Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., is asking for co-sponsors on a bill that would designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, just one day after reports surfaced that the White House is also pursuing sanctions against the group. In a May 1 letter, Diaz-Balart said that while the U.S. has designated individual members and branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, it has not yet sanctioned it “as a whole.” He said the foreign terrorist designation would impose “tough sanctions on a dangerous organization with longstanding ties to violent, extremist groups.” Diaz-Balart introduced similar legislation in recent years. The White House has asked national security officials to “find a way” to sanction the group, according to an April 30 report in The New York Times. The White House’s request came after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi visited Washington on April 9 and “urged” President Donald Trump to join his country in sanctioning the organization, the report said.

Rep. Vern Buchanan, the Florida Republican who's ranking member of the Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee, is co-sponsoring a bill that would impose sanctions on companies that make and send fentanyl to the U.S. Buchanan, joined by Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., introduced the bill April 10. The bill, H.R. 2226, notes that the Treasury Department used the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act to sanction a synthetic opioid trafficker in April 2018, but says "precision economic and financial sanctions policy tools are needed to address the flow of synthetic opioids." The bill is a companion to a bipartisan Senate bill introduced earlier in the month by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. (see 1904040028). It would require the administration to publicly identify the companies that are selling fentanyl to dealers, bar imports of any kind from those companies, freeze their assets, deny visas to its officials and cut them off from the U.S. banking system. Congress would dedicate $600 million for investigations to uncover which companies are responsible.

A bipartisan bill that would prohibit importation, exportation and interstate trade of bear viscera or products advertised as containing bear viscera was introduced in the House of Representatives on April 10. Reps. Ted Lieu, D-Calif.; Rodney Davis, R-Ill.; Ann Kuster, D-N.H.; and Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., co-sponsored H.R. 2264. The Bear Protection Act of 2019 says, "thousands of bears in Asia are cruelly confined in small cages to be milked for their bile, and the wild Asian bear population has declined significantly in recent years, as a result of habitat loss and poaching due to a strong demand for bear viscera used in traditional medicines and cosmetics." It also said that while most American black bear populations are stable or increasing, some bears have been poached for their viscera, and if that commercial trade grew, it could threaten American bear populations.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is asking House colleagues to become original co-sponsors of the Brunei Sanctions Act by April 29, in an April 20 letter. The bill, which would sanction certain government officials in Brunei, would make use of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Omar's letter said the U.S. “has a duty to call out the blatant disregard for humanity and the violation of basic rights wherever we see them,” and this month “the Sultanate of Brunei instituted a brutal and draconian new Penal Code that would strip away the human rights of its citizens and strengthen the government’s authoritarian grip.” The laws mandate the death penalty for various offenses, including “adultery, consensual same-sex relations, blasphemy, and robbery,” she said. The code also permits “flogging” women who have abortions and amputations for those accused of theft, among other punishments, she said. The potential U.S. sanctions would be applied to any official “who implements this draconian penal code,” Omar said, to ensure they cannot travel to or do business with the U.S.

House Republicans recently introduced a bill that would abolish the Export-Import Bank of the United States, saying the bank’s export subsidies give advantages to specific industries while harming domestic competition and certain sectors of the U.S. economy. If passed, the bank would be abolished three years after the bill’s enactment date. The bill contains a provision that would make the secretary of the Treasury responsible for any “outstanding obligations of the Federal Government under any programs terminated” by the bill. The bill would also terminate the Office of Inspector General for the bank, transferring the office’s obligations to the Treasury. The bill, the "Export-Import Bank Termination Act," was sponsored by Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., and five other House Republicans. It was introduced March 27 and referred to the House Financial Services Committee.

A Senate bill with bipartisan support would require the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Turkish officials, according to a press release from the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. The bill, the Defending United States Citizens and Diplomatic Staff from Political Prosecutions Act, was introduced April 9 by Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Ben Cardin, D-Md. It would sanction senior Turkish officials responsible for the detention of several American citizens over the last few years, including scientist Serkan Golge and pastor Andrew Brunson. “Our bill makes clear that the United States will not tolerate years of Turkish recalcitrance on these cases,” Cardin said in a statement. “Officials in the [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan regime responsible for these crimes must be held accountable under Global Magnitsky standards for their ongoing injustices.”

The Department of the Treasury may soon sanction government officials in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hinted while he was being questioned April 9 during a House hearing for the department’s 2020 budget request.

A House Democrat and Republican recently introduced a bill that would modify financing of certain U.S. exports to Cuba, allowing exporters to enter into contracts with certain Cuban agricultural businesses. The bill, introduced March 27 by Reps. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., and Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., would amend a section in the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 to allow U.S. “investment” in Cuba, according to the bill. The bill defines investment as purchasing a share of ownership of an agricultural business, sharing in profits of a business or entering into a contract to “sell goods, services, or technology relating to the agricultural business.” Currently, U.S. agricultural exporters are not allowed to “extend credit” to Cuban buyers, the bill said, causing exports to Cuba to decline and placing U.S. exporters at a “key disadvantage relative to other exporting countries.”

A Republican and a Democratic representative are urging the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services to fully fund the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) in the wake of the president's 2019 budget request. Reps. Denny Heck, D-Wash., and Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., were planning to send a letter to the subcommittee about the critical role played by CFIUS, which was reformed in 2018 when Congress passed the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA). FIRRMA expanded the jurisdiction of CFIUS when the committee reviews transactions by foreign entities in the U.S. to determine their effect on national security, according to the Treasury Department. Among many changes, FIRRMA expanded which transactions CFIUS can review and allowed it to undertake lengthier investigations. In their letter, the representatives stressed the importance of granting “dedicated funds” to CFIUS, as the Treasury recommended in its budget request. “Lack of resources would impair how effectively CFIUS can enforce mitigation agreements and its ability to maintain awareness of relevant non-notified transactions,” the letter says.

The House passed a bill that would prohibit the trade of defense-related products and services to the security forces of Venezuela, potentially further restricting the Nicolas Maduro regime's access to weapons. The bill, called the Venezuela Arms Restriction Act, was passed in the House on March 25. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on March 26 but has not yet seen a vote.