Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and Maria Salazar, R-Fla., introduced a bill Oct. 15 that would prohibit U.S. firms from doing certain business with Venezuela’s energy sector, including its state-owned oil company, until President Nicolas Maduro concedes he lost the July 28 election.
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China urged the Commerce Department Oct. 16 to restrict exports of U.S.-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment (SME) to Huawei's “clandestine network” of companies.
A bipartisan group of seven senators led by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., urged the Biden administration last week to speed up implementation of new Iran sanctions laws, including a measure aimed at curbing the country’s oil revenue.
House Foreign Affairs Committee leaders reacted differently to the sanctions the Biden administration announced this week against Algoney Hamdan Daglo Musa, the procurement director of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia group, which is fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged the Biden administration late Oct. 7 to impose “robust” sanctions on the leaders of Sudan’s two warring parties for what his office called “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, urged his colleagues last week to approve his Strategic Act, a wide-ranging China bill that contains several export control, sanctions and foreign investment provisions, including creation of a “tiger team” to start identifying targets for sanctions, export controls and other economic measures “well before China takes military action” against Taiwan.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said last week he welcomes a renewed call by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to pass legislation restricting outbound investment in China. McCaul tweeted that he will help Johnson “get these efforts across the finish line.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., introduced a bill last week that he said would allow Homeland Security Investigations to focus on fighting crime such as illegal trafficking and arms smuggling.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged the Biden administration last week to stop blocking the transfer of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, saying such large weapons are “operationally necessary” to strike deeply buried bunkers and tunnels used by Israel's enemies.
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., asked the Federal Reserve this week to explain how it reportedly failed to prevent money from flowing to U.S.-sanctioned entities, including Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.