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Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) welcomed the State Department’s determination that the Chinese Government’s and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) constitute crimes against humanity and genocide. Rubio is the co-author of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act introduced last Congress (S.3744), which would require the Secretary of State to make an atrocity determination related to the actions taken by Beijing in support of forced labor. Similar language was signed into law in December 2020. Rubio also co-authored the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-145), the first piece of legislation regarding Uyghurs in the world to be signed into law. 
 
“The Trump Administration did the right thing by calling the horrific crimes being committed by the Chinese Communist Party against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities by their rightful name: crimes against humanity and genocide,” Rubio said. “Today’s determination by the State Department is an important step towards accountability and justice, as we included in the FY2021 Omnibus Appropriations spending bill. The ongoing crimes at the hands of the Chinese government is a human tragedy that demands an immediate international response. These determinations are a call to action for the incoming administration, Congress, and our allies. We must ensure that the U.S. and free nations do all we can to end these atrocities and ensure that it remains a priority of our nation’s China policy.”
 
Rubio is Cochair of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations’ Subcommittee that oversees human rights, and is a member of the Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.
 
Related:

• December 22, 2020: Rubio and Merkley Applaud Inclusion of Their Provision to Require Administration to Determine Whether Crimes Against Uyghurs Constitute Atrocities
• October 27, 2020: Rubio Joins Cornyn, Risch, Menendez and Bipartisan Colleagues In Introducing Resolution to Designate Uyghur Atrocities as Genocide  
• June 17, 2020: Rubio Applauds POTUS Signing Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act Into Law
• October 17, 2019: Rubio Co-Chairs CECC Hearing Highlighting Chinese Government Atrocities in Xinjiang  
• July 2, 2020: Rubio, Menendez, McGovern, Smith Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Letter on Chinese Government Atrocities in Xinjiang  
• March 12, 2020: Rubio, McGovern Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Group Introducing Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act  
• December 3, 2019: Rubio, Menendez Applaud House Passage of Senate Uyghur Bill   
• September 11, 2019: Rubio, Menendez Applaud Senate Passage of the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act   
• May 22, 2019: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Passes Rubio-Menendez Uyghur Human Rights Bill   
• April 3, 2019: Rubio, Menendez, Colleagues Urge Strong Sanctions, Export Controls & Financial Disclosures to Counter Chinese Human Rights Abuses in Xinjiang
• January 17, 2019: Rubio, Menendez, Colleagues re-introduce Legislation In Response To China’s Human Rights Abuses Of Uyghurs   
• November 14, 2018: Rubio, Menendez, first introduce the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.
• August 29, 2018: Rubio, Colleagues Urge Trump Administration to Sanction Human Rights Violators in China’s Xinjiang Region