Legislation to increase the visibility of U.S. outbound investment will be considered during House-Senate negotiations on the FY 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate Armed Services Committee announced last week.

Lawmakers plan to take action this week on sanctions-related measures aimed at Georgia, Hong Kong and the Yemen-based Houthis.

A bipartisan group of six House members urged the Biden administration last week to step up enforcement of oil sanctions against Iran to reduce Tehran’s ability to fund terrorism.

The House of Representatives this week might consider a bill to impose property-blocking sanctions on Chinese Communist Party leaders for committing human rights violations, according to a House floor calendar. A House Rules Committee hearing on the Stop CCP Act is scheduled for Sept. 23. The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill by a 28-22 vote in March (see 2403210076).

Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and 10 other Republican senators introduced a wide-ranging China bill Sept. 19 that contains several export control, sanction and foreign investment provisions, including “modifying the Missile Technology Control Regime” to increase cooperation under the Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) security partnership.

Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Tim Kaine, D-Va., both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced a bill Sept. 19 that would authorize the president to sanction foreign adversary entities that provide support to China’s maritime militia.

House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said late Sept. 18 that he's working to build Senate support for his bill that would sanction foreign persons who contribute to the construction of a tunnel from Russia to the Crimean Peninsula.

Four Republican lawmakers urged the Biden administration Sept. 19 to carry out two new Iran sanctions laws, both of which have deadlines that already passed.

Thirty Republican senators issued a statement Sept. 17 criticizing a proposed Palestinian resolution at the U.N. General Assembly that reportedly calls for, among other things, countries to enforce sanctions on Israeli officials and cease the transfer of arms that Israel could use in the "Palestinian territories." Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., led the statement, which calls the resolution “an absolute disgrace that rewards terrorism.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., urged European officials this week to increase sanctions on Iran for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, Politico reported.