The State Department, which relies mainly on the Defense Department to identify violations of end-use requirements for U.S. arms transfers, should do more to ensure DOD knows what types of incidents it's interested in, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Sept. 16.
House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., urged the Trump administration Sept. 18 to work with U.S. allies to take several steps, including restricting or prohibiting outbound investment in China’s aviation sector, to pressure Beijing to stop limiting exports of critical minerals.
The House Transportation Committee approved a bill Sept. 17 by voice vote that would reauthorize the Federal Maritime Commission through FY 2029. The legislation would give the agency several new tools to protect ocean shipping, including by establishing a formal process to report complaints about shipping exchanges, which connect shippers with carriers to make agreements or contracts for transporting cargo (see 2506300066).
Fifty Republican senators led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, sent a joint letter to British, French and German officials Sept. 16 praising their countries’ recent decision to reimpose U.N. “snapback” sanctions over Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., announced Sept. 17 that he plans to introduce bipartisan legislation to seize about $300 billion in frozen Russian assets and make the funds available to Ukraine to better equip its military.
Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, announced Sept. 15 that he has introduced a bill to authorize the president to sanction current and former Pakistani officials under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act for allegedly violating human rights and undermining democracy.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., urged Congress Sept. 15 to pass two pending Russia sanctions bills to pressure Moscow to end its war against Ukraine.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced Sept. 14 that he won’t run for reelection to his House seat next year but will serve out the rest of his current term.
Three Republican senators urged the Treasury Department Sept. 11 to place Chinese lidar company Hesai Technology on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC List), which would restrict the firm’s access to U.S. public investment, including stocks.
Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., asked the Treasury Department Sept. 15 whether it analyzed the national security consequences of its decision to narrow the scope of a rule implementing the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA).