Politics- The Senate unanimously voted on Wednesday to ban imports of products from
Xinjiang ,China . - They cited China's abuse of the Uyghurs, many of whom are kept in camps or forced to work.
- Marcio Rubio called it a message to China and "any international company that profits from forced labor."
The Senate unanimously passed a bill on Wednesday that bans all products from the Chinese region of Xinjiang over the abuse of Uyghur Muslims.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who introduced the legislation with Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, said in a statement: "The message to Beijing and any international company that profits from forced labor in Xinjiang is clear: no more."
"No American corporation should profit from these abuses. No American consumers should be inadvertently purchasing products from slave labor," Merkley said.
Xinjiang is the home region of the Uyghurs, a mostly-Muslim ethnic group.
China has used mass surveillance in Xinjiang, and detained at least a million Uyghurs in prisons and other facilities. Beijing euphemistically calls these places "reeducation camps," despite widespread reports of human-rights abuses.
Former detainees have also described authorities forcibly sterilizing and performing abortions on Uyghur women.
Many Uyghurs have also been forced to work in factories for little to no pay.
The Senate's legislation will next go to the US House of Representatives.
Rubio said: "We will not turn a blind eye to the CCP's [Chinese Communist Party] ongoing crimes against humanity, and we will not allow corporations a free pass to profit from those horrific abuses. Once this bill passes the House and is signed by the President, the United States will have more tools to prevent products made with forced labor from entering our nation's supply chains."