The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s foreign arms sales task force held the second in a series of roundtables April 29 to receive defense industry input on improving the U.S. foreign arms sales process, the committee announced April 30. During the closed-door session, the task force heard from the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Defense Industrial Association. The committee revealed in January that it was forming the task force (see 2501220086).
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., and Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus, urged the Trump administration April 30 to reconsider its decision to designate Haitian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), saying the move could impede the delivery of humanitarian aid to the impoverished country.
The Senate voted 67-29 on April 29 to confirm former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., to be U.S. ambassador to China. Perdue has said he will seek to “increase the dialogue pace” on U.S.-China trade and press China to improve its human rights record, curb its purchase of Iranian oil and stem its export of fentanyl precursor chemicals (see 2504030045).
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called on the Commerce Department April 29 to improve its efforts to prevent the illegal diversion of U.S. firearms exports.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., introduced a bill April 28 that would codify former President Joe Biden’s February 2024 executive order allowing the U.S. to sanction those who undermine peace, security and stability in the West Bank.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said April 29 that Azerbaijani officials, including President Ilham Aliyev, should face sanctions for recent human rights abuses, such as a growing number of political prisoners.
Several speakers at a Capitol Hill event hosted by the Burma Research Institute April 28 called for sanctioning Myanmar’s military junta for human rights violations against civilians.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., both tweeted their support April 25 for Paraguay’s designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization (see 2504240065).
The leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged the Trump administration April 21 to give Syria additional sanctions relief to help stabilize the war-torn country.
House Select Committee on China ranking member Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., is expected to run to replace Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who announced April 23 that he will not seek re-election next year. Krishnamoorthi has been active on a wide range of export control issues, such as pushing to curb shipments of advanced computing chips to China (see 2501300067).