U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Id.), Ranking Member Sherrod Brown (D-Oh.), Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tn.) and Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-Md.) on Monday announced a bipartisan agreement on legislation to strengthen and expand current U.S. sanctions on Russia.
The amendment to the underlying Iran sanctions bill 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 amendment will:
· Provide for a mandated congressional review if sanctions are relaxed, suspended or terminated.
· Codify and strengthen existing sanctions contained in executive orders on Russia, including the sanctions’ impact on certain Russian energy projects and on debt financing in key economic sectors.
· Impose new sanctions on: corrupt Russian actors; those seeking to evade sanctions; those involved in serious human rights abuses; those supplying weapons to the Assad regime; those conducting malicious cyber activity on behalf of the Russian government; those involved in corrupt privatization of state-owned assets; and those doing business with the Russian intelligence and defense sectors.
· Allow broad new sanctions on key sectors of Russia’s economy, including mining, metals, shipping and railways.
· Authorize robust assistance to strengthen democratic institutions and counter disinformation across Central and Eastern European countries that are vulnerable to Russian aggression and interference.
· Require a study on the flow of illicit finance involving Russia and a formal assessment of U.S. economic exposure to Russian state-owned entities.