Crapo Introduces Bipartisan Russia Sanctions Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, discusses his legislation on the Senate Floor expanding and strengthening sanctions on the Russian Federation. The amendment to the underlying Iran sanctions bill represents a bipartisan agreement among Banking Committee Chairman Crapo, Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tennessee) and Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Maryland).

The legislation maintains and substantially expands sanctions against the government of Russia in response to the violation of the territorial integrity of the Ukraine and Crimea, its brazen cyber-attacks and interference in elections, and its continuing aggression in Syria. The Crapo-Brown-Corker-Cardin amendment has four main objectives: it escalates and expands the current sanctions regime against Russia; it creates new sanctions against Russia; it engages Congress at a higher level than before by providing a mechanism for Congress to vote before lifting any sanctions on Russia; and it increases the Treasury Department’s ability to track illicit finance, including illicit flows linked to Russia.

“Over the course of the past three months, the Senate Banking Committee has held hearings assessing the impacts of the current sanctions regime against Russia. We examined the existing Russian sanctions architecture in terms of its effectiveness and economic impact. In Putin’s calculus, the costs of the sanctions do not outweigh the benefits of occupying Crimea and contributing to unrest in Ukraine, continuing to support the Assad regime’s assault on civilians in Syria, and conducting cyber-attacks on people, companies, and institutions. Many of us, on both sides of the aisle, feel that the United States needs to be much stronger in its response. Americans want to see the United States stand firm in defense of our long-held values, which include respect for territorial integrity, human rights, and liberty . . . The Crapo-Brown-Corker-Cardin amendment is an effective way to increase the pressure on Russia for its irresponsible conduct.”

Click above to view Senator Crapo’s floor statement.

The text of Senator Crapo’s full floor statement can be found here.