 Good morning and welcome. On behalf of the United States Institute of Peace, we are pleased to welcome you to a very special congressional dialogue focusing on the human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Chinese minorities in Xinjiang region in China. My name is Elise Grande and I am the President of the United States Institute of Peace, which was established by Congress in 1984 as a nonpartisan public institute dedicated to helping to prevent mitigate and resolve violent conflict abroad. We are honored to have with us this morning Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton and Congresswoman Yang Kim to discuss the terrible situation facing Uyghurs in China and what the U.S. can do about it. Conditions in Xinjiang province are appalling. Human rights researchers and activists have documented evidence of internment camps, forced labor, mass surveillance and restrictions on cultural and religious practice. Uyghur survivors have recounted horrific experiences of torture, forced sterilization and rape. The U.S. is not turning its back on this situation. Already we have imposed sanctions, visa bans, trade restrictions and a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. In 2021, the U.S. declared that China was perpetrating genocide against Uyghurs and Muslim peoples. There are more things that we can do to hold China accountable and we look forward to talking about these this morning. Before starting our dialogue, we're pleased to introduce Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, a member of the Congressional Executive Commission on China, and to introduce Congresswoman Yang Kim, the vice-ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia and non-proliferation. Both Congress run the leaders in Congress in the fight to help protect the human rights of Uyghurs. Congresswoman Wexton co-introduced the Uyghur Forest Labor Prevention Act, which became law in December 2021 and just went into effect last month. Congresswoman Kim co-introduced the Uyghur Policy Act last July. Congresswoman Wexton represents Virginia's 10th district and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018. She is a member of the Congressional Executive Commission on China and the House of Preparations State Foreign Operations Subcommittee. Congresswoman Kim, who represents California's 39th district, was elected in 2020. In addition to her role on the Asia-Pacific Subcommittee, she is a distinguished member of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission and the Republican China Accountability Task Force. Congresswoman Wexton, Congresswoman Kim, thank you for being with us today. We invite the audience to join our conversation on Twitter using the hashtag bipartisan USIP. We are honored to invite Congresswoman Wexton to offer remarks followed by Congresswoman Kim. Congresswoman Wexton. Thank you so much, Lees. It's great to be here with you today, and I want to thank the audience for joining us as well. I'm so happy to also be here with my good friend, Young Kim, who's also a leader on this issue. I'm so pleased that we're here to talk about this very important and pressing issue. It's a great opportunity for me to talk about why I've chosen to become so deeply involved in the human rights crisis that's going on in Xinjiang, and why it's something that every American should care about. You've likely heard the stories of horrific abuses being committed, which the US has deemed genocide. This is not an issue that we can turn our backs on because products made from forced labor of Uyghurs have been sold on American store shelves. They'll produce our phones, our clothes, and so much more. During this dialogue, my colleague Representative Kim and I will talk about some of the ways we're fighting in Congress to tackle this crisis. We also want this to be an opportunity to raise awareness of the urgency to stop this genocide. Because the reality is, while I imagine many of you do care deeply about it, that this is you're here to me at 9 a.m. on a Friday, you know, this is something where too many Americans aren't aware of the scope and horror of this crisis. In fact, it took a visit for me to one of my local mosques in 2018 before I was even sworn into Congress. I heard firsthand stories from Virginians who had had family members disappeared by the Chinese government, couldn't reeducation camps, and never heard from again. The stories that they told were gut-wrenching, and I knew I wanted to do something about it. And because I've, because I've been Congress have been the leader on this issue, you know, I still hear from people almost every day, you know, who have been affected by the genocide in Shenzhen. Just yesterday, I met with a woman named Nureiman Ghujurashid who told me how her mom, dad, and two brothers had been thrown in prison. So she gave me, she showed me, she brought me a picture of her family, which I want to share with you. She's now a journalist, and every single person in this, in this photo has gone missing. Her father was thrown in jail, her brothers were thrown in jail, her mother was thrown in jail, and her nieces and nephews are nowhere to be found. She thinks that they must be in an orphan school, right? So she's desperate for some sort of proof of life. She hasn't heard from them for five years. She was living in Turkey at the time as a professor, and working as a professor. And when she called her family, she was ultimately told, you know, please don't call us anymore, and then she couldn't track them down. So she's looking for proof of life or anything. I'm going to try to uplift her story as best I can. And not only should Americans deserve to know if, you know, what's where their products are coming from. It's a competitive disadvantage for U.S. businesses as well, when forced labor is woven into supply chains, as it has been in Xinjiang. It is humane and unfair, and we need to stop it. I also sought out, and I'm proud to have secured a position on the Congressional Executive Commission on China. It's a bipartisan group dedicated to human rights in China. We've done much work on the Uyghur genocide, as well as anti-democracy crackdown in Hong Kong, the abuse of Tibetans, and so much more. We've done an important bipartisan work in Congress to crack down on forced labor and stand up for human rights, but more needs to be done. Thank you so much again for having me, and I look forward to the discussion. Thank you so much, Waxen. Thank you very much. May we turn the floor to Congresswoman Kim. Great. Thank you, Liz. I want to thank you for inviting me and to have this bipartisan dialogue, to speak on the topic I'm very passionate about. And I'm pleased that we're having this discussion in the form of a bipartisan dialogue with my good friend, Representative Jennifer Waxen, because securing basic human rights for Uyghurs should not be a partisan issue. We know the Chinese Communist Party has imprisoned, to date, 1.8 million Uyghurs living in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. This is CCP's attempt to eradicate a culture and a religion that it disagrees with. And imprisoned Uyghurs are treated in human rights, and they are subject to torture, forced labor, brainwashing, and forced sterilization, as you just mentioned, Liz. While Congress has made significant strides to recognize this genocide, some nations and private interests around the world have remained largely silent as the PRC continues to ramp up its genocidal campaign. In fact, many U.S. companies have continued to ignore basic corporate responsibility and morality in favor of profits and have not done nearly enough to respond to concerns over the PRC's human rights violations. That's why Congress passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and I want to thank my friend Jennifer for her leadership on that. That requires customs and border protection to vet products coming to the United States for any connections to forced labor in Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region. This is significant progress on the issue, but as Jennifer said, more needs to be done. So I look forward to our productive and bipartisan conversation about what the next steps are for promoting human rights in Xinjiang. Thank you. Congresswoman Kin, thank you very much. The first question that we would like to explore together is about the approach that the U.S. has taken to dealing with China on human rights issues. The approach varies. Sometimes the U.S. emphasizes engagement, and other times we emphasize punitive actions, and sometimes we try and do both. Last year, President Biden pledged to confront China on issues of human rights while at the same time saying that he wanted to work with Beijing when it's in America's interest to do so. So within that context, how do you both see the efforts to hold China accountable for what it's doing in Xinjiang, for the actions it's taking against the Uyghur population? How do those steps fit into the broader U.S. strategy for dealing with China? And you know, a very sensitive question, do the steps involve trade-offs with other U.S. interests? May we invite Congresswoman Webster? So this is something where it is kind of a particular U.S. issue with foreign policy that different administrations approach it differently. So I feel like we in Congress need to take on our role as members of Congress and make laws. And that's what I'm really, really pleased we were able to do with the Uyghur Force Labor Prevention Act. It's going to be huge. It's going to be something that's going to make a big difference across administrations. And so I think that that's one of the things that we can do and I'm very pleased that we were able to do because, you know, that's something that's going to continue no matter who's president in 2025, 2020, you know, 2029 or in the future. So it's something that I think is important, especially because in Congress, you know, too often we need to cede all of our authority to the executive. And so I think it's very important that we take that back. But it is a problem, you know, that we may not have a consistency in our approach. And so I think it's important that we in Congress maintain that consistent approach and that we also that we also continue to hold the administration accountable when they're not when they're not doing what they should do. And so, you know, as you mentioned in your remarks, I serve on the state and foreign operations, subcommittee of appropriations and, and, you know, Secretary Blinken, he appears before us pretty regularly. And he knows that I'm going to I'm going to call him out on anything involving Uyghurs. So, you know, I think that that's important and also not just that, but all the human rights issues. We also have the Congressional Executive Commission on China and China that's working on that as well. So we keep, we keep our focus on human rights and make sure that that is always something that the administration is paying attention to no matter what their, what their stated priorities are. Thank you. Congresswoman Kim. No, I agree with what Jennifer just said. If we want to be a global leader in human rights, making sure that we hold true to that and hold other countries to the same standard must be at the forefront of our strategy. And we need to be consistent. I think that's a common thing here between Jennifer and I. We, I think our policies have to be very consistent. And that includes protecting Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. We cannot turn a blind eye to the fight of Uyghurs, nor to corporations here in the United States that are profiting from those gross human rights abuses. Regrettably, instead of speaking out and withdrawing financial support for a regime that is torturing and exploiting its own people based on their ethnicity, religious beliefs, many companies have leaned further into China's market. Their financial investment and technology, including intellectual property that will likely be stolen, will allow the Chinese government to further legitimize its regime and strengthen its grip on its people. So again, we need to be consistent and really call them out for what they're doing. May I ask your views on the difference between the effectiveness of engagement and the effectiveness of punitive actions? In your experience, do you think one or the other is more effective, has greater impact, or is it a combination of the two? I know that many of us who work in the human rights field debate this. We're not sure whether or not we get further by engaging and encouraging and persuading regimes to do the right thing, or whether or not you have to just pick up a stick and use it to great effect. Congresswoman Wexton, your views on that. So I think that we need to do both. And I think that this is one of the issues with China that's been so frustrating. So back when we had the 2008 Olympics in China, everybody said, well, this is going to open up China. It's going to change them. It's going to make them more Western. It's going to make them more interested in human rights and things like that. Well, the opposite happened. So they doubled down on these camps. They absolutely started committing genocide in Xinjiang and cracked down on Hong Kong and you name it. So I think that you can't depend on one alone, but you also need to make sure that you have accountability as well. And that's where the punitive actions come in as well. And I may very well view the forced labor prevention act as a punitive act, but you know, it's not, it's not. It's just, just, you know, making sure that we're not, we're not party to their genocide and we're not encouraging it in any way. Sure. Right amount of kerosene sticks type of policies, I think it's effective. And that's something that we try to do with other, you know, rogue regime like North Korea, too. We always talk about, you know, how much of a stick do we use and how much of a kerosene do it provide. So, but again, you know, when they're committing genocide such as this, we need to really hold them accountable, bring enough of a punitive measure, but at the same time, we want to continue that dialogue in order to make this more effective. So again, right amount of doses of both kerosene sticks approach, I think it's going to be effective. Both of you have, in very many ways, showed exceptional leadership on this issue. You know, Congresswoman Wexton, you serve on the Congressional Executive Commission on China, and Representative Kim, you serve as vice-ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and nonproliferation. We'd be very interested in how you have worked in those roles to advance this issue in a bipartisan way. Both of you have spoken this morning about how important it is to have consistency in U.S. policy, and not only consistency, but to have a unified and joint approach to it. And you've used your roles in Congress to do that, and we'd be very interested in your reflections on how you've done that, if we could start with Representative Kim. All right. So I actually introduced that Weaver Policy Act with Asia's subcommittee chairman Amir Barat last year, the HR 4785. And as we introduced it in order to garner enough support, I also serve as a member on the problem solvers caucus. This is where we have equal number of Republicans and Democrats serving together. Each of the members have an opportunity to bring the bills that we introduced to get our problem solvers caucus to agree. And then when 75 percent of us support it, then we get an endorsement from the caucus, and we bring it. It's easier for us to then take it to our respective communities of jurisdiction. So with that, I was able to garner support from the early on. It's something like this is really important to get that bipartisanship. So this bill had over 70 co-sponsors, including Congresswoman Webster. And this will create a comprehensive multilateral strategy with concrete steps to raise international awareness of the persecution of Weaver's and empower that state department to effectively respond to human rights challenges in Xinjiang and push back on the people's republic of China's efforts to silence Weaver's voices. So with our bipartisan efforts and getting as many members possible from all different caucuses, it passed out at the point of yours, committee in September. So I'm really hoping it will come to the floor in both soon. Congresswoman Webster. So I serve on the Congressional Executive Commission on China, and we are a completely bipartisan entity. We have an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. It is a bipartisan bicameral entity. And the one disappointment I have is that we do not yet have an executive member. It's something that the previous administration did not appoint anybody, and this administration has not yet appointed anybody. And I have called upon Secretary Blinken to please make sure that he can get somebody on there because I think that that would really help with that dialogue and that consistency. We don't just focus on Uyghurs. I mean, that's a big area of our focus because of the genocide that's going on there. But it's not just Xinjiang, it's also Hong Kong, Tibet, and also the Olympics. We brought a lot of attention to the Olympics that were going to be happening. Feng Shui, whom I'm missing from the U.S. Tennis Association, Women's Tennis Association. And so drawing attention to these things and also calling out the sponsors of the Olympics about what they're going to do, sitting down with NBC Universal and asking them, are you going to have counter-programming about rather than just have to be an arm of propaganda for the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party? And so I think things like that are really important. It's something that I'm going to certainly continue to do while I'm at Congress. I think it's very striking that if the United States is unified on the key elements of our national security and foreign policies, everyone notices. And likewise, if we're not unified on them, everyone notices that as well. The likelihood of our policies having impact and other countries joining us in them increases from reunified and arguably when we're not, and countries notice that, it's harder for us to accomplish the goals that mean the most to us. And both of you have highlighted that in important ways. I'd like to pick up on a theme that came up in some of your introductory comments about the importance of having all parts of the U.S. polity support these kinds of policies, including the private sector. And we know that Congress has taken very significant bipartisan action to crack down on the abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in China. For example, by passing the Forest Labor Prevention Act that went into effect in June that you've both spoken about. But if you could help us to understand what this legislation aims to do and what it means for American consumers and companies and the responsibilities, in particular that American companies have to uphold this, if we could start first with Representative Kim. Okay. That legislation is a landmark legislation. And it requires customs and border protections to determine by clearing convincing evidence that goods from manufacturing facilities in the Shenzhen Uyghur Autonomous Region were not produced wholly or in part by Forest Labor and required the Forest Labor Enforcement Task Force to develop an enforcement strategy to effectively address Forest Labor. As discussed many times, a lot of U.S. companies have ignored those basic corporate responsibility to favor the profit margins. And they have not done enough to respond to reports of Forest Labor and their supply chains. And some companies have gone even farther to sponsor the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. That legislation requires companies that have refused to call out this genocide and ignore basic corporate responsibility to clean up your supply chains. So we've heard that the difficulty of that legislation will be companies having to re-examine all of their supply chains. But let me tell you, it's worth pointing out that companies have long been aware of that human rights abuse is happening in the Shenzhen area. And so it is time for them to move their supply chains out of Shenzhen Uyghur Autonomous Region, regardless of how difficult they claim it to be. So live up to your corporate responsibility. Garse Rowan-Wekson. Yeah, I would just add that, you know, that the Leader for Forest Labor Prevention Act is absolutely a huge, huge piece of legislation. It is a big, big bipartisan win. I was proud to be an original co-sponsor of it in the 116th Congress. We couldn't make it happen then, but I was super, super pleased that we were able to pass it in the 117th. And this rebuttable presumption that it creates is something that is a big deal. So it's, you know, it creates a rebuttable presumption that any good source in or produced in Xinjiang and Hohler, in part, are going to be, are going to be pertaining with forced labor. And then the burden is on the importer and the companies to show by clear and convincing evidence that it's not, which is just very, very difficult standard. And we heard, believe me, we heard from them. We heard from the lobbyists. We heard from all those folks. But this passed the House of Representatives 428 to one, and then went to the Senate and also passed by very, very wide marches there as well. So it's really, really a huge deal. But, you know, because these goods made with forced labor should not be on American store shelves. And I'm with Representative Kim on this. I absolutely agree that, you know, these companies, they've known about this for years, right? So we shouldn't feel sorry for them that they have to reexamine their supply chains because they've known for years that this is happening. So it's time for them to do it. And, you know, we need to just make sure that we hold them accountable. And I'm very, very pleased that CBP got right on it and got that prohibited prohibited entities listed up and running. And hopefully, hopefully we'll see some results. And, you know, what it shows is that the commitment to human rights as a pillar of American foreign policy is something we all owe. It's not just in the hands of activists and elected officials. It's in the hands of everybody, including companies. You know, it's a part of what it means to be American. It's very symbolic and hugely important. May we ask, are there companies that you've seen that have changed their behavior in ways that met your expectations and, you know, fulfilled what you hope this labor act would do? Have either of you seen this that you can share? I've got to tell you, I haven't yet. I haven't yet. But any companies who are out there who want to tell us about what they've done? We're going to hear about it. I haven't heard anything yet. But, you know, I mean, as you know, Innis County Freedom has been really actively engaged on this issue, calling out those, you know, corporations. So I hope they are taking note of those. This issue is not going to be silenced. And the more people like, you know, Innis speaking out, I think they're going to put the, I mean, you know, notice the pressure. And again, I hope they've come to me, come to Jennifer, come to Lee's, come to as many on the hill to tell us what they're doing. And we want to see that some of their behavior have been changed because of this pressure that we were putting on them. In addition to this extraordinary piece of legislation, the Forest Labor Prevention Act, are there things you think we should be doing right now to sharpen our focus on holding China accountable? I mean, the progress is significant. Holy impressive. What more should we be doing? May we start with Congress going west of? Well, I have legislation that would further clarify what the supply chains are and also ensure that consumers are aware of their products, if their products that they're buying may be sourced with Forest Labor. That's the Weir Forest Labor Disclosure Act, which would require publicly traded companies to examine their supply chains. And if they cannot conclusively state that any part of it was not sourced with something from Xinjiang, which is something that we see where there's this kind of laundering of the supply chain, right? If they can't say conclusively that they know every step of the way that there's no forced labor in there, then they have to disclose it on their SEC forms and things like that. And then it would show up in the perspectives for these companies that show up in their annual statements. I think that's important for consumers to have that information and be able to know what they're buying goods that are made with forced labor because I submit that I don't think Americans want that. So that's a very important thing that we can do. And also I think kind of working on some other issues that we see where Forest Labor can still find its way into the supply chains through things like the mutual pairing assistance program where people are kind of taken from Xinjiang and shipped out all around the country to other places where they're forced to work in other factories and then also things like this laundering of the supply chain where they'll have cotton that was picked in Xinjiang and harvested there. But then it will go to, for example, Indonesia and be spun into cloth where it will then go to, say, Vietnam or maybe Bangladesh and be sown into garments. And so by that point, the cotton itself has been lost in the process. So that's something that we need to work on cracking down more in the future. But I think that we get forced labor, forced labor prevention act is a very, very good first step. Sure. I agree. I mean, we cannot stop with the Weaver Force Labor Prevention Act. So thank you, Jennifer, for continuing to work on this issue by your legislation, Weaver Force Disclosure Act, thoroughly addressing that Weaver Genocide requires a comprehensive foreign policy approach. And it requires more dedicated attention from the Department of State as well. So like I mentioned, and I introduced that Weaver Policy Act, and it will do a couple of things. One, we are asking them to create a position at the State Department who can devote himself or herself specifically to human rights issues in the Xinjiang Weaver Autonomous Region and then provide Uyghur language training at the State Department to ensure that someone who's fluent in Uyghur is stationed at a U.S. diplomatic or counseling missions in China. And we also need to ensure that technologies that are developed here in the United States are not falling into the hands of the CCP or being used to conduct surveillance and track Uyghurs. So we need to be vigilant on these. So I think the steps that so far that's been taken, passing the Weaver Force Labor Prevention Act, Weaver Force Labor Disclosure Act that Jennifer is working on, Weaver Policy Act, all of these are geared towards making sure that we really do more and then make sure that this issue is on the front burner of this administration's foreign policy priority as well, because human rights cannot be overlooked and it's something that we need to continue to pound on and keep the pressure on. One of the hallmarks of this genocide is the way that China is actively seeking to intimidate, coerce, and ultimately force the return of Uyghurs who are living in the diaspora through tactics of transnational repression. This is really hard to address and we'd be very interested in your views on what, if anything, the U.S. can do to try and mitigate those tactics, address those tactics, stop those tactics. Maybe start with Representative Kim. You know, the United States needs to put pressure on countries where this is happening to stop repatriating Uyghurs. And as noted, the CCP uses its embassies and consulates around the world to invalidate passports and strong armed countries into decoding vulnerable minorities back to China where they disappear in the camps. This is why it's so important that there is multilateral and culturally and linguistically competent engagement from our U.S. embassies and consulates in those countries where this is happening. It is, again, very heart-wrenching to hear the stories and when the families who are in the United States come to us and talk about their families who are in detention, who are disappeared, they don't know whereabouts of what's happening to them. It's really heart-breaking. Congresswoman Weston. Yes, and this is something that I also hear from my constituents about as well. For example, they haven't heard from Grandma in Xinjiang in many, many months, but they'll get a call all of a sudden or they'll get a WeChat notification that somebody wants to talk to them and then they'll call the number and they'll hear from somebody saying, do you want to talk to your mom or grandma? And they'll say, yeah, we want to. So they'll set up a Zoom call or something like that or a WeChat video call. And then they go and they say hi to her and there's somebody from the PRC. There's some Han Chinese guys sitting on the sofa next to her and she's like, no, no, everything's fine. Everything's fine. Well, that is entirely to intimidate the family in the U.S. and stop them from speaking out about the horrors that are happening in their own country. So it's pretty bad what's happening. And also this forced repatriation is something that's very frightening and something that, you know, I have called, I have spoken with the Secretary Blinken, but he has come and testified before us. I spoke with him and asked him to please make that a focus. You know, Turkey and other countries have been pressured into forced repatriation of the years that have fled there. And this is, in fact, the woman that I met with Ms. Abderashid, she had been living in Turkey. And then she became very frightened because, you know, her family had all been disappeared and she was worried that she might be the next one to join them. And so she gave up her professorship there and came to the U.S. and is now seeking asylum here because it's one of the few countries where she knows that she will be safe. So that's something that we need to definitely put pressure on these countries that are feeling the pressure from China. You know, both of you have spoken about how important it is that this be an international effort, that the U.S. provides leadership, but we need lots of countries that we're going to get China to change its actions to join us in these efforts. How do you see the work that we're trying to do? How can it be amplified and deepened through multilateral forms and partnerships? Representative Kim, what's your view on that? Now, engaging with Islamic majority countries and communities internationally to disseminate information about Uyghur genocide is critical in garnering an international response to that genocide. I also think that we need to continue raising Uyghur issues at the United Nations, where the effort has been largely blocked by the CCP, who's been actively engaging in information warfare to try and suppress information about genocide. So we need to relentlessly talk about the issue in international forums and combat misinformation about what's going on in Uyghur. And lastly, like I mentioned earlier, I would also want to see more active engagement and partnership with high-profile celebrities, like Ines Cantor Freedom, to be a spokesperson to ensure that this issue stays as the front-runner priority of not only the United States, but on the world stage. Congressman Woodson? That's an excellent point, Representative Kim. I think that we need more influencers who are overtaking this seriously, who are agreeing to the attention of many people across the world. So this is something where I feel like we definitely need the power of many, many countries behind us. And this is something where I think that one of the things that we have come to learn after Russia invaded Ukraine is that being unduly dependent on one country will be able to do so at our peril. And so having this United Front is much more powerful, and something where I think a lot of countries are way too dependent on China and US being one of them. So one of the things that we're doing here in Congress is we're trying to make sure that we get our China competitiveness bill across the finish line USA competes, or UCCO, whatever iteration it is. It's in committee right now, it's in conference committee, and I think that we'll hopefully get that passed in not too distant future, because I think everybody wants that to happen. Just a question of getting it to the same format and everything. But this is something where we need to continue to engage with our international partner and make sure that they take this as seriously as we do, and that they continue to keep to focus on it as well. I think we all recognize that it's not easy necessarily to do that through multilateral forms, where China has a very decisive role, a very strong role. If China is in a position in these multilateral forms to shape the agenda, to try and control the agenda, it makes it very hard for all of us to get the right point of view across and to mobilize. And I think that this is one of the reasons why we're all considering what should be the U.S.'s position with the big multilateral agencies like the U.N.'s Human Rights Commission and other bodies. Do you have a sense that this is an area we should deepen our engagement, or should we remain distant from it? Congresswoman Woodston. I think that the only way we're going to change this is by remaining engaged, and so I definitely think that. I mean, I think there are a lot of changes that need to be made, and I think that they have really kind of fallen down the job, especially the Human Rights Commission, but I do think that the only way we're going to change it is from the inside and for the outside. We're not going to have any opportunity to do it, so I think that's the only opportunity that we have, and I think that we should take it. Sure. We are stronger when we're united, and we are stronger when our voice is heard on the world stage. So we should definitely stay engaged in the international world, the organizations, international communities, and continue to raise this issue. Here in Washington, however, as you mentioned, I'm a member of the Tom Lentz Human Rights Commission, so issues like this can be brought up. We can have hearings, we can have witnesses come to talk about their issues. So we need to provide the Uighurs, a forum for them to talk about the culture, the genocide that is happening to their families, to their relatives, to their friends. So again, I think that type of engagement is critically important, and so I agree we need to stay engaged rather than stay disengaged. If you look at the efforts that the U.S. and Congress have taken in other situations of gross human rights violations, you see determination, you see passion committed to them, but what you see in the case of the Uighurs is a whole structure of very thoughtful, deep legislation. It's extraordinary. And all of us who come from the human rights community and embrace this as a central pillar of U.S. foreign and national security policy, stand in admiration of what you've done. Can you see this happening on other issues? Can you see this kind of legislative architecture that you've put in place in a bipartisan way on the issue of Uighurs applying to other situations? Or is this something that is going to be harder for us to do in other contexts? Congresswoman Wexham. Well, I think that, as I mentioned earlier, I think that we're getting there on this USA competitiveness bill, because this is something where we all feel very strongly about as just a matter of getting to yes. So coming together in a bipartisan way and working together and coming up with what will actually work is something that I think we'll be able to do and hopefully we'll get that across the finish line. So I think that building on this success and saying that we were able to accomplish these great things together, I think that it will help us because nothing succeeds like success, of course. You know, Liz, I do serve as a contrary on the conference committee. Now they're calling it the Bipartisan Innovation Act, whatever they call it. It's the USICA or it's a computer act. The goal is same. We're trying to compete against the rising influence of China. And this is one way that we're going to do it. I agree with Jennifer. We're going to need to get this done. And I think there's a truly bipartisan effort to get it done, hopefully before summer. With the issue of whether or not what we're working on in terms of the raising human rights issues, not just in the Uyghur population, but around other issues, I completely agree. I've long been working on this issue. As you know, I'm a longtime congressional staff. I work with former chairman at Roy's. So I worked on human rights issues for especially on the North Korea issues, the Vietnam human rights issues. And at the same time, I've been made aware of these Chinese government's oppression of ethnic minorities in China against Tibetans, the Uyghurs, even the Falun Kun practitioners. I mean, these are issues that it's been going on for some time. For a long time in the 90s and early 20s, I mean, 2000s, when I was working on these issues, I've at some point been frustrated by not enough attention given to the human rights issues. So I'm glad that now I'm in Congress as an elected member. I can use my voice together with Jennifer. We are really raising these issues. So yes, we need to keep talking about it. We need to keep raising this issue and then bring it up to the front burner. And we're not going to stop. Bravo to both of you for your leadership. And I know it makes so many of us who believe that American foreign policy is important and assembled to the rest of the world because we focus on human rights. And what you're showing us is that that's not just about talking about it. It's about working in every way to create legislative acts that make that happen. You know, I'd say it's extraordinary. We're at the end of our dialogue and we would like to invite both of you to share final reflections on the situation in Xinjiang, on the tragedy of the Uyghurs, and on the importance of bipartisanship in addressing those. May we offer the floor first to Representative Kim. Thank you very much for this opportunity to have this very important policy dialogue. You know, I am an immigrant from South Korea and I have family members who have witnessed firsthand the brutality of communism and that guides my passion for global human rights issues. My mother-in-law who passed away now, she actually has fled North Korea, crossed that 38th parallel line, and traveled back and forth multiple times until she was able to finally bring her arrest of the family to South Korea. So this is an issue that I know I'm very passionate about. And human rights activists and journalists have sounded the alarm on, especially this issue, Uyghur issue for years. So now as a member of Congress, I really welcome the opportunity to meet with the survivors of the camps directly in my office. They share their heart-wrenching and horrific stories of how the CCP is treating them and then their efforts to eradicate Uyghurs. That freedom of religion is a basic human right that the CCP has denied Uyghurs. So when you hear these survivor stories and read the reports put out by the human rights watchdog, I could not stand idly by why this genocide happens. So I'm really glad that I get to work on this with my colleagues across the aisle like with Jennifer. So I want to thank you, Jennifer, for your role and your leadership in this issue. Like I said, human rights should not be a partisan issue. So we're going to continue to work on this, you know, bipartisan way. Representative Wexton. Thank you so much, Lees. And thank you, Young. It's great to be here and working with you on these issues. And I'm just going to tell everybody, I first got to know Young when she came to an event in my district with the Korean American group. And you would think that BTS came, right? I mean, or Blackpink or something, because they were so excited about her. She's such a rock star in that community. So it was really, really wonderful to be there and to bask in her reflected glory a little bit in any event. No, it's great working with you on these issues. And same thing for me. I mean, when I went to my mosque and heard those stories, it was absolutely horrifying to me. And I had no idea that it was happening, right? And it's kind of a slow motion genocide. Because even though they're not building gas chambers, you know, this is just as pernicious what they're doing and the way that they're trying to eliminate the Uighurs, you can see that their birth rate has absolutely plummeted. And it's just horrifying what they're doing. So we need to stop it. We're so blessed in this country to be living under free freedom and the rule of law. And not all countries are so fortunate. And so we need to make sure that we hold them accountable when they're not and that we are looking out for human rights all across the globe. So I will continue to do that while I'm here in Congress. But thank you so much for having this forum and for drawing attention to this very, very important issue. On behalf of the U.S. Institute of Peace, please allow us to express our deep gratitude to Congresswoman Wexton, to Congresswoman Kim for today's discussion and allow us to salute the exceptional leadership that you've shown on an issue that goes right to the heart of what it means to have principled American foreign policy. Bravo. And thank you all for joining us today. Thank you for having us, Kim. Thank you.