On Monday, Senate leaders reached a consensus to roll out more sanctions on Russia and make it very tough for the President to override.
The deal which has the backing of top Republics and Democrats was announced by the Senate Foreign Relations and Banking Committee. Bipartisan are expected to support the deal.
Tough sanctions on Russia
CNN reported that the proposal aims to impose a new set of sanctions on Russia in different categories. It would also provide for a review process by Congress if the executive arm decides to ease sanctions on Moscow.
It proposes punitive sanctions on individuals engaged in malicious cyber activity on behalf of the Russian regime and those companies who are directly and indirectly supplying weapons to the Syrian government, the report said.
There is also a provision that would authorize assistance for European nations who are worried about Russian aggression. It also outlines a study on a formal assessment of United States’ economic exposures to Russian state-owned agencies and illicit inflow of finance that pertains to Russia, the report stated.
The new law will be attached to an amendment to a bill which is not similar but involves sanctions on Iran.
White House Support
The Senate foreign relations committee’s chairman Senator Bob Corker had initially shown an unwillingness to handle a bill on Russia sanctions in his committee.
But changed his standing last month when he said he needed to see progress with Russia or else sanction measures will be proposed by his panel.
A source in Capitol Hill hinted that the White House is not opposed to Congress moves to scale through the bill, in spite of varying signals from President Trump and his administration, the source said.
The chair of foreign relations Sen. Cardin, a Democrat, expressed the belief that President Trump would sign the bill when passed.
Sen. Cardin said it would be surprising to him if the President eventually vetoes the bill. He added that Trump has surprised him on several issues. He further expressed confidence about the Trump administration support on the proposed law.
Provisions in the agreement
Senior members of the Senate committee on banking which includes Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat and Senator Mike Crapo teamed up with Senator Cardin and Republican Senator John McCain alongside Graham Lindsey to introduce a provision in the agreement that matches up with other bills that have previously been considered this year.
President Trump had said in January he would be open to lifting sanctions on Moscow if they assisted the United States fight extremism and Terrorism.
