Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J., one of the less hawkish members of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, bemoaned the fact that the original title of the committee, which talked about strategic competition, has been forgotten.
The Biden administration should remove Gareth Joyce, the CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Proterra, from the President’s Export Council, said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., citing Proterra’s bankruptcy filing in August. “It is unclear why Joyce, having overseen the failure of Proterra, should continue to advise you on issues of such great importance to our nation’s economic security and wellbeing,” Barrasso said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he spoke candidly with Chinese President Xi Jinping on a trip to Shanghai, saying China needs to stop unfair treatment of U.S. firms with operations in China.
A large group of House members, including some of the most powerful Republicans in the chamber, are asking the U.S. trade representative to tell the EU to designate the U.S. as a "low-risk" country under its new deforestation-free regulation. Exporters of wood products must be in compliance with the law beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is asking the Biden administration to strengthen the Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (APEP), concerned that the aim has moved from an on-paper agreement to a mere forum.
House Republicans introduced a bill this week that would ask the Office of the Trade Representative and USDA to set up a task force to dismantle tariff and non-tariff barriers to agricultural exports. The legislation, called the Prioritizing Offensive Agricultural Disputes and Enforcement Act, is a companion to a Senate bill (see 2309280066).
The Biden administration should sanction former Ecuador President Rafael Correa for his involvement in corruption and human rights violations, Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in a Oct. 2 letter to the White House. They said Congress is “pursuing bipartisan legislative efforts to deepen bilateral relations with Ecuador, and Biden “should reinforce these bipartisan measures by immediately holding [Correa] accountable.” The lawmakers, led by Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the committee’s top Republican, also said Correa makes “frequent trips to meet with U.S.-sanctioned officials of the narco-terrorist regime in Venezuela.” The White House didn’t comment.
A bipartisan group of 72 House members and 22 senators is asking the Biden administration to use the Magnitsky Act to hold Azerbaijani officials accountable for what they called "the ongoing human rights crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh."
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on CNBC Thursday the House won't approve a continuing resolution from the Senate, in part because it doesn’t address border security. “I think we could work through the weekend and I think we could figure this out,” he said. McCarthy held out hope the government won’t close at midnight Saturday. “We’re going to get this done,” he said. He acknowledged that reaching an agreement won’t be easy. “I’ve got challenges [in] our conference,” he said: “I’ve got members who will not vote to have a stopgap measure to continue to fund the government. I’ve got members who say they’ll never vote for an omnibus [bill]. Well, if you won’t do any of that, it’s hard to govern.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., filed cloture Sept. 28 on the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (H.R. 3935), the shell bill for the chamber's continuing resolution that would avert a federal government shutdown and extend appropriations until Nov 17. The Senate voted 76-22 earlier that day on a motion to proceed to the CR.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., replaced Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after Menendez stepped down from the role last week amid a federal bribery indictment. Menendez earlier this week pleaded not guilty to charges that he directed federal aid and weapons sales to Egypt in exchange for money and other benefits.