Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., reintroduced a bill July 16 that would bar China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from buying land within 10 miles of sensitive U.S. sites, including military bases and federally funded research labs. The Safeguarding Invaluable Land Act, or SOIL Act, has five co-sponsors and was referred to the House Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, and Energy and Commerce committees. When he introduced it in 2023, it was called the Saving Our Invaluable Land (SOIL) Act.
The House Appropriations Committee unveiled an FY 2026 financial services and general government appropriations bill July 20 that would provide $21 million for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., the same amount as both the Trump administration’s request and the FY 2025 enacted level.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., introduced a bill July 14 aimed at improving the tracking of foreign purchases of U.S. farmland.
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.