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Washington, D.C. ?— U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Kennedy (R-LA), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced the Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act, to prohibit federal funds from being used to buy solar panels from companies based in China, or entities controlled by or tied to the Communist Party of China which are known for using forced labor.
 
“Beijing has made it clear that to do business in China, you must leave American values behind,” Rubio said. “As the Chinese Communist Party is actively committing genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim minorities, it forces American companies to look the other way while profiting from its egregious human rights violations, including forced labor. The CCP’s crimes should not be fueled by American taxpayer dollars.”
 
“No taxpayer dollars should be used to prop up the Communist Party of China, which is committing a genocide against the Uyghurs under General Secretary Xi’s direction, continues to threaten our ally Taiwan and strip basic rights from Hong Kongers,” Scott said. “Reports show that many solar companies rely on materials and labor from Communist China’s Xinjiang province, which is known for forced labor and horrific abuse of the Uyghurs. My Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act, which prohibits the use of federal funds to buy solar panels from Communist China, sends a clear message to General Secretary Xi that the United States will not turn a blind eye to his genocide and human rights abuses.”
 
To see quotes from other cosponsors click here. 
 
The Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act:
 

• Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to develop standards and guidelines to prohibit Federal funds from being used to purchase solar panels manufactured or assembled by entities with ties to the Communist Party of China.
• Requires the Comptroller of the United States to submit to Congress a report on the amount of solar panels procured by Federal departments and agencies from covered entities.
• Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to conduct an independent study of the domestic market of solar panel production and the global supply chain and workforce involved in solar panel production.