H.R. 6877

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6877 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6877

To support and promote the human rights of Southern Mongolians in the 
People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 18, 2025

Mr. McGovern (for himself and Mr. Krishnamoorthi) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Financial Services, 
and House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To support and promote the human rights of Southern Mongolians in the 
People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Southern Mongolian Human Rights 
Policy Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:
(1) According to the China Statistical Yearbook for 2021, 
more than 6,000,000 ethnic Mongolians live in the People's 
Republic of China, of which some two-thirds live in the Inner 
Mongolia Autonomous Region, and many others in three 
prefectures and eight counties designated as autonomous for 
Mongolians by the Government of the People's Republic of China.
(2) Over the centuries, successive central Chinese 
governments have promoted the migration of Chinese people into 
the area currently administered as the Inner Mongolia 
Autonomous Region, and today only about 18 percent of the 
population of the Region is counted as ethnically Mongolian.
(3) The Constitution and 1984 Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law 
of the People's Republic of China guarantee numerous rights to 
Mongolian and other designated minorities, including autonomous 
government, protection for religions and cultures, control over 
local economic development, and management of local natural 
resources, and the right ``to use and develop their own spoken 
and written languages and their freedom to preserve or reform 
their own folkways and customs,'' including to ``use textbooks 
in their own languages and use these languages as the media of 
instruction''.
(4) In 2020, officials in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous 
Region announced a new policy to effectively replace Mongolian 
as the principal language of instruction with Chinese, in the 
subjects of history, politics, and literature, and shut down 
Bainu, the only Mongolian-language-based social media website 
based in the country. Beginning in September 2023, schools 
across the region largely removed Mongolian-language 
instruction from elementary and secondary schools throughout 
the region. Reports indicate that high school entrance exams 
are conducted in Chinese exclusively as of 2025, and college 
entrance exams will be conducted in Chinese exclusively by 
2028. The People's Republic of China authorities have banned 
Mongolian language books from bookstores and removed signs in 
the unique, vertically written Mongolian script from schools, 
buildings, streets, and parks.
(5) The People's Republic of China officials launched 
``patriotic education'' campaigns at schools and universities 
throughout the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, designed to 
suppress manifestations of Mongolian identity in favor of the 
common Chinese national identity and encourage ``all ethnic 
groups to accept the great mother country, Chinese nationality, 
Chinese culture, [and the] Chinese Communist Party.'' In 
response to the new education policy, tens of thousands of 
Southern Mongolians in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region 
launched protests, in which some 300,000 Southern Mongolian 
students boycotted school and teachers went on strike, and some 
individuals reportedly committed suicide in protest. Security 
authorities responded harshly by arresting, beating, detaining, 
jailing, and placing under home confinement some estimated 
8,000 to 10,000 Southern Mongolians.
(6) Chinese authorities now fully control all activities of 
the Chinggis Khan Mausoleum in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous 
Region, including the schedule, scale, and ticketing of ritual 
ceremonies and approval and monitoring of gatherings, denying 
Southern Mongolians the ability to carry out traditional 
rituals and observances free of government interference and 
profiteering. This has broken an eight-century-long memorial 
tradition at the site, which has served as an historical and 
cultural representation of the Mongolian identity.
(7) The People's Republic of China policies have undermined 
the religious heritage of Southern Mongolians, many of whom 
follow Tibetan Buddhism, including through the destruction of 
monasteries and temples during the Cultural Revolution, and 
interference in the ability to choose their own religious 
leaders. Restrictions on travel and freedom of religion or 
belief inhibit the ability of Southern Mongolians to affiliate, 
engage, and communicate with Mongol communities around the 
world, especially those with cultural, linguistic and religious 
links to people in the country of Mongolia and the Buryatia, 
Kamykia, and Tuvan regions of the Russian Federation, resulting 
in a diminution of their common cultural heritage.
(8) The People's Republic of China policies have 
effectively ended the traditional Southern Mongolian economic 
livelihood of pastoralism, a key marker of Mongol identity, by 
forcibly resettling more than 246,000 nomadic households to 
urban and agricultural areas where Mandarin language and 
Chinese cultural elements dominate. These policies have cut off 
Southern Mongolians from their ancestral lands and increased 
their economic dependence on the state, eroding their social 
cohesion. This has led to severe social and psychological 
impacts, including mental illness and economic deprivation.
(9) The environment of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region 
has degraded under the People's Republic of China policies that 
have removed nomads, ending traditional stewardship of grazing 
lands, and exploited natural resources through mining and heavy 
industry without sufficient stakeholder input from local 
inhabitants, resulting in air and water pollution and severe 
health problems among local Southern Mongolians. Bayan Obo, the 
largest rare earth mine in the world, which holds 70 percent of 
the world's rare earth elements reserve and the largest known 
deposit of thorium, is the source of toxic waste, including 
radioactive thorium that has been seeping into groundwater.
(10) Southern Mongolian dissidents, activists, writers, 
bloggers, lawyers, and their family members who have attempted 
to exercise their freedom of expression and defend their legal 
rights have been detained, arrested, imprisoned, and placed 
under home confinement by the People's Republic of China 
authorities. Activist Yanjindulam remains under home 
confinement after being released from prison, artist Ashidaa is 
still under home confinement, lawyer Huhbulag has been detained 
multiple times, and dissident Almaz has been frequently 
harassed and detained by the authorities.
(11) Authorities detained rights activist Hada, who 
promoted self-determination and democracy for Southern 
Mongolians, in 1995 and sentenced him to 15 years in 1996. He 
was held without legal basis for an additional four years 
following the expiration of his sentence. Hada was subsequently 
placed under home confinement until his disappearance in 
September 2020. On February 7, 2025, Hada was moved to an 
undisclosed location from a hospital in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 
Autonomous Region, and hospital staff refused to disclose his 
whereabouts and health conditions to family members. In 2011, 
Hada's wife Xinna, an outspoken critic of human rights 
violations in Southern Mongolia, was arrested before being 
sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years. 
Their son Uiles was sentenced at the age of 17 to two years in 
prison on the basis of multiple fabricated charges. The 
family's welfare and whereabouts have been unknown since 
September 2020.
(12) Chinese authorities have subjected Southern Mongolians 
to transnational repression. Since 2009, at least five Southern 
Mongolian dissidents in exile have been forcibly returned to 
China, including from Mongolia. On May 3, 2023, Chinese police 
officers detained Lhamjab Borjigin, a long-time dissident 
writer and historian, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and forcibly 
returned him to China on the same day. Lhamjab Borjigin had 
escaped from home confinement on March 6, 2023, after he was 
sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for 
writing a book entitled ``China's Cultural Revolution''.
(13) The Congressional-Executive Commission on China 
reported that ``[d]uring the Commission's 2025 reporting year, 
Chinese Communist Party and government authorities implemented 
policies that limited the freedom of ethnic minority groups to 
express their cultural and religious identities in 
contravention of the PRC Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law and 
international human rights treaties, including the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 
Rights''.
(14) The Government of the People's Republic of China's 
policies have undermined the ability of Southern Mongolians to 
exercise their rights under the People's Republic of China's 
constitution and law, and under international law, to safeguard 
and develop their own language, culture, religion or belief, 
and economic livelihoods, as part of a deliberate effort to 
erase their distinct Mongolian culture and Sinicize the 
Southern Mongolian people, which some observers have called a 
form of cultural genocide.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to support and promote human rights of Southern 
Mongolians in the People's Republic of China, including the 
fundamental freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and 
religion or belief and rights related to arbitrary detention, 
discrimination and other abuses;
(2) to support the aspirations of the Southern Mongolian 
people to safeguard their cultural and linguistic heritage, 
including the ability to use and promote their own spoken and 
written language, and protect their traditional pastoralist way 
of life that they have maintained for thousands of years; and
(3) to press the Government of the People's Republic of 
China to allow the Southern Mongolian people the ability to 
enjoy the autonomy guaranteed to them by the Constitution and 
1984 Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law, including in education.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States supports the legitimate aspirations 
of the Southern Mongolian people to safeguard their cultural 
and linguistic heritage and practice their traditional way of 
life without threat of forced assimilation policies of the 
Government of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese 
Communist Party;
(2) the President should--
(A) condemn human rights abuses against Southern 
Mongolians by authorities of the People's Republic of 
China; and
(B) call on such authorities to allow Southern 
Mongolians the ability to exercise the autonomy 
guaranteed under the constitution and law of the 
People's Republic of China, including to conduct their 
affairs and receive education in their own spoken and 
written language;
(3) the Secretary of State should--
(A) work with United States allies and partners and 
through multilateral institutions to advocate for the 
human rights of Southern Mongolians;
(B) urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to 
prioritize assessment of the human rights of Southern 
Mongolians in its reviews of the People's Republic of 
China compliance with international human rights law, 
including through the Universal Periodic Review 
process, and to request travel by United Nations 
officials to assess conditions of Southern Mongolians 
in the People's Republic of China;
(C) promote the right of Southern Mongolians to 
protect their spoken and written language;
(D) promote the freedom of religion or belief 
Southern Mongolians;
(E) work with the United Nations Educational, 
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to 
identify and protect world heritage sites in areas of 
traditional Mongolian culture in the People's Republic 
of China; and
(F) coordinate closely with the international 
community on targeted sanctions and visa restrictions;
(4) the United States companies and individuals operating 
in areas designated as autonomous for Mongolians in the 
People's Republic of China should take steps to ensure that 
their commercial activities do not contribute to human rights 
violations, undermine the autonomous rights of Southern 
Mongolians, or contribute to the environmental degradation or 
resettlement of nomads in those areas, and are consistent with 
the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human 
Rights; and
(5) the United States Ambassador to the People's Republic 
of China should expeditiously seek to meet with Hada and his 
family members, as well as other Southern Mongolian dissidents, 
activists, writers, and lawyers who are either in prison or 
under detention or home confinement.

SEC. 5. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

(a) Human Rights Reports.--The Ambassador at Large for 
International Religious Freedom shall, consistent with the duties under 
sections 101(c) and 102(a) of the International Religious Freedom Act 
of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6411(c), 6412(a)), assist the Secretary of State to 
assess the impact of the restrictions on Tibetan Buddhism by the 
Government of the People's Republic of China on the religious freedom 
of--
(1) practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in the People's 
Republic of China who are not Tibetan; and
(2) practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism outside the People's 
Republic of China, including their ability to travel to and 
share information with practitioners inside the People's 
Republic of China.
(b) Annual Report on International Religious Freedom.--The 
Secretary of State, with the assistance of the Ambassador at Large for 
International Religious Freedom, shall ensure that the report required 
under sections 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 
1998 (22 U.S.C. 6411(c), 6412(b)) assesses, as appropriate, the impact 
of the restrictions on Tibetan Buddhism by the Government of the 
People's Republic of China on the religious freedom of--
(1) practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in the People's 
Republic of China who are not Tibetan; and
(2) practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism outside the People's 
Republic of China, including their ability to travel to and 
share information with practitioners inside the People's 
Republic of China.

SEC. 6. IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES 
AGAINST SOUTHERN MONGOLIANS IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF 
CHINA; IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.

(a) Report Required.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 
President shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report that identifies each foreign person, 
including any official of the Government of the People's 
Republic of China, that the President determines is responsible 
for any of the following with respect to Southern Mongolians in 
the People's Republic of China:
(A) Torture.
(B) Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or 
punishment.
(C) Prolonged or arbitrary detention without 
charges and trial.
(D) Causing the disappearance of persons by the 
abduction and clandestine detention of those persons.
(E) Other flagrant denial of the right to life, 
liberty, or the security of persons.
(F) Other gross violations of human rights 
committed against Southern Mongolians.
(2) Form.--The report required by paragraph (1) shall be 
submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 
annex.
(b) Imposition of Sanctions.--The President should impose sanctions 
pursuant to one or more of the following authorities with respect to 
each foreign person identified in the report required by subsection 
(a):
(1) The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
(22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.).
(2) Section 7031(c)(1)(A) of the Department of State, 
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 
2024 (division F of Public Law 118-47; 8 U.S.C. 1182 note).
(3) Section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality 
Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(2)(G)).
(c) Sunset.--This section, and any sanctions imposed under this 
section, shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
(d) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 
Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 
Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives.
(2) Foreign person.--The term ``foreign person'' means an 
individual or entity that is not a United States person.
(3) United states person.--The term ``United States 
person'' means--
(A) a United States citizen or an alien lawfully 
admitted for permanent residence to the United States;
(B) an entity organized under the laws of the 
United States or of any jurisdiction within the United 
States, including a foreign branch of such an entity; 
or
(C) any person in the United States.

SEC. 7. VOICE OF AMERICA BROADCASTS IN THE MONGOLIAN LANGUAGE.

(a) Establishment of Service.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Chief Executive Officer of the 
United States Agency for Global Media shall establish, through the 
Voice of America, a service to provide Voice of America Mongolian 
language programming to Mongolian language speakers in Mongolia, the 
People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation.
(b) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Chief Executive Officer of the United States 
Agency for Global Media shall submit to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 
House of Representatives a report detailing the implementation of this 
section, including a description of programming and broadcast hours.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Voice of America for purposes of carrying out this 
section $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

SEC. 8. SUPPORT FOR SOUTHERN MONGOLIAN CULTURE.

(a) Repressed Cultures Preservation.--
(1) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
the Smithsonian Institution should fund activities to help 
preserve cultures endangered by the repressive policies of the 
People's Republic of China, including those of Southern 
Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers, through the 
World Cultures Center and other programs designed to promote 
preservation efforts, as well as research, exhibitions, and 
education programming.
(2) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution shall submit to the Committee on Rules and 
Administration of the Senate and the Committee on House 
Administration of the House of Representatives a report on its 
plans to help preserve cultures endangered by the policies of 
the People's Republic of China, including those of Southern 
Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers.
(b) Assistance for Cultural Organizations, Museums, and 
Libraries.--
(1) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
the Director of the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences 
should establish a grant program, or make available grants 
through an existing program, to support efforts by diaspora 
communities in the United States to preserve their cultural 
heritage that is threatened by the repressive policies of the 
People's Republic of China, including the efforts of Southern 
Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers.
(2) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Institute for Museum 
and Library Sciences shall submit to the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee 
on Education and Workforce of the House of Representatives a 
report on the feasibility of establishing a grant program, or 
to otherwise make available grants through an existing program, 
to support efforts by diaspora communities in the United States 
to preserve their cultural heritage that is threatened by the 
repressive policies of the People's Republic of China, 
including those of Southern Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and 
Hong Kongers, including efforts to engage with such diaspora 
communities.

SEC. 9. SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS IN SOUTHERN MONGOLIA.

(a) Declaration of Policy.--It is the policy of the United States 
to support the right of Southern Mongolians to make decisions in 
accordance with principles of autonomy regarding their economic 
development, including the ability to maintain traditional livelihoods, 
such as pastoralism, as well as cultural preservation, environmental 
sustainability, and resource extraction, in areas designated as 
autonomous for Southern Mongolians in the People's Republic of China.
(b) International Financial Institutions.--The Secretary of the 
Treasury should instruct the United States executive director of each 
international financial institution to use the voice and vote of the 
United States to support financing of projects in areas designated as 
autonomous for Mongolians in the People's Republic of China if such 
projects do not provide incentives for the migration and settlement of 
non-Mongolians into Southern Mongolian areas or facilitate the transfer 
of ownership of Southern Mongolian land and natural resources to non-
Mongolians, are based on a thorough needs-assessment, foster self-
sufficiency of the Southern Mongolian people, respect Mongolian 
culture, traditions, and traditional livelihoods, and are subject to 
effective monitoring.
(c) Private Sector Investment.--The Secretary of State, in 
coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, should encourage United 
States businesses and individuals that are engaged in commerce or 
investing in enterprises in areas designated as autonomous for 
Mongolians in the People's Republic of China to be guided by the United 
Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, including the 
creation, in consultation with other relevant Departments, of a 
business advisory covering such areas, with particular focus on the 
mining and extractive industries sector, that provides strict 
guidelines not to directly or indirectly contribute to the violation of 
the human rights of local Mongolians, harm to their communities, or 
destruction of the natural environment and traditional Mongolian way of 
life.

SEC. 10. RARE EARTH MINING IN SOUTHERN MONGOLIA.

(a) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Commerce, shall submit to the appropriate congressional 
committees a report on the impact of large mining operations for rare 
earth minerals in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in particular 
the Bayan-Obo mine, on the livelihoods of South Mongolian residents, 
including forced displacement and serious environmental degradation, 
and on United States national security interests related to the 
operation and potential expansion of rare earth mining operations.
(b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate congressional committees'' has the meaning given 
the term in section 6(d)(1).
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