WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senators Rick Scott, Josh Hawley, Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton reintroduced the Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act to prohibit federal funds from being used to buy solar panels manufactured or assembled in Communist China, specifically targeting those known for the use of slave labor.

Last month, Senator Scott and Representative Bill Posey led legislation to block the Biden administration’s action that protects Chinese solar companies which are actively circumventing U.S. trade laws.

Senator Rick Scott said, “Communist China is not our friend. Xi runs a murderous regime and every dollar spent there helps fund their genocide and efforts to undermine the United States and our economy. My bill, the Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act, takes the needed step of withholding federal funds from being used to buy solar panels manufactured or assembled in Communist China. We must work to fully decouple our supply chains and end our reliance on products from Communist China. That's the only way to truly build American independence and self-sufficiency, and bring economic growth back to the U.S. As President Biden bends over backward to appease dictators, Congress must take this opportunity to force accountability and take action to do what Biden won’t – starting with passing this bill TODAY.”

Senator Josh Hawley said, “The Chinese Communist Party has cornered the global solar panel market through its use of Uyghur slave labor and abuse of U.S. trade law. It is critical, especially as Democrats dump money into ‘clean energy’ projects, that we root out Chinese goods from these supply chains. The Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act will help address this problem by banning the use of federal dollars for the purchase of Chinese-made solar panels.”

Senator Marco Rubio said, “Beijing has made it clear that to do business in China, you must leave American values behind. As the Chinese Communist Party is actively committing genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim groups the Party forces American companies and stakeholders to look the other way while profiting from its egregious human rights violations, including slave labor. The CCP’s crimes should not be fueled by American taxpayer dollars.”

Senator Tom Cotton said, “Products stained with the blood of slave labor will never be clean or green. No federal funds should be used to buy solar panels that are made in camps by Uyghurs and other groups held hostage by the Chinese Communist Party. The United States government should play no role in subsidizing or partaking in this barbaric treatment of ethnic groups in Xinjiang.”

The Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act:

1. Prohibits the procurement by federal agencies of solar panels manufactured or assembled by any entity located in, or subject to the influence or control of, Communist China.
2. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to develop standards and guidelines to prohibit Federal funds from being used to purchase solar panels manufactured or assembled by entities with ties to the Communist Party of China.
3. Requires the Comptroller of the United States to submit to Congress a report on the amount of solar panels procured by Federal departments and agencies from covered entities.
4. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to conduct an independent study of the domestic market of solar panel production and the global supply chain and workforce involved in solar panel production.

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