1 State of Arkansas
2 94th General Assembly
3 Regular Session, 2023 SR 34
4
5 By: Senator L. Chesterfield
6
7 SENATE RESOLUTION
8 TO ENCOURAGE THE STATE OF ARKANSAS TO REFRAIN FROM
9 CONTRACTING WITH COMPANIES OR ENTITIES THAT BENEFIT
10 FROM UYGHUR FORCED LABOR.
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13 Subtitle
14 TO ENCOURAGE THE STATE OF ARKANSAS TO
15 REFRAIN FROM CONTRACTING WITH COMPANIES
16 OR ENTITIES THAT BENEFIT FROM UYGHUR
17 FORCED LABOR.
18
19 WHEREAS, there is currently a genocide occurring in Xinjiang, China
20 that is documented through investigations, including credible investigative
21 journalism outlets, Congressional Findings, formal reports issued by the
22 United States Department of State, the United States Department of Homeland
23 Security, and other agencies; and
24
25 WHEREAS, outside the internment camps and prisons, the Xinjiang
26 government is implementing an apartheid-like system of persecution of
27 ordinary people, including forced sterilization, forced birth control, forced
28 abortion, forced marriage, forced labor, and other atrocity crimes; and
29
30 WHEREAS, these camps target citizens on the basis of their religious
31 and ethnic identity, especially Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyz, and other
32 Turkic majority-Muslim peoples; and
33
34 WHEREAS, within the camps, detainees are required to memorize Communist
35 propaganda, repeat the anthems of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and are
36 forbidden from expressing any form of their religion including, but not
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1 limited to: praying, abstaining from forbidden foods, owning religious books,
2 having a beard, or wearing the hijab; and
3
4 WHEREAS, Uyghurs under China’s 24-7 surveillance systems are unable to
5 speak publicly without risking immediate detention and international
6 observers must provide a voice for the voiceless by ensuring by law that
7 international business operations do not lend support and assistance to the
8 atrocity crimes detailed above; and
9
10 WHEREAS, the United States Department of State, United States
11 Department of the Treasury, United States Department of Commerce, United
12 States Department of Labor, and United States Department of Homeland Security
13 have condemned the Chinese government’s repression of Uyghurs, and have
14 twice, in July 2020 and July 2021, warned American businesses that there is a
15 “high risk” of complicity, and of violating United States laws, unless they
16 conduct a detailed analysis of their global supply chains; and
17
18 WHEREAS, in February of 2022, the United States led a diplomatic
19 boycott of the Winter Olympics held in Beijing, China, because of the human
20 rights abuses of the country; and
21
22 WHEREAS, former Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy,
23 and the Environment, Keith Krach issued a letter confirming that the People's
24 Republic of China is committing some of the most serious acts involving mass
25 human rights abuses since World War II and stated that “corporate
26 responsibility is social responsibility” and that companies should feel
27 obligated to dissociate themselves from the atrocities occurring in China;
28 and
29
30 WHEREAS, in June of 2021, the Uyghur genocide was condemned by the
31 Southern Baptist National Convention; and
32
33 WHEREAS, many industries have been documented as linked to forced labor
34 in the region, many of which have been identified under the Uyghur Forced
35 Labor Prevention Act as high-risk products, including cotton, tomatoes,
36 construction materials, automotive inputs, and polysilicon; and
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2 WHEREAS, this is a cause that many Arkansans support throughout the
3 state, as seen through the widespread support of the youth-led End the Uyghur
4 Genocide project,
5
6 NOW THEREFORE,
7 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
8 STATE OF ARKANSAS:
9
10 THAT the Senate encourage the State of Arkansas to refrain from
11 contracting with companies or entities that benefit from Uyghur forced labor.
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