US Democrats introduce new bill on Russian Federation and Iran sanctions

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer attends a news conference in Washington DC. | Win McNamee  Getty Images
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer attends a news conference in Washington DC. | Win McNamee Getty Images
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14 July, 2017

House Speaker Paul Ryan pledged on Wednesday to passing a "strong, bold" Russian Federation sanctions bill even as President Donald Trump's spy chief voiced concerns over the legislation that aims to punish Moscow for meddling in the presidential election.

The administration officials, who were career civil servants, expressed concerns during the meeting about the congressional review provisions in the bill, which would give Congress veto power if the White House tries to loosen sanctions on Russian Federation, according to the staffers. "I urge House Republicans to work with us to address this issue so that the House can pass a strong sanctions bill this week".

Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, urged the House to act quickly.

The bill has been mired in the House ever since.

The speaker stressed that he supported the appointment of Mueller to serve as the special counsel and said it's important that Muller and the congressional probes "do their jobs and follow these leads wherever they may lay, wherever they may go, and follow the facts".

The delay has frustrated Democrats, and some of Trump's fellow Republicans, who think the president is so eager to improve relations with Russian Federation that he will not retaliate for Moscow's global aggression.

Those concerns heightened following revelations that Trump's eldest son met with a Russian lawyer after being promised damaging information on Hillary Clinton supplied by the Kremlin.

Both Democrats and Republicans said the new sanctions are a response to Russian aggression in Ukraine and efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. A fix failed to satisfy House Democrats, and Hoyer said he spoke to Ryan on Tuesday evening on a possible compromise.

Meanwhile, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said "the best we can [do] is not on the table right now" and announced plans to unveil an alternative this week, according to Bloomberg.

Initially these delays were reported by CNN as "stalling the bill on the White House's behalf so that Trump wouldn't sign it into law ahead of the Putin meeting", angering top Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer who lamented the bill slipping into the July 4 recess saying to CNN "We wanted to send a message to Mr. Putin: If you interfere with our democratic institutions, you will be punished".

The House Speaker said the bill had been delayed by procedural concerns, including technical changes to insure the Senate-passed version of the bill complied with the U.S. Constitution.


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