Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., introduced a bill this week to delay implementation of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule by at least a year.

The House approved a bill by voice vote Dec. 3 that is designed to protect American companies that are sued in federal court for complying with U.S. sanctions and export controls.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, introduced a bill Dec. 3 that would require sanctions against those who commit "genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity" in Sudan.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., introduced a bill Dec. 3 to impose sanctions on Chinese police departments that operate in the U.S. or try to do so.

Sens. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked the Government Accountability Office Dec. 3 to report to Congress on whether U.S. restrictions on artificial intelligence exports are adequate to protect national security and human rights.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., said Dec. 2 that his bill to expand sanctions on Syria's Bashar Assad regime seems to have stalled in Congress but that he hopes to get it enacted into law next year if not this month.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, on Dec. 3 criticized the Biden administration’s new export controls on advanced computing chips and chipmaking equipment, saying they leave too many loopholes that Chinese companies can exploit to obtain American technology and modernize China’s military. McCaul said he plans to work with the incoming Trump administration to close those loopholes. McCaul made his comments a day after the Bureau of Industry and Security unveiled the new restrictions (see 2412020016).

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a proponent of imposing more sanctions in response to Sudan’s civil war, said Nov. 29 that he plans to meet the week of Dec. 2 with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of state, to discuss several topics, including Sudan.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a senior member of the committee, urged the Biden administration Dec. 2 to impose sanctions in response to the Republic of Georgia’s violent crackdown on peaceful protesters in recent days.

A bipartisan, bicameral group of four lawmakers announced Nov. 25 the introduction of a bill to create a State Sponsor of Unlawful or Wrongful Detention (SSWD) designation, which would allow the State Department to impose sanctions and other penalties on countries that wrongfully detain Americans.