State Department chaos makes passing the Uyghur Policy Act imperative

The Hill

3 days ago

The U.S. State Department is reeling. Morale is low, leadership turnover is high and internal dysfunction has left many career diplomats and foreign service officers disillusioned and disengaged. Some of the most principled voices on human rights policy are burned out, sidelined or quietly leaving.
Against this backdrop, pushing forward the Uyghur Policy Act of 2025 might seem poorly timed at best or destined to fail at worst. But now is precisely when it matters most.
The Uyghur Policy Act is not just another symbolic measure. It is a targeted, bipartisan effort to institutionalize U.S. support for Uyghur human rights, enhance public diplomacy in the face of Chinese Communist Party repression and embed Uyghur issues within the machinery of American foreign policy.
By doing so, the bill helps ensure Uyghur advocacy isn't subject to the whims of individual appointees or lost in bureaucratic inertia. It's a safeguard — not a luxury.
With the department in a state of strategic drift, the need for legislative mandates is greater than ever.
When internal dysfunction threatens to stall or dilute executive branch efforts, it is even more critical that the legislative branch sets clear expectations, particularly as foreign governments and civil society partners will still take their cues from the United States.
Without that clarity, the cause of Uyghur freedom is more vulnerable to geopolitical horse-trading and diplomatic forgetfulness.
One doesn't have to be personally invested in the cause of Uyghur freedom, however, to understand that the issue serves as a barometer both of Chinese intentions, but also the level of Chinese influence in the rest of the world.
One provision of the Uyghur Policy Act directs Uyghur language training for foreign service officers, and the placement of a Uyghur-speaking foreign service officer in embassies and consulates in Turkey and Central Asian countries.
Is that a nod to inclusion and cultural preservation? It's something far more strategic.
It ensures that our government will have the most accurate understanding and access in a region where state coopting of Uyghur organizations could cloud understanding of the very dire situation facing so many individuals due to Chinese and KGB influence in countries like Kazakhstan.
One simple provision is a low-cost, high-reward solution to an intelligence gap.
Other provisions in the legislation are equally strategic. Resources to counter Chinese propaganda and cohesive diplomatic strategies are essential not only for progress on the Uyghur issue, but for the sake of consistency which will be read as strength by the oppositional Chinese Communist Party.
It might be tempting, in this environment, for policymakers to want to delay action — to wait until the State Department is 'fixed' or until the political winds shift. But the Chinese government isn't waiting. Transnational repression is escalating, deportations of Uyghur refugees are rising and Beijing's global narrative war is deepening.
The Uyghur Policy Act is a necessary counterweight. It signals that the United States can still act with moral and strategic clarity, even amid internal turbulence. Its passage is not an act of bureaucratic optimism, but a recognition that when institutions falter, Congress must lead. It is precisely because the State Department is in crisis that now is the time to pass this bill.
Julie Millsap is a human rights advocate and government affairs manager at No Business With Genocide. She leads legislative and policy efforts related to the Uyghur genocide and U.S. accountability in atrocity prevention.