15 July, 2017
They then called on the House to quickly pass the bill back to the Senate. "We could have fixed it in five minutes", Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters.
A GOP leadership aide confirmed to CNN that the idea was being considered, though no final decision has been made.
Hoping to send a message to President Donald Trump to maintain a strong line against Moscow, the Senate passed the sanctions on Russian Federation, part of a broader measure also imposing new sanctions on Iran, by 98-2 on June 15.
The new bill introduced on Wednesday would eliminate that change to allow House Democrats, as well as Republicans, to force a vote on a resolution of disapproval of any effort to ease Russian Federation sanctions.
The US has leveled multiple sets of sanctions on Russian Federation in recent years.
Engel said House Republicans are also discussing other changes to the bill, which he says would complicate working with the Senate to clear the bill through both chambers, "It only plays into my fear that they are trying to throw everything in the kitchen sink at this bill to make it impossible to pass it", he said.
But if the House adds North Korea sanctions to the bill, the Senate will have to debate the amended parts of the legislation before passing it.
The House version of a bill that intends to dramatic limit the ability of President Trump to ease sanctions on Russian Federation appears to be effectively stalled, as the House leadership attempts to re-do the bill, adding new sanctions against North Korea to it.
The Russia sanctions legislation was written as an amendment to a bill imposing new sanctions on Iran over issues including its ballistic missile program. Energy companies are also raising concerns about several provisions.
He said he expected the House to make changes that would not affect the bill's overall character and to address issues that have anxious energy companies, such as a provision that oil firms said could block them out of worldwide exploration projects if Russian firms were also involved.
There's just one problem with that scenario: Reports have indicated that Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may have known about Russia's attempts to meddle in the election on Trump's behalf as early as last summer, more than two months before Election Day.
According to the US Constitution, any bill that raises revenue for the US government must originate in the House of Representatives.
