The U.S. is considering “consequences,” including possibly sanctions actions, against Venezuela after the country’s Nicolas Maduro-led regime appeared to alter the results of the country’s presidential elections, senior administration officials said this week.
House and Senate lawmakers introduced a bill July 25 that would sanction entities and people that pay Palestinian terrorists and their families for attacks against Israelis, which they called "terrorist martyr payments."
At a field hearing in Michigan, House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and committee member Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., emphasized electric vehicle battery maker Gotion's ties to suppliers that use Uyghur forced labor, and questioned why Gotion should be allowed to open factories in their states. Gotion declined to send a representative to testify, they said.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said last week he remains concerned by recent news reports showing China has found ways around U.S. export controls on advanced computing chips.
The Senate Appropriations Committee unveiled and approved an FY 2025 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill July 25 that would provide $206 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, $17 million below the Biden administration’s request but $15 million above the FY 2024 enacted level and $19.3 million above what the House Appropriations Committee has proposed (see 2403110065 and 2406250035).
U.S. intelligence agencies are warning American emerging technology startups about the risks of accepting certain foreign investments, saying “foreign threat actors” from China and elsewhere are using those investments as a guise to steal sensitive technology.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., questioned a senior Bureau of Industry and Security official this week about whether the agency would consider using its foreign direct product rule to impose more license restrictions on foreign exports of advanced chipmaking equipment to China.
The Biden administration is making progress in its effort to persuade American allies to adopt outbound investment restrictions similar to the ones the U.S. is pursuing, a Treasury Department official said July 25.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has told New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) that he plans to resign from the Senate Aug. 20, the governor announced July 23. Senate colleagues had urged Menendez to quit after he was found guilty in a federal corruption trial earlier this month (see 2407160054). Menendez stepped down as chairman in September 2023 after he was indicted (see 2309280005), but he has remained a vocal member of the committee.
The Biden administration is considering imposing additional economic sanctions on Georgia in response to the country’s recent anti-democratic actions, a State Department official told a congressional panel July 23.