The Water Resources Reform and Development Act will give the go ahead to 34 water infrastructure projects nationwide, including initiatives to deepen the Boston Harbor and the Port of Savannah, President Barack Obama said as he signed it into law on June 10. Lawmakers across the political spectrum and industry groups praised the passage of the law.

The Obama administration should remove Brunei from Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, or halt the talks all together, over the announcement of a “new Taliban-like Brunei penal code,” said 12 women’s rights organizations in a June 6 letter to President Barack Obama. The penal code will phase-in punishments that include stricter consequences for adultery and theft, media reports say (here). The new laws will also punish women for wearing “indecent clothing,” becoming pregnant outside of marriage and having abortions, said the Feminist Majority Foundation in the letter.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) voiced opposition the House fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations legislation for the departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, calling the bill an insufficient measure to address the nation’s pressing infrastructure needs, in a June 9 statement. House Republicans aim to pass the bill this month, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said in a recent memo (see 14060904). The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced its counterpart legislation on June 5 (see 14060518).

President Barack Obama signed into law on June 10 the Water Resources Reform and Development Act. The law mandates full use of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund for harbor maintenance and dredging by 2025, with annual increases in use over the next 10 years. House and Senate conferees brokered the compromise on the legislation in May after months of negotiations (see 14051612).

President Barack Obama will nominate Marcus Jadotte as assistant secretary for industry and analysis at the Commerce Department and Bruce Andrews as the deputy secretary at Commerce. Jadotte served as the vice president of public affairs and multicultural development at NASCAR from 2011 to 2014, and previously served on congressional staffs. Andrews is currently chief of staff at Commerce, a position he has held since 2011.

President Barack Obama issued a presidential proclamation on May 16 to declare May 18 through May 24, 2014, as World Trade Week. Obama urged Americans to host events, trade shows and educational programs to promote trade initiatives.

President Barack Obama sent to the Senate on May 15 nominations for Victor Mendez as deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation, as well as Peter Rogoff as Transportation under secretary for policy. Obama announced his intent to nomination Mendez and Rogoff on May 14, along with the nomination of Robert Adler for a subsequent term as commissioner at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (see 14051515).

President Barack Obama will nominate Robert Adler as commissioner at the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for a subsequent term. Adler currently is acting chairman of the CPSC, after being appointed to the agency in 2009. Obama also intends to nominate Victor Mendez as deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation, along with Peter Rogoff as under secretary for policy at Transportation. Mendez is currently acting deputy secretary of Transportation, and has served as administrator of the Transportation Department’s Federal Highway Administration since 2009. Rogoff was designated acting under secretary of Transportation for policy in 2014, and has served as federal transit administrator since 2009.

President Barack Obama on May 13 issued an executive order to sanction five individuals from the Central African Republic accused of destabilizing the country and fueling violence over recent months. The executive order also provides the Treasury Department with a larger scope to exact additional sanctions against those involved in the crisis. The order blocks the U.S. property and interests of the sanctioned individuals, along with property and interests that come into the U.S. The order also prohibits other dealings with the sanctioned individuals. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added the individuals to the Specially Designated Nationals List (here), as follows:

The U.S. and Uruguay aimed to sign a Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement on the sidelines of a May 12 meeting between President Barack Obama and Uruguayan President Jose Mujica Cordano, according to a White House Fact Sheet. The agreement provides the legal framework to exchange information and lend assistance related to the prevention, detection, and investigation of customs offenses. The collaboration aims to stem duty evasion, among other customs priorities, according to the White House. The U.S. has signed similar agreements with 68 countries globally. The two sides also held on May 12 a trade and investment council meeting under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement. The meeting included work toward enhancement on bilateral trade facilitation, market access for agricultural products, trade in services, intellectual property rights and small and medium business cooperation, said the White House. The officials in attendance praised the recent Uruguayan grant of market access to U.S. poultry and beef, along with U.S. market opening to Uruguayan citrus and deboned lamb. Bilateral trade registered $2.2 billion in total goods trade in 2013, said the White House.