Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, reintroduced a bill Jan. 15 to repeal the Corporate Transparency Act, which would require many companies to submit information on who owns and controls them.
A bipartisan group of four lawmakers reintroduced a bill Jan. 14 that would rank countries on their efforts to fight corruption, and would direct the State Department to evaluate whether the worst offenders should be subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., announced Jan. 15 that he has appointed seven subcommittee ranking members for the 119th Congress:
House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., announced Jan. 15 that Margaret Harker will be the panel’s new general counsel. Harker most recently was deputy chief counsel for investigations at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Moolenaar also announced that Alyssa Pettus will become his panel’s communications director, and David Russell will become senior adviser for policy and communications. Dave Hanke will remain staff director.
Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., reintroduced a bill Jan. 14 to require the Energy Department to examine the impact on climate change, consumer energy costs and local communities when considering permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals.
Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Treasury secretary, said Jan. 16 that the U.S. should institute a “very rigorous screening process” to ensure its outbound investment does not help China catch up to the U.S. in such key technology areas as artificial intelligence, computing chips, quantum computing and surveillance.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Jan. 15 that he hopes to elevate the State Department’s role in foreign policy-making if the Senate approves his nomination to lead the agency.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, reintroduced a bill Jan. 13 that would designate the Houthis, also known as Ansarallah, as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), saying the label would trigger more effective sanctions against third parties that supply the Yemen-based group.
Rep. Maria Salazar, R-Fla., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, announced Jan. 14 that she is reintroducing the Fighting Oppression until the Reign of Castro Ends (FORCE) Act, which would prevent the executive branch from removing Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list until the island country commits to democracy and human rights. The bill has 20 co-sponsors, all Republicans. Her announcement came the same day the White House revealed that President Joe Biden is removing Cuba from the list (see 2501140080).
The Bureau of Industry and Security announced another set of changes to its semiconductor-related export controls Jan. 15, creating new lists of trusted chip designers and service providers, introducing new reporting requirements for certain higher-risk customers and making a host of other revisions, clarifications and updates to its existing restrictions, including its latest advanced AI chip controls released earlier this week.