Senators To Unveil Bipartisan Bill To Impose New Sanctions On Russia

WASHINGTON ― In a rare showing of bipartisanship, 10 senators from both sides of the aisle will introduce legislation Tuesday to step up sanctions against Russia. Lawmakers, angered by Moscow’s alleged interference in the U.S. election process, have been discussing retaliatory action for weeks. But the legislation on sanctions that will be unveiled Tuesday goes beyond responding to Russian cyber-activity. It also mandates new measures related to Russia’s 2014 military incursion into Ukraine and its ongoing support of President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria. The bill would codify some of the sanctions put in place by outgoing President Barack Obama as well as impose new punitive measures. Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, led the effort. They are joined by four Democrats (Sens. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Dick Durbin of Illinois) and four Republicans (Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Rob Portman of Ohio). With five Republicans on board, the bill has a good chance of being passed in the Senate, setting lawmakers up for an early showdown between the GOP and President-elect Donald Trump. Top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway suggested Monday that the incoming commander in chief could roll back sanctions against Russia or decline to enforce new measures. In response to accusations of Russia’s election-related hacking, Obama imposed sanctions last month on Moscow’s intelligence services and expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. Those actions, Conway said, were “disproportionate” and “punitive.” Russian President Vladimir Putin has not retaliated, a sign that he anticipates smoother relations with the incoming Trump administration. Trump, who favors closer ties with Moscow, dismissed initial reports blaming Moscow for hacking the Democratic National Committee’s servers and later disseminating embarrassing emails. After being briefed Friday by intelligence officials ― who believe that Moscow carried out the hacking campaign with the goal of electing Trump ― the president-elect said in a statement that Russia was one of several entities that could have been responsible for the cyberattack. Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said on Sunday that his boss accepts the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia is to blame ― a belief that Trump has not yet expressed himself. In his most recent tweets about Russia, Trump said that “only ‘stupid’ people, or fools” would oppose good relations with Moscow. He faulted the DNC for failing to ward off the cyber-intrusion. Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only “stupid” people, or fools, would think that it is bad! We….. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017 As is the case with most congressionally mandated sanctions, the new measures targeting Russia include a national security waiver that allows the president to stall their implementation. If passed and implemented, the bill would lock in the executive order Obama used last month to apply sanctions […]

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