Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., welcomed the Biden administration’s recent decision to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela after the country’s supreme court barred opposition leader Maria Corina Machado from this year’s presidential election (see 2401300014).
More than 150 House Republicans urged President Joe Biden in a Feb. 4 letter to reverse his temporary pause in pending decisions on liquefied natural gas exports, saying the moratorium will hurt the U.S. economy and undercut efforts to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian energy. The letter was led by Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. Twenty-six Republican senators sent a similar letter to Biden in late January (see 2401260070).
The House Foreign Affairs Committee late Feb. 6 approved a bill that would make inflation-based adjustments to the dollar thresholds that trigger congressional notification of arms sales.
The U.K. government faced pressure from Parliament this week about whether it failed to sanction companies owned by Iran’s state-backed petrochemicals firm, allowing it to evade western restrictions by maintaining accounts with at least two London banks. Members of Parliament called for an investigation and said the government may need more sanctions enforcement resources.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 6 approved a bill that would designate the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization following the Yemen-based group’s recent attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
U.S. commercial space company Momentus has completed the requirements of a 2021 national security agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., the company announced last week.
The Bureau of Industry and Security should get a “significant” funding boost next year so its export control authorities can keep pace with emerging technologies and so its enforcement branch can continue increasing penalties on violators, the top Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee said this week.
The proposed Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act, which would use sanctions and anti-money laundering measures to counter the illicit fentanyl supply chain (see 2401110042), is included in the Senate's newly negotiated $118 billion national security supplemental appropriations bill, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said on Feb. 5.
The top Democrat on the House Select Committee on China said he believes Congress will be able to overcome its internal disagreements to pass legislation restricting outbound investment in China.
A group of 14 House members, including the leaders of two committees, urged the Federal Maritime Commission in a Feb. 1 letter to move “as expeditiously as possible” to initiate a rulemaking on shipping exchanges.