[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7125 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7125
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``No Funds for Forced Labor Act''.
SEC. 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.
SEC. 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.
SEC. 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:
``SEC. 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.
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