The House Foreign Affairs Committee on March 7, 2012 unanimously approved the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012 (H.R. 3783), which would require the Secretary of State to use existing funds to create a tailored strategy to fight the activities of Iran and its proxies in the Western Hemisphere. See Committee Chairman Ros-Lehtinen’s press release (dated 03/07/12) here.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously approved legislation on March 7, 2012 that strengthens sanctions against the Syrian regime. The Syria Freedom Support Act (H.R. 2106) imposes new sanctions targeting the Syrian energy and financial sectors, and proliferation activities. Among other measures, the bill also contains new sanctions targeting top regime officials, a visa ban on persons who provide the Syrian regime with military equipment, and authorization for financial and political assistance to entities that support a peaceful democratic transition in Syria.

On March 6, 2012 the Senate resumed consideration of S. 1813, which would reauthorize the Federal-Aid Highway and highway safety construction programs. On March 7, 2012 the Senate agreed to proceed to consideration of amendments to the bill starting March 8 and, if the package of amendments is agreed to, S. 1813 will be up for full Senate vote.

On March 7, 2012, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk testified before the Senate Finance Committee on key initiatives of the President's Trade Policy Agenda for 2012, such as the U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement (KORUS) that will come into force on March 15, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, and tougher trade enforcement through the new Interagency Trade Enforcement Center (ITEC). USTR Kirk also stated that Russia's Jackson-Vanik status must be terminated as soon as possible in order for U.S. firms to enjoy the same benefits of Russia's World Trade Organization membership as the U.S.' international competitors. Senate Finance Chairman Baucus (D-MT) also commented on the President's trade agenda and laid out three major trade goals for 2012: (1) establishing permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia; (2) Concluding the TPP trade agreement negotiations; and (3) addressing the challenges posed by China.

On March 6, 2012 the following trade-related bill was introduced:

On March 5, 2012 the following trade-related bill was introduced:

The following are the trade-related hearings scheduled from March 5-9, 2012:

On March 7, 2012 the House Foreign Affairs Committee will mark-up H.R. 3783, the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012; H.R. 4041, the Export Promotion Reform Act; and S. Con. Res. 17, a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that Taiwan should be accorded observer status in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Upon committee deliberation and vote the bills will be up for full House consideration.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) announced that the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing March 7, 2012 on the President’s 2012 trade agenda and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk is to testify. On February 29, 2012 Kirk testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the trade agenda.

During a February 29, 2012 testimony before the House Science, Space and Technology Committee's Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) stated that it has worked with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to develop the online StandardsPortal (www.standardportal.org) to provide the type of information that large corporations can access to small and medium sized companies (SMEs) as well. The StandardsPortal is a free resource for U.S. exporters, as well as for those nations looking for guidance in best practices in standards of development. Intel Corp. also testified, stating that it participates in a variety of standards setting organizations - over 200 in all - and that voluntary standards are best, preferably globally, and should be emphasized over technical regulations (except in the areas of health, safety and environment).