The House on March 19 passed a bill that would impose property-blocking sanctions on foreign persons who undermine the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12-9 on March 20 to approve President Joe Biden’s nomination of Erik Woodhouse to be head of the State Department’s Office of Sanctions Coordination. Eleven Democrats and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., supported the nomination, while nine Republicans were opposed. The committee’s ranking member, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, has threatened to try to block the nomination when it goes to the full Senate, citing Woodhouse's role in the Biden administration's decision not to sanction the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project while Russia was threatening to invade Ukraine (see 2403070046).
Members of Congress who spoke during the House Agriculture Committee's March 20 hearing on China highlighted several proposals to restrict the communist country’s increasing acquisition of American agricultural land.
The U.S. sanctioned two Russian companies and their leaders for helping the country’s government carry out a “foreign malign influence campaign,” including by impersonating government organizations and European media outlets.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned various people and companies that are part of procurement networks in Iran, Turkey, Oman and Germany that have supported Iran’s ballistic missile, nuclear and defense programs. OFAC said the networks have helped ship carbon fiber, epoxy resins and other “missile-applicable goods” for Iran’s military and other entities in the country’s defense industrial base.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding new export license requirements for people and entities designated under certain Treasury Department sanctions programs, a move it said will strengthen U.S. financial blocking measures and act as a “backstop” for activities that those restrictions don’t cover.
The D.C. U.S. District Court on March 11 dismissed a lawsuit from a senior Democratic Republic of Congo elections official challenging his sanctions designation, saying the listing wasn't "arbitrary or capricious" and that due process laws weren't violated.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on March 18 renewed calls for Congress to vote on his bill that would direct the U.S. to impose sanctions on anyone who provides support to someone in Cuba's military, security sector or intelligence sector (see 2110150019).
A new report this week from the Congressional Research Service outlines U.S. sanctions risks stemming from the global oil tanker market, including from tankers moving sanctioned oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
A senior State Department official called rising weapons shipments between Russia and North Korea “deeply concerning,” saying the U.S. plans to continue using a combination of sanctions and diplomacy to try to disrupt trade between the two countries.