Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., June 4 urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to consider sanctioning Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over his West Bank policies.

The House version of the FY 2025 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill could withhold funds the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network may need to implement or enforce its new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule.

The House version of the FY 2025 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill would prohibit the removal of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list, the House Appropriations Committee said June 3.

U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns is scheduled to give the Senate Foreign Relations Committee an update on U.S.-China relations during a closed-door hearing June 4. Further information on the hearing’s focus wasn't disclosed. Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., said in February that he was working to craft a “comprehensive” bill to address a wide range of concerns about China (see 2402010067).

Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., announced May 31 that she and three other House members have introduced a bill that would sanction Iranian judges, prosecutors and investigators for their ongoing persecution of peaceful protesters.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged the Biden administration in a joint statement May 30 to sanction anyone involved in detaining, trying and torturing political prisoners in Venezuela, including judges, clerks, prison guards and interrogators. The senators said the Venezuelan government has increased its persecution of human rights and political activists in the run-up to the country’s July 28 presidential election.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said May 29 that he plans to introduce legislation designating the Palestinian Authority as a foreign terrorist organization for paying Palestinians who commit terrorist attacks against Israelis.

At least four congressional Republicans from Florida -- Sen. Marco Rubio and Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlo Gimenez and Maria Salazar -- criticized the Biden administration’s decision to give some in Cuba’s private sector access to the U.S. financial system (see 2405280033), saying such entities are generally controlled by, and enrich, the country’s communist government. “Instead of helping fund the repressive, anti-American dictatorship and their cronies, the Biden administration should tighten sanctions and stand in strong solidarity with the Cuban people in their struggle to be free,” Diaz-Balart tweeted.

Several provisions relating to sanctions and export controls are included in the Senate version of the FY 2025 Intelligence Authorization Act, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said in a bill summary released last week.

The Government Accountability Office told Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, that Congress can't vote to overturn the Japan critical minerals agreement.