U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) introduced a bill on Wednesday that would re-list the Ministry of Public Security’s (MPS) Institute of Forensic Science of China onto the Entity List maintained by the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce.
In 2020, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on the Chinese MPS Institute of Forensic Science for its role in the surveillance and abuse of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang province.
The Biden administration dropped the Trump-era sanctions last year to get China’s cooperation in fighting the fentanyl crisis.
Ogles’ bill, which is being co-led by GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) and CCP Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI-02), is being called the Confronting CCP Human Rights Abuses Act.
The bill, filed as H.R.8847, was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs upon introduction.
“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has a long and sordid history of human rights abuses, and its Institute of Forensic Science is no exception. President Trump took decisive action to sanction the Institute in June 2020, placing it on the Entity List for its material support for the genocide of the Uighurs. President Biden lifted the sanctions in November 2023 and removed the Institute from the Entity List – without proving that the Institute had stopped participating in mass slaughter,” Ogles said in a statement.
“It’s past time for the US to confront the CCP’s human rights abusers, and Congress will have to lead in the absence of a strong Commander-in-Chief. I am incredibly grateful for the support of the Select Committee on the CCP Chairman Moolenaar and GOP Conference Chairwoman Stefanik,” Ogles added.
Tennessee U.S. Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) was among the 17 original cosponsors of Ogles’ bill.
Heritage Action and the America First Policy Institute also supported the bill.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Background Photo ” Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China” by 維基小霸王. CC BY-SA 4.0.
