Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, introduced a bill June 12 that would increase the congressional notification threshold for exports of firearms controlled under Category I of the U.S. Munitions List. The legislation would set the threshold at $4 million, up from $1 million, a level set in 1976. The bill was referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The House approved bills late June 23 dealing with anti-piracy sanctions and foreign investment in U.S. farmland.
House Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., called on the Trump administration June 23 to enforce a 2024 law that requires China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a U.S. ban on the popular social media application.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a member of the committee, introduced a bill June 18 to repeal the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019.
Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., introduced a bill June 18 aimed at removing obstacles to defense trade within the four-year-old Australia-U.K.-U.S. security partnership.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said June 18 that the Trump administration should have agreed at this week’s Group of Seven summit in Canada to lower the international price cap on Russian oil.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted June 18 to approve 10 Trump administration nominations, including Jacob Helberg as undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment and Andrew Puzder as U.S. ambassador to the EU.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., announced June 18 that he is reintroducing a bill that would require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to annually update its list of sensitive military, intelligence and national laboratory facilities. The Protect Our Bases Act is intended to ensure CFIUS reviews foreign land purchases near sensitive sites. The legislation, which Scott previously introduced in the last Congress, has 11 co-sponsors, all Republican.
A provision included in a cryptocurrency bill the Senate passed late June 17 would require stablecoin issuers to certify annually that they have implemented anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs.
Rodney Scott, who once led the Border Patrol, was confirmed by the Senate to be the leader of CBP, on a 51-46 vote. All Republicans present voted for Scott, and no Democrats or independents did.