Ilhan Omar: “Woman, my amendment mandates reporting on the foreign governments with whom we share access to the Terrorist Screening…”

“Woman, my amendment mandates reporting on the foreign governments with whom we share access to the Terrorist Screening Database. The database is shared with more than 60 foreign governments, including countries with appalling human rights records, such as Saudi Arabia and China. An FBI official has acknowledged in sworn testimony that it has never stopped sharing watch-list information with a foreign government because of that government's human rights abuses. Many of the people who are included in the database have never been charged with a crime, and, yet, we share sensitive information about them with the same government that murdered Jamal Khashoggi. I have also received credible reports that there have been Uighurs added to the database at the request of the Chinese Government. I ask the Chair to think about that. There is universal outrage in Washington about the treatment of the Uighur population in China. What are we talking about? Let's be clear. These are the precursors to genocide. And while it is happening, while Members of both sides of the aisle and the Secretary of State are condemning what is happening, we are allowing the Chinese Government to add Uighurs to the Terrorist Screening Database. We are allowing them to track Uighurs in the United States. This is probably the most appalling aspect of our sharing this information with governments that violate human rights, but it is not the only appalling aspect.…”