A large group of House members, including some of the most powerful Republicans in the chamber, are asking the U.S. trade representative to tell the EU to designate the U.S. as a "low-risk" country under its new deforestation-free regulation. Exporters of wood products must be in compliance with the law beginning Jan. 1, 2025.
House Republicans introduced a bill this week that would ask the Office of the Trade Representative and USDA to set up a task force to dismantle tariff and non-tariff barriers to agricultural exports. The legislation, called the Prioritizing Offensive Agricultural Disputes and Enforcement Act, is a companion to a Senate bill (see 2309280066).
The Biden administration should sanction former Ecuador President Rafael Correa for his involvement in corruption and human rights violations, Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said in a Oct. 2 letter to the White House. They said Congress is “pursuing bipartisan legislative efforts to deepen bilateral relations with Ecuador, and Biden “should reinforce these bipartisan measures by immediately holding [Correa] accountable.” The lawmakers, led by Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the committee’s top Republican, also said Correa makes “frequent trips to meet with U.S.-sanctioned officials of the narco-terrorist regime in Venezuela.” The White House didn’t comment.
A bipartisan group of 72 House members and 22 senators is asking the Biden administration to use the Magnitsky Act to hold Azerbaijani officials accountable for what they called "the ongoing human rights crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh."
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on CNBC Thursday the House won't approve a continuing resolution from the Senate, in part because it doesn’t address border security. “I think we could work through the weekend and I think we could figure this out,” he said. McCarthy held out hope the government won’t close at midnight Saturday. “We’re going to get this done,” he said. He acknowledged that reaching an agreement won’t be easy. “I’ve got challenges [in] our conference,” he said: “I’ve got members who will not vote to have a stopgap measure to continue to fund the government. I’ve got members who say they’ll never vote for an omnibus [bill]. Well, if you won’t do any of that, it’s hard to govern.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., filed cloture Sept. 28 on the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act (H.R. 3935), the shell bill for the chamber's continuing resolution that would avert a federal government shutdown and extend appropriations until Nov 17. The Senate voted 76-22 earlier that day on a motion to proceed to the CR.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., replaced Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after Menendez stepped down from the role last week amid a federal bribery indictment. Menendez earlier this week pleaded not guilty to charges that he directed federal aid and weapons sales to Egypt in exchange for money and other benefits.
Senate Republicans last week reintroduced a bill that could require the U.S. to sanction all Russian state-owned companies. The bill, titled the Halting Enrichment of Russian Oligarchs and Industry Allies of Moscow’s Schemes to Leverage its Abject Villainy Abroad Act, would require the president to impose the sanctions 60 days after the legislation is enacted. “We have a moral duty, and it’s in our national security interest, to do everything in our power to limit any U.S. funds that enrich the pockets of the Russian regime,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who reintroduced the bill alongside Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rick Scott, R-Fla.
The co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Korea recently introduced a bill that would expand sanctions on any parties involved in trade or financing with North Korea that could lead to arms transfers to Russia.
A new House bill with bipartisan support could lead to new sanctions against certain entities and people “engaged in the proliferation or use of foreign commercial spyware.” The bill, introduced by Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., would specifically authorize sanctions against any party that develops, maintains, owns, operates, brokers, markets, sells, leases, licenses or “otherwise makes available spyware that has enabled the targeting of United States Government officials or personnel of the intelligence community.”
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. should review U.S. investments made by Chinese lithium battery supplier Guoxuan High-Tech through its U.S. subsidiary, Gotion Inc., Republicans said in a Sept. 20 letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The lawmakers said the company, also known as Guoxuan High-Tech, has invested in lithium battery manufacturing plants in Michigan and Illinois, adding that its owners’ “membership and affiliation” with the Chinese government “requires a rigorous review” by CFIUS.