that would use, or have a significant risk of using, forced labor (a) In general Title VII of the International Financial Institutions Act ( 22 U.S.C. 262d , 262c note, 262e, and 262d note) is amended by adding at the end the following: 706. United States opposition to loans for projects that would use, or have a significant risk of using, forced labor (a) In general The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director at each international financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2)) to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States, to the maximum extent practicable, to— (1) oppose the provision of a loan to any project that will— (A) pose a significant risk of using forced labor; or (B) be carried out by a state-owned or heavily state-influenced entity in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; and (2) require the institution to provide, with respect to each project supported by the institution, an explanation, specific to the project, of— (A) how the institution has vetted the project for forced labor risks; and (B) the actions taken to mitigate, track, and reverse that risk. (b) Definition of forced labor In this section, the term forced labor — (1) has the meaning given the term in section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 ( 19 U.S.C. 1307 ); and (2) includes convict labor and indentured labor under penal sanctions. . (b) Report (1) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for the next 5 years, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate a written report on the implementation of the amendment made by subsection (a), which shall include details about— (A) any project approved by an international financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial Institutions Act) in which forced labor could possibly be used; and (B) the efforts of the United States Executive Director at each such institution to convince other countries to oppose any project in which forced labor could be used. (2) Public availability The Secretary of the Treasury shall make the report (or an unclassified version of the report) available to the public.