Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., plans this year to make another attempt to persuade Congress to pass legislation aimed at boosting U.S. exports to Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, a spokesperson for the senator said Aug. 16.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., urged the Biden administration Aug. 16 to impose more sanctions on Venezuelan ruler Nicolas Maduro and his regime for refusing to concede he lost the country’s recent presidential election to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
The Biden administration is pushing to implement the new Iran sanctions authorities that Congress approved four months ago, a National Security Council spokesperson said Aug. 15.
The State Department on Aug. 15 submitted a determination to Congress that the Australia and U.K. export control systems are “comparable” to those of the U.S., clearing the way for both countries to potentially benefit from defense trade exemptions as part of the AUKUS partnership (see 2408070048). The agency said it plans to “shortly publish” an interim final rule to amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and implement that exemption, which will take effect Sept. 1.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Aug. 14 that the Biden administration should move more quickly to implement new Iran sanctions that Congress approved four months ago. “The only way to deter Iran and its proxies is through a clear display of strength and resolve," McCaul said in a statement.
USDA estimates it would need about $36.7 million over five years to create an online system to collect and share information on foreign investment in U.S. farmland, a department spokesperson said Aug. 13.
A bipartisan group of 14 senators urged USDA this week to modernize its process for collecting information on foreign investment in U.S. farmland.
The Biden administration is “reviewing closely” the requirements of new laws authorizing sanctions on Iranian oil and “will ensure the rigorous implementation of their provisions” as they take effect, a State Department official recently told a lawmaker.
A bipartisan group of 22 House members urged the Biden administration this month to investigate reports that Iran provided financial support to pro-Palestinian protest groups in the United States, possibly in violation of U.S. sanctions laws.
A bipartisan group of 46 House members urged the Biden administration this week to fully use “all tools at its disposal,” including sanctions, to crack down on Hezbollah’s international financing network.