Jim McGovern

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we are considering the Combating International Islamophobia Act right now, and my good friend from Pennsylvania in the very beginning made reference to the fact that Republicans are all united in condemning hate, prejudice, and bigotry wherever it exists. But I just want to point out why this bill is so important. It is because the last Republican President who we had, unfortunately, it was like gasoline on a fire in terms of promoting Islamophobia. In 2015, Donald Trump said that he would look at closing mosques in the United States. That same year he was open to the idea of creating a database of all U.S. Muslims. As President, he instituted a Muslim ban. So that is the Republican Party's recent history in terms of combating Islamophobia. Instead of combating it, he, again, threw gasoline on the fire and fanned the flames. So the reason why this is important is so that we can show the world that that is not who we are and that we reject bigotry, hatred, discrimination, and prejudice wherever it exists. The statistics are clear: we see a rising tide of Islamophobia all throughout the world. This should not be controversial. This, quite frankly, should be a suspension. That it has been politicized by some of my friends on the other side of the aisle is unfortunate, but I hope that some of them will at the end join with us in voting to pass it. I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a September 7 Associated Press article titled ``Two Decades After 9/11, Muslim Americans Still Fighting Bias.'' [From AP, Sept. 7, 2021] Two Decades After 9/11, Muslim Americans Still Fighting Bias New York (AP)--A car passed, the driver's window rolled down and the man spat an epithet at two little girls wearing their hijabs: ``Terrorist!'' It was 2001, mere weeks after the twin towers at the World Trade Center fell, and 10-year-old Shahana Hanif and her younger sister were walking to the local mosque from their Brooklyn home. Unsure, afraid, the girls ran. As the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks approaches, Hanif can still recall the shock of the moment, her confusion over how anyone could look at her, a child, and see a threat. ``It's not a nice, kind word. It means violence, it means dangerous. It is meant to shock whoever . . . is on the receiving end of it,'' she says. But the incident also spurred a determination to speak out for herself and others that has helped get her to where she is today: a community organizer strongly favored to win a seat on the New York City Council in the upcoming municipal election. Like Hanif, other young American Muslims have grown up under the shadow of 9/11. Many have faced hostility and surveillance, mistrust and suspicion, questions about their Muslim faith and doubts over their Americanness. They've also found ways forward, ways to fight back against bias, to organize, to craft nuanced personal narratives about their identities. In the process, they've built bridges, challenged stereotypes and carved out new spaces for themselves. There is ``this sense of being Muslim as a kind of important identity marker, regardless of your relationship with Islam as a faith,'' says Eman Abdelhadi, a sociologist at The University of Chicago who studies Muslim communities. ``That's been one of the main effects in people's lives . . . it has shaped the ways the community has developed.'' A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research conducted ahead of the 9/11 anniversary found that 53% of Americans have unfavorable views toward Islam, compared with 42% who have favorable ones. This stands in contrast to Americans' opinions about Christianity and Judaism, for which most respondents expressed favorable views. Mistrust and suspicion of Muslims didn't start with 9/11, but the attacks dramatically intensified those animosities. Accustomed to being ignored or targeted by low-level harassment, the country's wide-ranging and diverse Muslim communities were foisted into the spotlight, says Youssef Chouhoud, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. ``Your sense of who you were was becoming more formed, not just Muslim but American Muslim,'' he says. ``What distinguished you as an American Muslim? Could you be fully both, or did you have to choose? There was a lot of grappling with what that meant.'' In Hanif's case, there was no blueprint to navigate the complexities of that time. ``Fifth-grader me wasn't naive or too young to know Muslims are in danger,'' she later wrote in an essay about the aftermath of 9/11. ``. . . Flashing an American flag from our first-floor windows didn't make me more American. Born in Brooklyn didn't make me more American.'' A young Hanif gathered neighborhood friends, and an older cousin helped them write a letter to then-President George W. Bush asking for protection. ``We knew,'' she says, ``that we would become like warriors of this community.'' But being warriors often carries a price, with wounds that linger. Ishaq Pathan, 26, recalls the time a boy told him he seemed angry and wondered if he was going to blow up their Connecticut school. He remembers the helplessness he felt when he was taken aside at an airport for additional questioning upon returning to the United States after a college semester in Morocco. The agent looked through his belongings, including the laptop where he kept a private journal, and started reading it. ``I remember being like, `Hey, do you have to read that?''' Pathan says. The agent ``just looks at me like, `You know, I can read anything on your computer. I'm entitled to anything here.' And at that point, I remember having tears in my eyes. I was completely and utterly powerless.'' Pathan couldn't accept it. ``You go to school with other people of different backgrounds and you realize . . . what the promise of the United States is,'' he says. ``And when you see it not living up to that promise, then I think it instills in us a sense of wanting to help and fix that.'' He now works as the San Francisco Bay Area director for the nonprofit Islamic Networks Group, where he hopes to help a younger generation grow confident in their Muslim identity. Pathan recently chatted with a group of boys about their summer activities. At times, the boys ate watermelon or played on a trampoline. At other moments, the talk turned serious: What would they do if a student pretended to blow himself up while yelling ``Allahu akbar,'' or ``God is great?'' What can they do about stereotypical depictions of Muslims on TV? ``I had always viewed 9/11 as probably one of the most pivotal moments of my life and of the lives of Americans across the board,'' Pathan says. ``The aftermath of it . . . is what pushed me to do what I do today.'' That aftermath has also helped motivate Shukri Olow to do what she is doing--run for office. Born in Somalia, Olow fled civil war with her family and lived in refugee camps in Kenya for years before coming to the United States when she was 10. She found home in a vibrant public housing complex in the city of Kent, south of Seattle. There, residents from different countries communicated across language and cultural barriers, borrowing salt from each other or watching one another's kids. Olow felt she flourished in that environment. Then 9/11 happened. She recalls feeling confused when a teacher asked her, ``What are your people doing?'' But she also remembers others who ``said that this isn't our fault . . . and we need to make sure that you're safe.'' In a 2017 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. Muslims, nearly half of respondents said they experienced at least one instance of religious discrimination within the year before; yet 49% said someone expressed support for them because of their religion in the previous year. Overwhelmingly, the study found respondents proud to be both Muslim and American. For some, including Olow, there were occasional identity crises growing up. `` `Who am I?'--which I think is what many young people kind of go through in life in general,'' she says. ``But for those of us who live at the intersection of anti-Blackness and Islamophobia . . . it was really hard.'' But her experiences from that time also helped form her identity. She is now seeking a seat on the King County Council. ``There are many young people who have multiple identities who have felt that they don't belong here, that they are not welcomed here,'' she says. ``I was one of those young people. And so, I try to do what I can to make sure that more of us know that this is our nation, too.'' After 9/11, some American Muslims chose to dispel misconceptions about their faith by building personal connections. They shared coffee or broke bread with strangers as they fielded myriad questions--from how Islam views women and Jesus to how to combat extremism. Mansoor Shams has traveled across the U.S. with a sign that reads: ``I'm Muslim and a U.S. Marine, ask anything.'' It's part of the 39-year-old's efforts to teach others about his faith and counter hate through dialogue. Shams, who served in the Marines from 2000 to 2004, was called names like ``Taliban,'' ``terrorist'' and ``Osama bin Laden'' by some of his fellow Marines after 9/11. One of his most memorable interactions, he says, was at Liberty University in Virginia, where he spoke in 2019 to students of the Christian institution. Some, he says, still call him with questions about Islam. ``There's this mutual love and respect,'' he says. Shams wishes his current work wasn't needed but feels a responsibility to share a counternarrative he says many Americans don't know. Ahmed Ali Akbar, 33, came to a different conclusion. Shortly after 9/11, some adults in his community arranged for an assembly at his school in Saginaw, Michigan, where he and other students talked about Islam and Muslims. Akbar poured his heart into the research. But he recalls his confusion at some of the questions: Where is bin Laden? What's the reason behind the attacks? ``How am I supposed to know where Osama bin Laden is? I'm an American kid,'' he says. That period left him feeling like trying to change people's minds wasn't always effective, that some were not ready to listen. Akbar eventually turned his focus toward telling stories about Muslim Americans on his podcast ``See Something Say Something.'' ``There's a lot of humor in the Muslim American experience as well,'' he says. ``It's not all just sadness and reaction to the violence and . . . racism and Islamophobia.'' He has also come to believe in building connections of a different type. ``Our battle for our civil liberties (is) tied up with other marginalized communities,'' he says, stressing the importance of advocating for them. For some, 9/11 brought a different kind of racial reckoning, says Debbie Almontaser, a Yemeni American educator and activist in New York. She says many Arab and South Asian immigrants came to the U.S. seeking the American Dream as doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs. ``Then 9/11 happens and they realize that they're brown and they realize that they're minorities--that was a huge wake-up call,'' Almontaser says. Some racial tensions play out today in U.S. Muslim communities. The racial justice protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, for instance, brought many Muslims to the streets to condemn racism. But they also spurred an internal reckoning about racial equity among Muslims, including the treatment of Black Muslims. ``For me, as a Muslim African American, my struggle (in America) is still with race and identity,'' says imam Ali Aqeel of the Muslim American Cultural Center in Nashville, Tennessee. ``When we go to (Islamic) centers and we have to deal with the same pain that we deal with out in the world, it's kind of discouraging to us because we're under the impression that (in) Islam, you don't have that racial and ethnic divide.'' Amirah Ahmed, 17, was born after the attacks and feels like she was thrust into a struggle not of her making--a burden despite being ``just as American as anyone else.'' She recalls how a few years ago at her Virginia school's 9/ 11 commemoration, she felt students' stares at her and her hijab so intensely that she wanted to skip the next year's event. When her mother dismissed the idea, she instead wore her Americanness as a shield, donning an American flag headscarf to address her classmates from a podium. Ahmed spoke about honoring the lives of those who died in America on 9/11--but also of Iraqis who died in the war launched in 2003. She recalls defending her Arab and Muslim identities that day while displaying her American one and says it was a ``really powerful moment.'' But she hopes her future children don't feel the need to prove they belong. ``Our kids are going to be (here) well after the 9/11 era,'' she says. ``They should not have to continue fighting for their identity.''

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, a recent poll, as I mentioned earlier, found that 53 percent of Americans, unfortunately, hold negative views of Muslims--53 percent. Islamophobia isn't just a problem abroad. We need to combat it here at home as well. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a December 9 report released by the Department of Justice titled ``2020 Hate Crimes Statistics.'' 2020 Hate Crimes Statistics In August 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released Hate Crime Statistics 2020, an annual compilation of bias-motivated incidents in the United States. Though the number of reporting agencies decreased by 452 since 2019, the overall number of reported incidents increased by 949, contributing to a total of 8,263 hate crime incidents against 11,126 victims in 2020. While annual law enforcement agency participation may fluctuate, the statistics indicate that hate crimes remain a concern for communities across the country. According to this year's data, 62% of victims were targeted because of the offenders' bias toward race/ethnicity/ ancestry, which continues to be the largest bias motivation category. Participating agencies reported 5,227 race/ ethnicity/ancestry-based incidents in 2020, a 32% increase from 2019. Anti-Black or African American hate crimes continue to be the largest bias incident victim category, with 2,871 incidents in 2020, a 49% increase since 2019. Additionally, there were 279 anti-Asian incidents reported in 2020, a 77% increase since 2019. The other largest categories of hate crimes include anti-Hispanic or Latino incidents, with 517, and anti-White incidents, with 869 in total. Incidents related to religion decreased 18% from 2019, with 1,244 total incidents reported. The largest category included: 683 anti-Jewish incidents, down 28% since 2019; 110 anti-Muslim incidents, down 38%; 15 anti-Buddhist incidents, up 200%; and 89 anti-Sikh incidents, up 83%. Incidents related to disability decreased 17% from 2019, with 130 total incidents reported. By category: Anti-mental disability incidents decreased by 29% since 2019, and Anti-physical disability incidents increased by 8%. Incidents related to gender and gender identity increased since 2019 with increases in gender-related incidents by 9% and gender identity-related incidents by 34%. There were: 50 anti-female incidents, a decrease of 4% since 2019; 25 anti-male incidents, an increase of 47%; 213 anti-transgender incidents, an increase of 41%; and 53 anti-gender non-conforming incidents, an increase of 13%. See the Hate Crimes website for more highlights from the data: https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/hate-crime- statistics. The full data set can be found on the FBI's Crime Data Explorer website at https://crime-data- explorer.app.cloud.gov/pages/explorer/crime/hate-crime. The FBI Hate Crime Statistics is an annual compilation of bias-motivated incidents in the United States. For the purpose of the report, a hate crime is defined as a criminal offense which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias(es) against a person based on race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. The 2020 data provides information voluntarily submitted from 15,136 of 18,623 law enforcement agencies around the country on offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, according to FBI statistics, in 2020 there were 110 anti-Muslim incidents, and there were an additional 89 hate crimes against Sikhs who are often wrongly identified as Muslim. We know that hate crimes often go under-reported, so the actual number is likely much higher, which is another reason I think passing this bill is important. I include in the Record a September 10 Business Insider article titled ``House Republicans Mocked Ilhan Omar's Bill to Establish an Envoy to Combat Islamophobia Worldwide.'' [From the Business Insider, Dec. 10, 2021] House Repubicans Mocked Ilhan Omar's Bill To Establish an Envoy To Combat Islamophobia Worldwide (Bryan Metzger) In the wake of Rep. Lauren Boebert's Islamophobia comments suggesting that Rep. Ilhan Omar was a suicide bomber, House Republicans spent much of a Thursday hearing mocking a bill put forth by the Muslim Minnesota congresswoman to combat Islamophobia worldwide. ``I have many Pennsylvania Dutch that feel that they're not treated properly,'' said Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, sarcastically calling for their inclusion in Omar's Islamophobia bill. ``How about those that are gay, you know, the LGBTQ community? That should be part of this bill.'' ``Let's keep going, you know, there are people that are overweight, and there are skinny kids that get picked on,'' Meuser added. ``Why aren't they included in this as well?'' Rep. Omar's bill, which she introduced in late October alongside Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, would require the State Department to establish a special envoy for monitoring and combating Islamophobia and is modeled after a similar position created in 2004 to combat anti-Semitism. ``For over a decade we have seen increasing incidents of violent Islamophobia both in the US and worldwide--from the genocide of the Rohingya in Burma, and Uyghurs in China, to the attacks on Muslim refugees in Canada and New Zealand,'' Rep. Schakowsky said at the time. ``Hate crimes against American Muslims saw a 17% spike in 2017, when then-President Trump imposed a travel ban most focused on majority-Muslim nations. The bill ultimately passed the House Foreign Relations Committee on Friday, with every Democrat voting in favor and every Republican opposed, and is expected to head to a full House vote on Tuesday. Democratic leadership is reportedly considering a vote on the bill as way to respond to the Boebert controversy, even as progressive lawmakers have introduced a resolution to strip Boebert of her committees. House Republican leaders, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, have declined to forcefully condemn Boebert's Islamophobia rhetoric or take any meaningful action against her. `Shameful and embarrassing' On Thursday evening, Republicans used both proposed amendments to Omar's bill and comments during the hearing to mock both the bill and Omar herself, in addition to downplaying Islamophobia. Republican Rep. Steve Chabot of Ohio, who accidentally posted an image from an anti-Semitic website in 2017, said that Omar's bill would ``trivialize'' anti-Semitism, given the existence of another State Department post to combat that form of bigotry. ``We should avoid such a dangerous false equivalency at all costs, as it could be used by some extremists to actually justify further anti-Semitic activity,'' said Chabot. ``If you ask 20 different people what Islamophobia means today, especially in the Democratic Party, you're going to get 20 different answers,'' said the Florida Republican. ``And that answer is going to be what they decide best fits their political narrative to go out there and attack you.'' And Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Ohio offered an amendment to specify that it ``shall not be considered Islamophobia for an individual to criticize a brother marrying a sister for the purpose of committing immigration fraud in the United States,'' an apparent reference to long-standing right-wing conspiracy theories about the congresswoman. As of publication time, the amendment was no longer available on the House Foreign Relations Committee website and was presumably withdrawn. Rep. Buck's office did not respond to Insider's request for comment. But other amendments by Buck, including one mentioning female genital mutilation, remained online. Another amendment offered by Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania sought to exclude ``any action (to include counter-terrorism measures) taken by the Israeli Government'' from the bill. In a statement to Insider, Omar condemned Republican behavior during the hearing. ``It is shameful and embarrassing that the Republican Party's response to blatant Islamophobia and incitement of violence is to double down on anti-Muslim rhetoric,'' she said. ``Instead of engaging in a good faith discussion on how to address the rise of Islamophobic violence, Republicans engaged in ad hominem attacks, belittled Muslims, and minimized the pain of Muslim communities around the world.'' And Democrats on the committee sought to defend Omar's bill. ``One reason the United States is doing a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in China is because China's engaging in a genocide of Muslims, of the Uyghurs, because of their religion,'' said Rep. Ted Lieu of California. ``The Rohingya in Burma were slaughtered because they were Muslims.'' He also called attention to Boebert's Islamophobic remarks. ``We had a congressmember from the Republican Party joke about a congressmember in the Democratic Party, that somehow she was a terrorist simply because of a religion,'' Lieu said. ``That's Islamophobia.''

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I don't know what the hell is going on in some corners of the Republican Conference, but to have Republican Members mock this bill, as they did during a recent committee hearing, is disgusting. This is no laughing matter. In fact, it is a matter of life and death. We are talking about violence, death threats, bullying, desecrating mosques, and worse. Instances like that just show why we need to pass this bill. Again, my Republican friends, as they do oftentimes when we have important matters like this up, they want to talk about everything except what is on the floor. But the reason why this is important is because I think we should show the world that we speak with one voice; that we are against hatred; that we are against bigotry; that we will not stand by silently in the face of Islamophobia; that we want to be an example, and we want to lead the rest of the world. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. You know, we face a lot of challenges in this country and, in large part, we are still trying to come out of a pandemic that the previous administration tried to ignore. We actually have done some good things. We passed a major infrastructure bill. In the previous administration we had infrastructure week and infrastructure month, and a press conference, but we actually passed a real infrastructure bill with bipartisan support over in the Senate and a handful of Republicans here. I say to the previous speaker, to suggest that the American people don't care about Islamophobia, I think, is insulting. I mean, you say that to the Muslim student being bullied in a classroom because of their faith, or say that to a Muslim worshipper at a mosque that has been attacked, or say that to a Muslim family that has been belittled because of ignorances being promoted by some, including some in this Chamber. I mean, please, the American people are good and decent. They do not want to accept prejudice and bigotry and hate and discrimination. They expect better. We heard some talk earlier about the Uyghurs, and we need to do more for the Uyghurs, which we are doing, but I got a little whiplash saying that we need to move faster to combat the atrocities against the Muslim Uyghur population, but then on the other hand, we are told that nobody cares. You can't have it both ways. But to suggest that the American people are indifferent to prejudice is something I won't accept. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I appreciate the fact that the gentleman yielded the gentlewoman more time because that made absolutely no sense to me. Mr. Speaker, let me just say to the gentleman from Pennsylvania on the Uyghur thing; let me repeat the history again so it is clear to him. A year ago, we passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in the House. It went over to the Senate. Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump killed it. Nobody said a word. The bill that passed last week that the gentleman was referring to is my bill. The bill that we are going to take up later today is my bill that we negotiated the differences between the House and Senate with Senator Rubio. The gentleman will be happy to know that the bill that we are passing today is stronger than the Senate-passed version. Maybe he would prefer a weaker version because that is what a lot of corporations that are very friendly to my Republican friends are now lobbying very hard for: a watered-down bill. So this bill is not watered down. It is a stronger bill than passed the Senate. I would even like it to be stronger. But please, don't politicize human rights in a way where I think, to be fair, my friend is mischaracterizing what the history of this issue is. I don't take a back seat to anybody when it comes to human rights or it comes to human rights with regard to the Uyghurs. We have been fighting for this for a long time and we finally have a Speaker of the House and a President of the United States who will sign this bill when it gets there. And I want to thank the leadership in the Senate. I want to thank Senator Rubio. I want to thank Congressman Smith here in the House, Ranking Member McCaul, and Chairman Meeks for their cooperation. But we are moving a bill forward that has teeth, that is real, that is tough. It is the strongest bill we have ever passed on this. But please don't politicize it. I have been working on this too long. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, let me just say again that this really shouldn't be controversial at all, and I am sad that it is being politicized by some of my friends on the other side of the aisle. We have heard one objection after the next to this bill which condemns Islamophobia as if somehow condemning Islamophobia is some sort of a radical idea. I never thought I would yearn for the Republicanism of George W. Bush. But maybe things have gotten so out of control in the Republican Party today that Members cannot even stand here and publicly defend a Muslim from bullying or worse. I pray that is not the case. Some things are about more than petty partisanship and towing the party line. This should be one of them. We have kids being bullied in school, hate crimes on the rise, mosques targeted for violence. That is just here in America. Around the world, Muslims are being silenced from public discourse, forced into detention camps, or disappeared altogether. We are a Nation founded on the right to freedom of religion and freedom of worship. It is a fundamental part of being the United States of America. We must stand up and say that this is not right, the rise in Islamaphobia that we see globally. I want to recognize the leadership of Congresswoman Omar, Congresswoman Schakowsky, and Chairman Meeks. They understand that this is the right thing to do. It is the American thing to do. They have worked tirelessly to get this bill to the House floor. Now, we must get this bill over the finish line and on to the Senate because even today, even in this highly partisan era, the United States must and can still stand for human rights at home and abroad. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this rule and the underlying legislation. The material previously referred to by Mr. Reschenthaler is as follows: Amendment to House Resolution 849 At the end of the resolution, add the following: Sec. 2. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 6235) to provide for the development of a plan to increase oil and gas production under oil and gas leases of Federal lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Defense in conjunction with a drawdown of petroleum reserves from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce; and (2) one motion to recommit. Sec. 3. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 6235.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Meeks for yielding me the time and for his incredible leadership on this issue. I also want to thank Ranking Minority Member McCaul for his leadership. Mr. Speaker, many products used every day by people all over our country, including clothing, food, and shoes, are made using forced labor, the forced labor of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities held by the Chinese Government across a network of internment camps. It has been illegal to import forced labor products into the United States for more than 90 years, but it is exceedingly difficult to spot them since Chinese producers often mix together products that are the result of both involuntary and voluntary labor. Moreover, the lack of Chinese Government transparency and the police state atmosphere in Xinjiang make auditing of product sourcing unreliable if not impossible, according to the administration's ``Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory.'' Mr. Speaker, the imperative to act is clear. This is not a partisan issue. It is a human rights issue. It is a moral issue. There is already strong, diverse, bipartisan, and bicameral support for this legislation on both sides of the Capitol. That includes my colleagues on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, Representative Chris Smith and Senator Marco Rubio, the author of the Senate bill. I, too, want to especially thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her longtime advocacy for human rights in China and for her leadership in getting this bill to the House floor today. I want to thank Chairman Richard Neal, Chairman Gregory Meeks, and Chairwoman Maxine Waters for their support in their committees. The House of Representatives passed this bill in September 2020 by a vote of 406-3, but, sadly, the Senate did nothing. It never took it up. The Senate now passed a version of this bill in July. It is time for us to get this done. Two years ago, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, of which I serve as the co-chair, held a hearing and an expert roundtable and issued a groundbreaking staff report. This legislation would not be possible without the hardworking staff of that Commission. Our findings of systematic and widespread forced labor in Xinjiang are based on testimony from camp detainees, satellite imagery of factories being built at internment camps, and public and leaked Chinese Government documents. Forced labor was one of the justifications cited by the State Department, first by Secretary Pompeo and then reiterated by Secretary Blinken, in determining that the Chinese Government was committing genocide against Uyghurs and members of other Muslim ethnic minority groups. Forced labor was listed by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in its November 2021 report finding that the Chinese Government had committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act prohibits imports from Xinjiang to the U.S. by creating a rebuttable presumption that all goods produced in the region are made with forced labor unless U.S. Customs and Border Protection certifies by clear and convincing evidence that goods were not produced with forced labor. Mr. Speaker, in 2 months, the Chinese Government will host the Winter Olympics in the middle of a genocide. This is unconscionable. We asked the International Olympic Committee to postpone and move the games. They refused. Instead, the IOC made ANTA, a Chinese company implicated in slave labor, its official sportswear uniform supplier. I am pleased that the Biden administration has decided not to send American diplomats to the Olympics, but Congress needs to do its part by passing this bill before the Olympics start. We must take a clear moral position to stand with those who are suffering from forced labor and not with the Chinese Government, the IOC, and the big corporations who profit off the exploitation of slave labor. Shame on them. No more business as usual. We must pass and put into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. I urge all of my colleagues to support this. If the United States of America stands for anything, we need to stand out loud and four-square for human rights.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, when the Committee on Rules filed its report (House Report 117-205) to accompany House Resolution 838, the Committee was unaware that the waiver of all points of order against consideration of S. 610 included a waiver of the following: Section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act, which prohibits consideration of legislation providing new budget authority in excess of a 302(a) or 302(b) allocation of such authority. When the Committee on Rules filed its report (House Report 117-201) to accompany House Resolution 829, the Committee was unaware that the waiver of all points of order against consideration of H.R. 6119 included waivers of the following: Clause 10 of rule XXI, which prohibits consideration of a measure that has a net effect of increasing the deficit or reducing the surplus over the five- or 10-year period; and Section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act, which prohibits consideration of legislation providing new budget authority in excess of a 302(a) or 302(b) allocation of such authority. When the Committee on Rules filed its report (House Report 117-74) to accompany House Resolution 504, the Committee was unaware that the waiver of all points of order against consideration of H.R. 3684 included a waiver of the following: Section 425 of the Budget Act, which prohibits consideration of (1) any legislation referred by a committee until the committee publishes the CBO's statement on the direct costs of Federal mandates and (2) any legislation that would increase the direct costs of Federal intergovernmental mandates beyond $50,000,000 (adjusted for inflation) unless the legislation provides for new budget authority or the legislation appropriates sufficient funds to cover the new costs.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania for yielding and for her leadership on the Rules Committee. Mr. Speaker, there are lots of good things in this rule, such as the Protect Our Democracy Act, and everybody should vote for it. There are lots of amendments to that bill that are included in this rule. We move forward with the doc fix, and we put in this rule a procedure that will allow the Senate to consider the debt ceiling issue. I should clarify this, because during the Rules Committee meeting today, I think some of my Republican friends who testified started to believe the Republican talking points that somehow this was automatically increasing the debt ceiling. It isn't. It puts in place a process that was negotiated by Senator Schumer and Senator McConnell, a Democrat and a Republican, that would allow the Senate to deal with the issue. When they deal with it and pass it, we will then have to deal with it and pass it here in the House. So I want to be clear on that. The bill also includes the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which was negotiated between the House and Senate. It is a bill, in my opinion, that spends far too much on military matters, and I have some problems with that. But I will say this: Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Rogers did an incredible job of trying to piece together a bill that would get a majority in the House and a majority in the Senate. I want to speak about one provision in particular that is missing. The House version of the NDAA that passed with broad bipartisan support last September in the House had some good things in it, including section 6470, which included my provision that reauthorizes Global Magnitsky sanctions and makes them more effective by adding a provision from Executive Order No. 13818, which was actually issued by former President Trump. Briefly, the NDAA provision codifies the Global Magnitsky sanctions as they have been applied over the last 5 years. We need to reauthorize the Global Magnitsky sanctions because when they became law in 2016, a sunset was added. Since 2016, Global Magnitsky sanctions have had strong bipartisan support and have proven to be one of our most powerful foreign policy tools. They have been imposed on more than 300 human rights abusers and corrupt actors in nearly 40 countries around the world. Human rights groups, civil society organizations, and victims' organizations overwhelmingly support them. The number one request we hear from threatened human rights defenders is that the U.S. impose Global Magnitsky sanctions on government perpetrators, on the individuals, and on the institutions responsible for heinous human rights atrocities. In 2020, Global Magnitsky sanctions were imposed on Chinese officials for abusing Uighurs in China. Who opposes that? Well, apparently there are a handful of Republicans here in House that oppose it because they are the ones who are responsible for blocking the Global Magnitsky provisions from the final NDAA agreement. These are the same people who are happy to talk about human rights and how important human rights are, and then they issue press releases and call for sanctions when there is a human rights atrocity that they want to be involved in. But when it comes to making sure that the U.S. Government can maintain the tools it needs to advance human rights, they just said no.

Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, shame on those who derailed this in the negotiations between the House and Senate. It is not enough to issue press releases. We need to take action. Mr. Speaker, mark my words, we will reauthorize and we will strengthen Global Magnitsky in this Congress. We will do so hand-in- hand with allies on both sides of the aisle in the House and in the Senate, because at the end of the day, it is important that we just don't talk the talk, that we walk the walk. I can't believe that this important provision was derailed by a small group in this House.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, on December 3, 2020, one year ago, Jimmy Chee-ying Lai, founder of the now shuttered Hong Kong pro-democracy newspaper the Apple Daily, was denied bail for the first time. He has since been convicted and sentenced and will spend his 74th birthday on December 8 behind bars. Jimmy Lai's life epitomizes the rise and fall of Hong Kong's freedoms. Mr. Lai was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, in China in 1947. At the age of 12, he entered Hong Kong as a stowaway on a fishing boat. He found work at a garment factory and rose from an odd-job laborer to a manager. In 1975, he bought a bankrupt garment factory and built riches with an Asia-wide clothing chain, Giordano. In interview after interview, Jimmy recalled, ``I came here with one dollar, the freedom here has given me the opportunity to build myself up.'' The Tiananmen protests of 1989 in China motivated Jimmy to turn his attention from economic opportunities to civil and political freedom. ``You deliver information, then you deliver choice, and choice is freedom,'' he recounted. In 1990, he began publishing Next Magazine with a formula of tabloid-style sensationalism combined with investigative exposes of political and business elites. In 1995, just two years before Hong Kong's return to China, Jimmy founded the Apple Daily with the catchy slogan ``An apple a day keeps the liars away.'' Against charges that the newspaper was anti-Chinese Communist Party, he retorted that ``if we run this newspaper based on hatred of communism, we will fail.'' Instead, ``all we need is to love what we love most, which is freedom of speech and freedom of the press.'' This love of freedom is, however, anathema to the Chinese government's goals. When Hong Kongers protested against national security legislation on July 1, 2003, Jimmy's publications urged readers to take to the streets and called for the then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to resign. During the 2014 Umbrella Movement, the Apple Daily was again at the forefront of the call for ``genuine universal suffrage.'' Jimmy camped out at the occupy site in Admiralty near the Central Government Offices. When the police cleared the site on December 13, 2014, he was among those arrested. During the pro-democracy protests in 2019, the Apple Daily offered blanket coverage of the months-long protests and published hard-hitting reports on police abuses and alleged police-gangster collusion. Jimmy joined various mass demonstrations that numbered up to two million. In early 2020 Jimmy was repeatedly arrested among other veterans of the city's pro-democracy movement for organizing and participating in marches on August 18, August 31, and October 1, 2019. Such protests were rendered ``unauthorized'' simply because the police routinely refused to issue ``Notices of No Objection'' beginning in August. Jimmy was convicted and sentenced to a total of 20 months in prison. He faces more jail terms for attending an unauthorized candlelight vigil on June 4, 2020. On June 30, 2020, the National People's Congress Standing Committee enacted the National Security Law to criminalize vaguely defined ``subversion,'' ``secession,'' ``terrorism'' and ``collusion with foreign forces.'' The law removes the presumption of bail and imposes a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, thereby stifling free expression and other fundamental freedoms in contravention of Hong Kong's Basic Law. Authorities quickly came for their targets. On August 10, police arrested Jimmy, his two sons and three top Apple Daily executives for collusion with external elements and conspiracy to defraud (for violating the terms of a commercial lease). More than 200 police officers also raided the newspaper's headquarters and seized box-loads of documents. On December 3, a court denied Jimmy's bail application and remanded him to custody. He was briefly granted bail in de facto house arrest on December 23 but was remanded to custody on December 31 when the court ruled in favor of the Department of Justice's appeal. On February 16, 2021, Jimmy was arrested under the national security law and ``perverting the course of justice'' for aiding activist Andy Li in his failed attempt to flee to Taiwan. Locking up Jimmy Lai did not silence the Apple Daily. After the arrest and raid on August 10, 2020, the newspaper published on its front page a photo of Jimmy in handcuffs with the headline ``Apple Daily must fight on.'' In his last media interview with the BBC in December 2020, he remarked that ``If they can induce fear in you, that's the cheapest way to control you and the most effective way and they know it. The only way to defeat the way of intimidation is to face up to fear and don't let it frighten you.'' Journalists at the Apple Daily heroically kept up the fight in subsequent months. In the end, the authorities could strangle the newspaper only by freezing its company accounts in June 2021. Jimmy said that ``Hong Kong . . . made me what I am today'' and thus he chose to stay in Hong Kong despite the severe consequences. In truth, Jimmy also made Hong Kong what it was yesterday, by defending freedoms for as long as he could. Jimmy's fearlessness has been honored with the Gwen Ifill Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Journalists in 2021, the Freedom of Press Award by Reporters Without Borders and the Faith and Freedom Award by the Acton Institute in 2020. Madam Speaker, as cochair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China I will continue to advocate for the freedoms and human rights of the people of Hong Kong, including Jimmy Lai.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I have a motion at the desk.

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I rise in appreciation of the efforts of my constituents to educate their fellow Americans about the human consequences of more than a decade of horrendous armed conflict in Syria and to provide support to the Syrian people. The crisis in Syria has faded from the headlines here in the U.S. But my constituents understand that democracy and justice, at home and abroad, depend on the commitment and participation of engaged American citizens. They have not given up, and neither must we. Their efforts are well described in a column by Sara Weinberger of the Valley Syria Relief Committee, published on November 15 in the Daily Hampshirite Gazette, and which I would like to include in the Record. Human Rights in Syria Hits Home (By Sara Weinberger) ``It was 11:15 a.m. on Sept. 30th. I was one of six heads on the Zoom screen. Michael Kane, Micky McKinley, Debbie Shriver and I stared in silence. The four of us comprised The Valley Syrian Relief Committee. ``Sharing the screen were two of Congressman Jim McGovern's staff. We had requested the meeting to give the congressman an update on the war in Syria, now in its 11th year, and to ask that he raise his voice in Congress to save Syrian lives. ``What we didn't know was that McGovern had spent the morning trying to pass a stopgap bill on the last day of the fiscal year to prevent a government shutdown. Not a great day for our meeting, I thought, imagining a preoccupied McGovern politely listening to our presentation, while his mind was elsewhere. Apologizing for his late arrival, he left his morning crisis at the door, and for the next hour listened intently, asked questions, and showed us that the purpose of our visit genuinely mattered. ``In 2011, Syrians, inspired by our democratic form of government, demonstrated in defiance of the authoritarian regime of Syria's brutal dictator, Bashar Al Assad. They have been paying for it ever since with their lives and their livelihoods, with a whole generation of traumatized children who have lost loved ones, ran for refuge from barrel bombs, and tried to hold unto hope in a place that many have deemed a hell on earth. Yet, with our own country's democracy in peril, garnering interest in longstanding wars on the other side of the world can be a challenge. ``This was not the case in our own community, where several hundred of McGovern's constituents have faithfully demonstrated their commitment and concern for the welfare of Syrians since 2014. In September 2015, they filled the sanctuary of First Churches for our first big event, ``Songs for Syria'' to raise funds for the Syrian American Medical Society. We reminded McGovern of the hundreds who accepted our invitations to educate members of his district's interfaith organizations, who broke bread with us, shared soup, and bought copies of ``The Soup for Syria'' cookbook, produced by local publisher Michel Moushabeck. ``Folks from Franklin and Hampshire counties shipped a container filled with everything from diapers, to winter clothing, to shoes and boots to enable refugees and displaced people living in tents to survive the long Syrian winter. Actions led to more actions: groups gathered to write personal letters of hope to assure Syrian children and their families that they are not alone. ``Rebecca Leopold's students at Amherst Regional High School formed the Refugees in Distress Club, developing a curriculum to educate younger students about the situation in Syria. With the help of our partners at the Washington, D.C.- based Syrian Emergency Task Force, Mazen Al-Hamuda, spent a day at ARHS openly shared his traumatic story of the physical and emotional scars of brutal torture he endured in a Syrian prison. ``The above stories only scratch the surface of the many actions the residents of Congressional District 2 engaged in on behalf of the Syrian people. Their efforts allowed the Valley Syrian Relief Committee to raise more than $200,000 for humanitarian assistance and bring internationally known experts to inform and engage people in efforts to make sure the people of Syria are not forgotten. ``Pivoting to Zoom in 2020, our supporters generously donated funds to purchase two school buses to serve as an evacuation vehicle when the bombs start falling, an ambulance to get medical help for injured children, and of course, to transport the young children to their beloved Wisdom House School. ``There was heartbreak too. The news of Mazen Al Hamouda's disappearance in Syria broke all of our hearts, especially those of the students who fell in love with the lanky man with dark shadows under his eyes. Mazen's legacy will live on with some of these students, who went on to college to major in human rights and international relations. They will be the future peacebuilders, replacing dictatorships with civil societies in Syria and beyond. ``McGovern has been an ally for the Syrian people. He has organized programs for his congressional colleagues and others through the Lantos Human Rights Commission, to showcase Syrian heroes such as Caesar, who smuggled thousands of photographs of brutalized bodies of imprisoned Syrians, to expose to the world the war crimes of the Assad regime. We were moved by the genuine feelings expressed at the end of our meeting, when McGovern reminding his colleagues in Congress that they must recommit to bringing about an end to the carnage. ``Our own country is on a precipice, with democracy hanging by a thread. Recently, I have become aware that what has happened in Syria could one day envelop our own country. Fascism is rearing its ugly head on every continent. Aligning ourselves to support those who are suffering can grow an international movement for human rights. It begins in communities like those in western Massachusetts, with those who actively uphold the humanity of our brothers and sisters, no matter where they live.''

Mr. McGOVERN

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, today, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 803. The rule self-executes an additional manager's amendment to H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act. Madam Speaker, I don't think I will surprise anyone here when I say that reconciliation can be a challenging process. The legislation we pass here must be vetted to comply with the Senate's procedural rules so that it can be considered there as quickly as possible. This is why we are here tonight, to ensure the historic Build Back Better bill can be taken up across the Capitol without delay. There was some concern that this process might negatively impact the policies and programs contained in the legislation. But I am proud to report tonight, Madam Speaker, that this rule makes only very technical changes. As the summary states, it makes ``technical changes to narrow U.S. Code citations and references to comply with Senate procedural requirements.'' Now, let me put that in plain English, Madam Speaker. The Build Back Better Act remains virtually unchanged. That means U.S. workers will see the establishment of the first-ever national paid family and medical leave guarantee. People will see the largest expansion of healthcare coverage since the Affordable Care Act was passed nearly a decade ago. Nine million Americans will see their premiums reduced through the expansion of the premium tax credit. Four million people who are uninsured today will have access to quality care through the closing of Medicaid's coverage gap. Those who take prescription drugs will see lower costs since Medicare is finally--finally--allowed to start negotiating drug prices. The more than 25 million people who rely on insulin in this country will see the cost of insulin capped at just $35. Families will save an average of $8,600 per child every year through the establishment of universal and free preschool for 3- and 4-year- olds. Five million students will see their Pell grants get a boost, and Dreamers will be eligible to receive them. Roughly 40 million American families will see a tax cut through the extension of the child tax credit. This was first enacted in the American Rescue Plan and will help cut child poverty nearly in half. And, yes, Madam Speaker, future generations will have a more livable planet through historic investments that we are making here to combat the climate crisis. Now, I know this has been a long process at times. The Rules Committee has spent more than a dozen hours over multiple meetings considering this bill, and that is in addition to the work of all the other committees. But now, Madam Speaker, the numbers have been crunched; the technical language has been vetted; and we are on the doorstep of passing this historic bill. The Build Back Better Act is a transformational bill at a historic moment, and it is up to all of us to seize this opportunity. I urge all of my colleagues to support this rule and advance this transformational legislation so that we can deliver for the American people. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a November 17 Reuters article titled ``Rating agencies say Biden's spending plans will not add to inflationary pressure.'' [From Reuters, Nov. 16, 2021] Rating Agencies Say Biden's Spending Plans Will Not Add to Inflationary Pressure (By Kanishka Singh) U.S. President Joe Biden's infrastructure and social spending legislation will not add to inflationary pressures in the U.S. economy, economists and analysts in leading rating agencies told Reuters on Tuesday. Biden has spent the past few months promoting the merits of both pieces of legislation--the $1.75 trillion ``Build Back Better'' plan and a separate $1 trillion infrastructure plan. read more The two pieces of legislation ``should not have any real material impact on inflation'', William Foster, vice president and senior credit officer (Sovereign Risk) at Moody's Investors Service, told Reuters. The impact of the spending packages on the fiscal deficit will be rather small because they will be spread over a relatively long time horizon, Foster added. Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat, has previously raised inflationary concerns in relation to Biden's social spending plan, with a report earlier this month suggesting he may delay the passage of the Build Back Better legislation. read more ``The bills do not add to inflation pressures, as the policies help to lift long-term economic growth via stronger productivity and labor force growth, and thus take the edge off of inflation,'' said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, which operates independently from the parent company's ratings business. Zandi said the costs of both the infrastructure and social spending legislation were sustainable. ``The bills are largely paid for through higher taxes on multinational corporations and well-to-do households, and more than paid for if the benefit of the added growth and the resulting impact on the government's fiscal situation are considered'', he said in an interview. Charles Seville, senior director and Americas sovereigns co-head at Fitch Ratings, said the two pieces of legislation ``will neither boost nor quell inflation much in the short- run.'' Government spending will still add less to demand in 2022 than in 2021 and over the longer-run, the social spending legislation could increase labor supply through provisions such as childcare, and productivity, Seville told Reuters. The House of Representatives passed the $1 trillion infrastructure package earlier this month after the Senate approved it in August. Biden signed the bill into law on Monday. The Build Back Better package includes provisions on childcare and preschool, eldercare, healthcare, prescription drug pricing and immigration. ``The deficit will still narrow in FY 2022 as pandemic relief spending drops out and the economic recovery boosts tax revenues'', Seville said. ``But the legislation (Build Back Better) does not sustainably fund all the initiatives, particularly if these are extended and don't sunset, meaning that they will be funded by greater borrowing.'' The Congressional Budget Office anticipates publishing a complete cost estimate for the Build Back Better plan by Friday, Nov. 19. Biden said on Tuesday he expected the Build Back Better legislation to be passed within a week's time.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, just yesterday, economists and analysts made clear that the Build Back Better bill would not add to inflationary pressures. Let me remind those on the other side that there are provisions in this legislation to bolster our supply chains. If we want to talk about values, our values are that we want to lower the cost of prescription drugs for our senior citizens. Our values are that we think it is outrageous that drug companies charge so much for insulin, a drug that has been around forever, yet families are being gouged by these drug companies. There is a provision in this bill that caps insulin costs at just $35 a month. Those are our values. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave

Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 803 and ask for its immediate consideration.