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| Biden admin lobbied against bill, fearing it would torpedo climate negotiations with China |
Published: December 2, 2021
By: Alana Goodman
Senate Democrats are blocking legislation that would prohibit imports from China made with Uyghur slave labor, in response to pressure from Biden administration officials who fear the bill would torpedo climate negotiations with the Chinese government, congressional sources told the Washington Free Beacon.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a bill sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) that has long been circulating in Congress and is backed by the human rights community and opponents of China's forced labor camps, was included in a package of 25 amendments to the annual defense authorization bill, according to a list distributed by Senate leadership on Wednesday.
But Democrats excluded the amendment from a vote late Wednesday night, after members of the party privately objected to it, sources told the Free Beacon. Earlier in the evening, Democrats tried to use a procedural mechanism that would have allowed a vote on the act but stripped it from the final authorization bill, according to a hotline memo from Senate leadership.
The pushback from Senate Democrats comes amid efforts by senior Biden administration officials to quietly kill the bill over concerns it will hinder the White House's climate agenda and limit solar panel imports from China. Presidential climate envoy John Kerry, among others, has been lobbying House members against the bill, the Free Beacon reported last month. The bill is widely backed by the human rights community and easily attracted Republican support in the narrowly Democrat-controlled Senate. Congressional officials tell the Free Beacon that the new opposition to the measure among Democrats is a product of the Biden administration's lobbying efforts.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer offered conflicting explanations for the holdup on Wednesday, with his office initially suggesting to the Free Beacon that Republicans were blocking a vote on the amendment.
The anti-slavery act has "been on the list of amendments Senate Democrats proposed the Senate to vote on that the Republicans have been objecting to … so you should ask the Senate Republicans why they're blocking the vote," Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman told the Free Beacon.
But in a floor speech later Wednesday night, Schumer claimed that the anti-slavery amendment was a "poison pill" that couldn't be included in the authorization bill because of arcane procedural requirements.
"If [Rubio's] amendment were on the bill, it would automatically kill the bill, because it would be what's called ‘blue-slipped' in the House, which means any bill that produces revenue must start in the House," Schumer said. "The Rubio amendment is a poison pill in the sense that it blows up the bill."
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act passed the Senate unanimously in July but has stalled in the House. Rubio reintroduced the bill as an amendment to the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act, in an attempt to force the House to finally vote on it.
Democrats blocking a Senate vote on the anti-slavery act "avoids the House having to touch this issue," a senior aide to Rubio told the Free Beacon.
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