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    The Western Journal
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    Letter from Rep. Bob Gibbs and 17 other Republican representatives to the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security.

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    Gibbs-Comer Letter to IG

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    Letter from Rep. Bob Gibbs and 17 other Republican representatives to the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Download as pdf or txt
    20K views4 pages

    Gibbs-Comer Letter To IG

    Uploaded by

    The Western Journal
    Letter from Rep. Bob Gibbs and 17 other Republican representatives to the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 4

    September 7, 2022

    Mr. Joseph Cuffari


    Inspector General
    Office of Inspector General/MAIL STOP 0305
    United States Department of Homeland Security
    245 Murray Lane SW
    Washington, DC 20528-0305

    Dear Inspector General Cuffari,

    As members of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, we are writing today to
    express serious concern about the possibility of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funds
    being used to enrich China, an adversary with a record of human rights abuses and slave labor.
    Specifically, we are concerned with federal taxpayer dollars Congress has allocated to FEMA for
    supplemental disaster relief since 2017 and how they may be used. 1

    According to the U.S. Department of State, genocide and slave labor in the Xinjiang region
    of China are being actively perpetrated against the Uyghur minority. 2 As you know, the Uyghur
    Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) was signed into law in December 2021 to prevent the U.S.
    purchase or importation of goods made with forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
    Region of China. Unfortunately, almost 40 percent of the global production of polysilicon, a key
    component in solar panels, comes from the Xinjiang region, and nearly 85 percent of the world’s
    solar components are produced in China. 3

    We strongly support the UFLPA but remain troubled the United States may still possibly
    be using taxpayer dollars to purchase products manufactured using slave labor in direct violation
    of the UFLPA, and nowhere has this possibility become more real and concerning than in the U.S.
    Virgin Islands (USVI). Following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the federal government
    committed nearly $8 billion to assist with disaster relief in the USVI, with almost $5 billion of
    those dollars coming from FEMA. 4

    1
    “Spending Explorer.” https://recovery.fema.gov/spending-explorer
    2
    “Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory” https://www.state.gov/xinjiang-supply-chain-business-advisory/
    3
    Holleyman, Robert. “America Can’t Allow China to Keep Crushing Our Solar Energy Industry.” The New York
    Times, 9 July 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/07/09/opinion/environment/china-solar-panels-renewable-
    energy.html?_sm_byp=iVVVNVF6R04rN5DQ.
    4
    “2017 Hurricanes.” https://www.usviodr.com/irmaandmariafunding/
    A large sum of the disaster relief funds was allocated to bolster and rebuild the USVI’s
    energy grid, making it more reliable and resistant to future storms. Additionally, the USVI
    announced in 2021 that a new 28-megawatt solar micro-grid project on St. Croix was awarded $4.4
    million from FEMA for the initial phase of construction while USVI officials expect FEMA to
    fund the bulk of the remaining $129 million project cost. 5 This territory-wide transition to solar
    power will potentially serve to massively enrich China.

    If we are not vigilant in our efforts to ensure that no solar panels or components made with
    slave labor are being purchased with federal dollars from FEMA or other U.S. agencies and used
    on similar solar projects, it is possible the United States could be directly funding the genocide and
    abuse occurring in China’s Xinjiang region.

    Today, we are requesting that you, in your role as Inspector General, conduct an immediate
    investigation to determine the following:

    1. Have there been or are there plans to use FEMA funds to purchase solar panels or
    components that have been manufactured by Chinese companies in violation of the
    UFLPA?

    2. Have there been or are there plans to use FEMA funds to purchase solar panels or
    components, specifically for the USVI solar buildout, which have been manufactured by
    Chinese companies in violation of the UFLPA?

    3. What percent of imported solar panels or components have been flagged as potentially
    having ties to the Chinese Communist Party? Has the U.S government identified any
    imported solar panels that violate the now-actionable UFLPA?

    Thank you for your consideration of this important issue. To make arrangements to deliver
    documents or ask any related follow-up questions, please contact Committee on Oversight and
    Reform Republican Staff at (202) 225-5074. The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the
    principal oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to
    investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X. Thank you in advance for your
    cooperation with this inquiry.

    Sincerely,

    _________________________ _________________________
    Bob Gibbs James Comer
    Member of Congress Ranking Member
    Committee on Oversight and Reform

    5
    Howland, Ethan. “A 28-MW Virgin Islands Microgrid Receives FEMA Funding” Microgrid Knowledge, 13 April
    2021. https://microgridknowledge.com/fema-virgin-islands-microgrid/
    _________________________ _________________________
    Jody Hice Glenn S. Grothman
    Ranking Member Ranking Member
    Subcommittee on Government Operations Subcommittee on National Security

    _________________________ _________________________
    Michael Cloud Nancy Mace
    Ranking Member Ranking Member
    Subcommittee on Economic and Subcommittee on Civil Rights and
    Consumer Policy Civil Liberties

    _________________________ ________________________
    Yvette Herrell Jim Jordan
    Ranking Member Member of Congress
    Subcommittee on Environment

    _________________________ _________________________
    Virginia A. Foxx Clay Higgins
    Member of Congress Member of Congress

    __________________________ __________________________
    Pete Sessions Fred Keller
    Member of Congress Member of Congress

    __________________________ __________________________
    Andy Biggs Andrew S. Clyde
    Member of Congress Member of Congress
    __________________________ __________________________
    C. Scott Franklin Jake LaTurner
    Member of Congress Member of Congress

    __________________________ __________________________
    Byron Donalds Mike Flood
    Member of Congress Member of Congress

    cc: The Honorable Carolyn Maloney, Chairwoman


    Committee on Oversight and Reform

    The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, Chairman


    Subcommittee on Government Operations

    The Honorable Stephen F. Lynch, Chairman


    Subcommittee on National Security

    The Honorable Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman


    Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy

    The Honorable Ro Khanna, Chairman


    Subcommittee on Environment

    The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Chairman


    Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

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