The House last week approved an amendment to the FY 2025 State Department, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill that would direct $1 million to implementing the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act, a new law for sanctioning Iranian oil.
A bipartisan group of 41 House members urged the Biden administration this week to “expeditiously implement” and “fully utilize” newly enacted authorities for sanctioning Iranian oil.
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., announced May 31 that she and three other House members have introduced a bill that would sanction Iranian judges, prosecutors and investigators for their ongoing persecution of peaceful protesters.
A bipartisan group of four House members introduced a bill last week they said would close an export control loophole that has allowed China to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely.
The Port of Baltimore suspended all vessel traffic into and out of the port “until further notice” due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was hit by a container ship in the early morning March 26.
Four Republican House members led by Rep. Nathaniel Moran of Texas have asked the Commerce and State departments to describe the measures they are considering to counteract what appears to be increasing collaboration between China and Iran on military drone development and distribution.
The House on Nov. 3 passed a bill that could lead to new primary and secondary sanctions on foreign ports and refineries that process or accept petroleum exported from or originating in Iran. The Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act, passed 342-69, could also lead to sanctions on any entity that “transports, offloads, or otherwise deals in petroleum originating in Iran, including vessels engaging in ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum,” according to a press release from Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who introduced the bill alongside Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.
Citing a Financial Times report that Chinese artificial intelligence developers are evading controls on advanced semiconductors by using cloud services, members of the House introduced a bill to stop those practices, called Closing Loopholes for the Overseas Use and Development of Artificial Intelligence (CLOUD AI). The bill was introduced last month, and its text published this week.
A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate and House could lead to new sanctions on entities that process or trade Iranian oil, including through ship-to-ship transfers. The Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act would also require the Biden administration to report on the “increase of exports of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans are asking the Bureau of Industry and Security for information on its export enforcement and compliance efforts involving China, including steps to crack down on Chinese transfers of controlled U.S. technology to State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSTs). In a letter sent to BIS last week, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, chair of the committee, said he is concerned China’s “economic and trade ties” with terrorism sponsors is “undermining U.S. national security and foreign policy interests.” He and Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., asked BIS to provide information on recent Chinese export violations, licensing procedures, end-use checks and more by March 2.