A bipartisan bill could add the USDA secretary to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and block China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from investing in American agricultural companies. The bill is aimed at “preventing foreign adversaries from taking any ownership or control of the United States’ agricultural land and agricultural businesses,” lawmakers said.
With hostile acts like China recently sending a spy balloon drifting across the U.S., Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said it's difficult to manage the U.S.-China relationship "when our economies are deeply integrated."
In West Virginia, where the first House Ways and Means Committee hearing of the new Congress was held since the Republicans won the majority, the members asked questions of business owners, and were hosted by a mid-sized business that sells hardwood lumber to furniture makers, cabinetmakers and flooring manufacturers.
Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., introduced a bill this month that could impose new sanctions on Chinese military companies and surveillance companies with ties to the Chinese government. The bill, which could impose financial sanctions on companies subject to certain U.S. investment restrictions (see 2106030067), was referred to the House Foreign Affairs and Financial Services committees. Barr introduced similar legislation in 2021 that would have required the U.S. to sanction entities included on the Defense Department’s annual listing of Chinese military companies.
Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee will join the Republican minority on the Senate Finance Committee, Republicans announced this week. Two of the Republicans who previously served on the committee chose not to run again in 2022, and one quit part-way through his term to become a university president.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced the committee's leaders last week, including Vice Chair Ann Wagner, R-Mo. McCaul said he looks forward to working with them and committee Democrats “to pass meaningful legislation that prioritizes national security and strengthens our relationships with key allies, while conducting vital oversight of the Biden administration.” One oversight effort will include a review of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s export control licensing decisions and policies (see 2210030068, 2301190055 and 2301300052).
The Commerce Department may be considering approving an export license for assault-style or sniper semi-automatic rifles to Azerbaijan despite the “credible allegations of atrocities” that Azerbaijan has committed for years against Armenians, said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In a Feb. 1 letter to Secretary Gina Raimondo, Menendez said Commerce should deny the license or explain how it plans to ensure the weapons don't contribute to killings and other human rights violations.
A new, bipartisan bill in the Senate could block the U.S. from selling crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China or any company controlled by the Chinese government. The bill -- introduced this week by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and others -- comes after the House passed similar legislation last month.
Fourteen Republican senators, led by Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio, wrote to the treasury secretary and secretary of state as the Cabinet officials traveled to China to meet with President Xi Jinping.
Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., introduced a bill that would require the administration to keep export controls on Huawei. Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., and Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, co-sponsored the measure.