Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., introduced a bill June 11 that would require the Defense and State departments to monitor China’s efforts to build or buy “strategic foreign ports.” The bill was referred to the House Armed Services, Financial Services and Foreign Affairs committees. Additional information was not immediately available.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., a member of the House Select Committee on China, has introduced a bill that would prevent Chinese Communist Party agents or businesses from buying real estate next to U.S. federal land, the panel announced June 12. Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., is among the co-sponsors of the No American Land for Communist China Act, which is intended to protect sensitive national security sites from spying. The bill was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the House Select Committee on China, the panel announced last week. Cline, a former prosecutor, said he favors “tough policies that tactically confront the [Chinese Communist Party] at home and abroad and safeguard our nation’s interests.” Former Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Mich., who used to chair the committee, created an opening on the panel by leaving Congress in April (see 2403250066).

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced a bill last week that would prohibit the Bureau of Industry and Security from using federal funds to finalize, implement or enforce a new interim final rule restricting firearms exports.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill last week that would reauthorize the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act for five years. The 2019 law, which expires later this year, requires the president to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights violations in Hong Kong. Rubio's bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Reps. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., introduced a bill June 7 that would require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to notify Congress if CFIUS denied a member agency’s request to review a transaction.

Four Republican senators asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter last week to explain why her department hasn’t made greater use of its authority to sanction those who commit human rights violations against China’s Uyghur minority.

Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., have introduced a bill to reauthorize the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act for another five years, Rubio’s office announced June 6. The 2020 law, which expires in 2025, authorizes sanctions against entities and people responsible for human rights violations against the Uyghur minority ethnic group in China's Xinjiang region (see 2006170064).

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., have introduced a bill that would continue sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project for another six years and prohibit a national interest waiver of those sanctions, according to a June 5 news release.

The House of Representatives voted 247-155 on June 4 to pass a bill that would sanction International Criminal Court (ICC) officials if they issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza.