Shea-Porter Backs New Russia Sanctions Legislation

Statement

Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01) today co-introduced legislation sponsored by Reps. Denny Heck (D-WA), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), and Karen Bass (D-CA) to force the administration to adhere to the intent of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The Directing Implementation of Sanctions and Accountability for Russian Mischief (DISARM) Act would require the administration to impose sanctions on Russian oligarchs to deter future efforts to interfere in US elections.

"It is shameful that seven months after Congress overwhelmingly passed new Russia sanctions, the administration continues to drag its feet and has failed to comply with the intent of the new sanctions law," said Shea-Porter. "While the Trump administration clearly lacks the resolve to hold Russia accountable for its actions to undermine American democracy, this bill sends a clear message that many Members of Congress will continue to demand a forceful response to Russian aggression. We will never deter Russia's cyber-attacks and influence warfare if we ignore this threat. On multiple occasions, senior national security officials have testified that Russia is ramping up its attacks and that President Trump has never asked them to do anything about it. Doing nothing is not an option when both our national security and our democracy are at stake. Congress should take action immediately to force the administration to take this threat seriously and act to counter it."

CAATSA required the administration to create a detailed report on Russian oligarchs to ensure that important decision makers in Russia are punished for attacking our elections. It asked the administration to curtail oligarchs' and senior officials' ability to travel to the US and to freeze the assets of influencers in Russia. In response, the administration created a list that was essentially copied and pasted from the Forbes 500 list, invited the heads of Russia's main intelligence agencies to Washington for a meeting, and did nothing to freeze the assets of influencers in Russia. To address this inaction, Congresswomen Shea-Porter and Bass, and Congressmen Heck and Lance today introduced legislation that would require the administration to sanction within 30 days at least five Russian senior public officials who are close to Putin to punish Russia for its interference in the US elections and to deter future actions to undermine our democracy.

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