Reps. Martin Stutzman, R-Ind., and Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., led more than 100 House Republicans Dec. 19 in calling for increased oversight of Syria following the repeal of a sanctions law targeting that country. The lawmakers said they want to ensure that Syria’s new government protects the country’s religious and ethnic minorities.
Sens. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced Dec. 21 that they have introduced a bill to close a “loophole” that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. chips remotely.
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and John Kennedy, R-La., have urged the Trump administration to pressure the EU to repeal a new methane mandate that they say could hurt U.S. oil and gas exports.
Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced a resolution Dec. 17 urging the Trump administration to seize “shadow fleet” vessels that transport sanctioned Russian oil.
House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar of Michigan and eight other congressional Republicans asked the Defense Department in a Dec. 18 letter to add 17 firms, including AI startup DeepSeek, to its 1260H List of Chinese military companies.
The U.S. government is taking several steps to curb the transfer of U.S. firearms to drug cartels and other violent groups in Mexico, a State Department official told a congressional panel last week.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., tried and failed Dec. 18 to have the Senate vote on a bill that could lead to additional sanctions on China for providing dual-use items to Russia’s war against Ukraine (see 2508020001).
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., led 13 other House Democrats in introducing a bill Dec. 18 that would block the sale of advanced AI chips to China and other U.S. arms embargoed countries.
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he sent a “friendly note” to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Dec. 16 indicating that he hopes the upper chamber can take up a bill to sanction officials who undermine democracy in the Republic of Georgia.
The House Select Committee on China and the House and Senate Intelligence committees said in a report released Dec. 17 that many Energy Department-funded research projects have been conducted with Chinese entities the U.S. government has placed on restricted lists for their ties to China’s military or role in human rights abuses.