Senate Foreign Relations Chair Eyes ‘Comprehensive’ China Bill
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin, D-Md., said Feb. 1 that he is working with ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, to craft a “comprehensive” bill to address a wide range of concerns about China.
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“We are very concerned about many aspects of China’s activities,” Cardin told reporters. “I’m ready to give committee time and I think [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer [D-N.Y.] is ready to give floor time to a comprehensive bill” that would deal with such issues as commerce, energy, human rights, Taiwan and “coercive actions.”
Cardin said he is moving “as quickly as possible” to finish writing the bill and put it before his committee. There are “lots of different provisions and moving parts here, and some of it is agreed to and others are still under negotiations,” he said.
Cardin noted that many of his colleagues have already introduced China-related bills of their own, reflecting keen congressional interest in the topic.
Turning to the Middle East, Cardin said he is working with Democratic and Republican colleagues and the Biden administration to determine what actions they can take to counter Iran’s “nefarious activities,” including Tehran’s support for the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, and militias in Iraq.
“We’ve got to take stronger action against Iran,” he said. “We are looking at different types of ways in which we can strengthen sanctions, that we can deal with other areas to isolate Iran, including their activities in other countries. We are hoping to come together with a bipartisan bill that can work.”
While he will look at Iran-related bills that have already been introduced, he wants to avoid measures that don't have broad support. “I’m not interested in a battle between the executive and legislative branches,” he said. “I’m interested in action against Iran.”
Turning to Europe, Cardin said he is exploring whether to ask the Biden administration to consider imposing Global Magnitsky Act sanctions on individuals involved in corruption in Hungary. “I think the level of corruption in Hungary warrants a review as to whether it would be appropriate or not to do that,” he said.
A new report by Transparency International calls Hungary the most corrupt member state of the EU, partly because of the erosion of the rule of law.
Cardin said his top priority in the near term is getting Congress to pass the administration’s supplemental appropriations request, especially its military, economic, and humanitarian aid for cash-strapped Ukraine. The package, which also includes funding for Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and homeland border security, has stalled amid disagreements over border security.
He said the supplemental would not be an appropriate vehicle for the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act, which his committee recently approved (see 2401240069). That's because the REPO Act, which would authorize the government to seize frozen Russian central bank assets in the U.S. to help rebuild Ukraine, is more focused on longer-term needs than the supplemental, he explained.