Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., reintroduced a bill April 9 that would authorize the president to sanction foreign persons and vessels involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The Protecting Global Fisheries Act was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kaine previously introduced the legislation near the end of the last Congress (see 2412200016).
Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., and two other senators introduced a bill April 10 that would bar companies owned or controlled by China or other “foreign adversaries” from owning or operating retail stores on U.S. military bases.
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has created a task force to identify steps Congress should take to counter Western Hemisphere cartels involved in drug, human and arms trafficking, the committee announced April 11. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, will chair the task force. Crenshaw introduced a resolution last month to create a House select committee focused on Mexican drug cartels (see 2503310014).
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., tried unsuccessfully April 9 to persuade the Senate to take up and pass a bill that would give China’s ByteDance about six more months to comply with a law requiring the company to divest TikTok.
Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., announced April 9 that they are introducing a bill designed to strengthen sanctions enforcement against Russia’s “ghost fleet” of oil-carrying ships.
Thomas DiNanno, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be undersecretary of state for arms control and international security (see 2502120058), said April 9 that speeding up foreign military sales (FMS) will be a priority for him if he’s confirmed by the Senate.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 18-4 April 9 to approve the nomination of former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., to be U.S. ambassador to China. The nomination now heads to the full Senate for consideration. Perdue testified before the committee April 3 that he would try to “increase the dialogue pace” on U.S.-China trade, including on agricultural products (see 2504030045).
The Senate voted 66-32 on April 8 to confirm former U.S. ambassador to Portugal George Glass to be U.S. ambassador to Japan. Glass testified March 13 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he would seek to ensure that Japan follows through on its commitment to ramp up purchases of U.S. liquefied natural gas (see 2503130050).
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved several sanctions and export control bills April 9, including one that would increase sanctions on Iran's energy sector to deprive Tehran of revenue it uses to fund terrorism.
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., accused the Trump administration April 7 of violating the 2024 law that requires China’s ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a U.S. ban on the social media application.