Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., has been appointed to fill a vacancy on the House Select Committee on China, the panel announced last week. Cline, a former prosecutor, said he favors “tough policies that tactically confront the [Chinese Communist Party] at home and abroad and safeguard our nation’s interests.” Former Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Mich., who used to chair the committee, created an opening on the panel by leaving Congress in April (see 2403250066).
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill last week that would reauthorize the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act for five years. The 2019 law, which expires later this year, requires the president to sanction Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights violations in Hong Kong. Rubio's bill was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Reps. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., introduced a bill June 7 that would require the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to notify Congress if CFIUS denied a member agency’s request to review a transaction.
Four Republican senators asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter last week to explain why her department hasn’t made greater use of its authority to sanction those who commit human rights violations against China’s Uyghur minority.
Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., have introduced a bill to reauthorize the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act for another five years, Rubio’s office announced June 6. The 2020 law, which expires in 2025, authorizes sanctions against entities and people responsible for human rights violations against the Uyghur minority ethnic group in China's Xinjiang region (see 2006170064).
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., have introduced a bill that would continue sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project for another six years and prohibit a national interest waiver of those sanctions, according to a June 5 news release.
The House of Representatives voted 247-155 on June 4 to pass a bill that would sanction International Criminal Court (ICC) officials if they issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., June 4 urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to consider sanctioning Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich over his West Bank policies.
The House version of the FY 2025 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill could withhold funds the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network may need to implement or enforce its new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rule.
The House version of the FY 2025 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill would prohibit the removal of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list, the House Appropriations Committee said June 3.