Economic Sanctions to Achieve U.S. Foreign Policy Goals: Discussion and Guide to Current Law (Congressional Research Service)

Economic Sanctions to Achieve U.S. Foreign Policy Goals: Discussion and Guide to Current Law

Congressional Research Service

.......Both the Congress and the President in recent years have increasingly relied on
economic sanctions as a means to establish and promote their foreign policy
objectives. The 105th Congress currently has under consideration legislation relating
to the procedure for drafting new sanctions regimes, as well as religious persecution,
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms sales and transfers,
export controls, terrorism, international narcotics control, travel restrictions,
environment, workers rights (including issues of prison or forced labor and child
labor), humanitarian donations of food and medicine, war crimes, torture, and human
rights. Legislative initiatives to address particular countries' behavior--most recently
Iran, Libya, Iraq, Cuba, Sudan, China, Burma, and Russia--have been debated
frequently throughout government and the business community, both in the United
States and in international fora. Sanctions to promote foreign policy objectives have
been offered regularly during the consideration of annual appropriations bills and
authorization measures............


Congressional Research Service


The Congressional Research Service (CRS) serves shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. CRS experts assist at every stage of the legislative process — from the early considerations that precede bill drafting, through committee hearings and floor debate, to the oversight of enacted laws and various agency activities.

CRS's analytic capabilities integrate multiple disciplines and research methodologies. In a fast-paced, ever-changing environment, CRS provides Congress with the vital, analytical support it needs to address the most complex public policy issues facing the nation. Its work incorporates program and legislative expertise, quantitative methodologies, and legal and economic analysis.