The US House of Representatives passed a bill that would impose fresh sanctions on Russia, as well as North Korea and Iran, by a 419-3 vote.
The Russia sanctions are like those in a bill the US Senate approved previously, and give the Trump administration important leverage to thwart President Vladimir V. Putin’s efforts to profit from the country’s oil wealth, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Edward R. Royce (R-Calif.) said before the July 25 vote.
“To focus their impact, we clarified several provisions that could have inadvertently handed Russian companies control of global energy projects and [affected] pipelines that our European allies rely on in an effort to end their dependence on Russian [natural] gas. This strengthens the bill,” Royce said.
H.R. 3364 also empowers Congress to review and disapprove any sanctions relief, according to Royce, who introduced the measure a day earlier. “This strong oversight is necessary and appropriate,” he said. “After all, it is Congress that the Constitution empowers to regulate commerce with foreign nations.”
US Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) considered it ironic that such a provision would be necessary.
“President [Donald] Trump and his staff regularly question the intelligence that shows Russia interfered in our election,” Kaptur said. “Given the president's priorities lately, it is imperative that Congress send a clear message and make it more difficult to undercut sanctions without congressional approval.”
But the European Commission’s top official expressed concern in Brussels on July 26 about the measure’s possible impacts on its member countries’ energy independence.
“The US bill could have unintended unilateral effects that impact the EU's energy security interests,” said EC Pres. Jean-Claude Juncker. “This is why the [EC] concluded today that if our concerns are not taken into account sufficiently, we stand ready to act appropriately within a matter of days. America first cannot mean that Europe’s interests come last.”
Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].
