Gibbs-Comer Letter To IG

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
__________________________ __________________________
Andy Biggs Andrew S. Clyde
__________________________ __________________________
C. Scott Franklin Jake LaTurner
__________________________ __________________________
Byron Donalds Mike Flood
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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September 7, 2022

Mr. Joseph Cuffari

Dear Inspector General Cuffari,

cc: The Honorable Carolyn Maloney, Chairwoman

The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, Chairman

The Honorable Stephen F. Lynch, Chairman

The Honorable Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman

The Honorable Ro Khanna, Chairman

The Honorable Jamie Raskin, Chairman

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