Four Democratic members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s arms sales task force introduced a bill July 17 that would create a State Department program to determine whether U.S. defense exports are used to commit war crimes or harm civilians.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., introduced a bill July 16 that would update the conditions for lifting sanctions in the Caeser Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019.
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., announced July 17 that he has filed a discharge petition to force House floor consideration of his bill to increase sanctions and export controls on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., asked the Commerce Department July 18 to explain how it plans to implement the Trump administration’s recent decision to allow U.S. semiconductor firm Nvidia to sell its previously restricted advanced H20 chips to China (see 2507150013).
Reps. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., have been appointed to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China for the 119th Congress. The announcement follows several other recent rounds of appointments to the human rights and rule of law panel (see 2507110035, 2507100012 and 2505230057).
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., reintroduced a bill July 15 that would require the executive branch to designate the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, introduced a bill July 17 that would require the Bureau of Industry and Security to increase the number of export control officers stationed in foreign countries to at least 20, up from 11 today.
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence approved an FY 2026 Intelligence Authorization Act July 15 that would provide additional reviews of foreign purchases of land near U.S. intelligence community facilities, according to a summary of the legislation.
A bipartisan group of four House members reintroduced a bill July 15 that would ease defense export restrictions on Cyprus.
The State Department has designated Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Michael Rigas to be its “point person” for speeding up the government’s review of defense exports, Rigas told the House Foreign Affairs Committee July 15.