President Joe Biden this week renewed national emergencies authorizing certain sanctions related to Mali and Lebanon, the White House said. Mali continues to experience terrorism and drug trafficking, the White House said, and in Lebanon there continues to be parties seeking to undermine the country's "legitimate and democratically elected government or democratic institutions." The emergency for Mali was renewed for one year from July 26, and for Lebanon, for one year from Aug. 1.
The House plans to vote as soon as Tuesday under suspension of the rules on the Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act (HR-1338) and three other Commerce Committee-approved communications policy bills, said the office of Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. Notably absent from the agenda is the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act (HR-3565), which some lawmakers were pushing House leaders to bring up for a floor vote before Congress leaves on the month-plus August recess (see 2307200071). The House Rules Committee, meanwhile, will consider Wednesday whether to allow votes on three broadband-focused amendments to the FY 2024 Agriculture Department appropriations bill (HR-4368).
New York state will make $20 million available to counties for emergency communications upgrades through the interoperable communications grant targeted program, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Friday. New York seeks to improve land mobile radio interoperability for public safety agencies within the state and in border states, the governor’s office said. Funding may be used for enhancing redundancy and resiliency of public safety radio systems, expanding coverage and frequency band capabilities of national interoperability channels and developing or enhancing shared radio and other systems, it said. Applications are due Sept. 8. “This grant funding will help ensure our communities across the state have the modern communication tools they need to act quickly and effectively to protect New Yorkers and save lives,” said Hochul.
The Senate last week approved an amendment to its version of the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act that would restrict certain U.S. petroleum exports from being shipped to certain foreign “adversaries.” The amendment, which was approved 85-12, would specifically prohibit U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve sales to any entity “under the ownership or control” of the Chinese, Russian, North Korean or Iranian governments, with certain exceptions for national security reasons.
President Joe Biden this week renewed a national emergency authorizing certain sanctions related to transnational criminal organizations, which "threaten international political and economic systems and pose a direct threat to the safety and welfare" of the U.S. The emergency was renewed for another year from July 24.
A former senior export control official with the Commerce Department told the House Select Committee on China that he thinks the Entity List is ineffective against China, because countries can change their names, establish partnerships, change locations, and because the Entity List is a "meat cleaver" approach, given that listed parties are subject to very strict licensing requirements.
Capitol Hill may be on course to tackle a trifecta of major FCC and communications policy matters during the final week before Congress begins the month-plus August recess, including Senate floor votes on Democratic commission nominee Anna Gomez, but lawmakers cautioned Thursday afternoon that action on those issues remained uncertain. Senate Democrats were urging Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to file cloture on Gomez in hopes of setting up floor votes next week on the nominee, whose confirmation would bring the FCC to a 3-2 Democratic majority more than two years into President Joe Biden’s term.
Despite having no prior relationship with Pennsylvania resident Zachary Fridline, Integrity Vehicle Group, through its telemarketing agent, made prerecorded telemarketing calls to him without his consent in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), said a Tuesday class action (docket 4:23-cv-01194) in U.S. District Court for Middle Pennsylvania in Williamsport.
The AI working group led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., won’t rush to introduce legislation, members of the group told us after their second Senate AI briefing (see 2307110049).
The Commerce Department published its spring 2023 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security and the Census Bureau, including new rules that will add more entities to the Entity List and finalize new export filing requirements.