The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-9 on March 20 to approve President Joe Biden’s nomination of Erik Woodhouse to be head of the State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination. Eleven Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., supported the nomination, while nine Republicans were opposed. The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, has threatened to try to block the nomination when it goes to the full Senate, citing Woodhouse's role in the Biden administration's decision not to sanction the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project while Russia was threatening to invade Ukraine (see 2403070046).

Members of Congress who spoke during the House Agriculture Committee's March 20 hearing on China highlighted several proposals to restrict the communist country’s increasing acquisition of American agricultural land.

The House on March 19 passed, by voice vote, a bill that would require that certain export licensing disputes be resolved by a majority vote of the government's interagency Operating Committee for Export Policy. Those disputes are currently resolved by the Operating Committee chair, who is a Bureau of Industry and Security employee.

Four Republican senators urged the Biden administration March 18 to end its temporary pause on pending decisions for liquefied natural gas exports, saying the halt has created "serious doubts" among allies about the reliability of U.S. fuel supplies.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on March 18 renewed calls for Congress to vote on his bill that would direct the U.S. to impose sanctions on anyone who provides support to someone in Cuba's military, security sector or intelligence sector (see 2110150019).

Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., marked National Agriculture Day on March 19 by urging Congress to pass a bill that would prohibit foreign nationals associated with the Chinese government from buying American farmland.

Twenty-three House and Senate Republicans urged President Joe Biden to designate Venezuela’s largest criminal gang, Tren de Aragua, a Transnational Criminal Organization, saying the group poses a growing threat to the U.S. as well as to Central and South America.

House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced a bill March 15 that would impose sanctions on foreign persons who contribute to the construction of a tunnel from Russia to Crimea, which Russia invaded in 2014.

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, announced March 15 that he has introduced a bill that would require the Pentagon to improve its tracking of certain weapons sent to Ukraine.

Four senators last week urged President Joe Biden to impose additional sanctions on Nicaragua for that country's crackdown on religious freedom, including the recent arrest of 13 Christian pastors.