With a vote that sends its U.S. Innovation and Competition Act back to the House, the Senate moved the two chambers' China packages one step closer to a legislative conference to align the bills. The 68-28 vote came late March 28.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill March 24 that would give the administration the authority to sanction foreigners that create space debris without notifying the U.S government. "The bill would include exceptions for instances in which the foreign entity has been acting within a civil space cooperation agreement with the United States or has been working in compliance with United Nations law enforcement objectives, as well as for the importation of goods," his press release said.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and five fellow Republicans introduced legislation March 25 to renew the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act until the end of December 2034. The current law's expiration date is the end of this year. The Magnitsky Act provides authority to impose sanctions on individuals responsible for human rights violations.

Two House oversight committee leaders are looking into Credit Suisse’s compliance with Russian sanctions after the investment firm reportedly asked investors to destroy documents about yachts and private jets owned by its clients. The Credit Suisse directive, reported by the Financial Times in February, “raises significant concerns that it may be concealing information about whether participants” are “evading sanctions” imposed by the U.S. and other countries against Russia, said Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security.

The top Democrats on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China urged House and Senate leadership to include several sanctions and export control-related provisions (see 2202030062) in the final version of Congress’ China competition bill. As leadership begins negotiations on legislation to reconcile the versions passed in the House and Senate (see 2203210064), they should make sure not to omit “robust provisions on human rights principles,” said CECC Chair Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Co-Chair Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass.

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will testify at the House Ways and Means Committee March 30 at 10 a.m. The hybrid virtual and in-person hearing is on the topic of the Biden administration's trade policy agenda. She will testify at the Senate Finance Committee March 31st at 10 a.m.

Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, introduced the Preventing Labor Union Slowdowns (Plus) Act, which would revise the National Labor Relations Act to define a labor slowdown by port unions as an unfair labor practice. It also would change the labor law to say that labor unions' negotiations against port automation are an unfair labor practice.

A new Senate bill could require the government to regularly review whether Russia’s major oil companies should be added to the Entity List. Under the bill, introduced last week by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the interagency end-user review committee would be required to review every 90 days whether Rosneft, Surgutneftegas, Lukoil, Gazprom and other Russian oil companies warrant placement on the Entity List. “We MUST make completely clear to Russian oil companies that the U.S. stands for freedom; and they will be completely black listed and stay that way until it is proven to Congress they deserve to do business in our freedom-loving nation,” Scott said in a statement.

The Russia and Belarus Financial Sanctions Act, clarifying that foreign subsidiaries of U.S. financial institutions must comply with American sanctions against Russia and Belarus, passed out of the House Financial Services Committee March 17 on a voice vote. The Nowhere to Hide Oligarchs' Assets Act, which gives the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network more access to records so that they can "detect Russian oligarchs who are participating in money laundering techniques to hide their money, avoid scrutiny, and evade our sanctions," passed out of the same committee on a 26-23 party-line vote.

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., and other Republicans asked the administration to use all available tools to help the union that represents dock workers and the port authorities on the West Coast to reach contracts on time this summer. Braun and his colleagues wrote, "We have heard from a number of stakeholders with concerns that a breakdown in negotiations ... will lead to even more disruptions and shipping delays at a time in which our nation’s ports are reporting record backlogs. ... Any delays caused by failed negotiations will have a drastic cost and impact on our nation’s supply chain. This cost will be felt by not only retailers and others that rely on ports for their business, but also by millions of American workers, farmers, and ranchers, who may face short-term shutdowns at their factories or barriers to shipping their products to market.”