House Members Working on Bill to Increase Russian Sanctions

Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and Michael McCaul, R-Texas, are working on legislation that would strengthen U.S.-imposed sanctions on Russia, they said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee meeting May 1. Engel said they are planning to introduce a bill that will “protect America’s interests, ramp up the targeted sanctions, enhance diplomacy and counter propaganda efforts to meet the Russian threat.” McCaul said he and Engel had breakfast with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier that day and said “there’s no doubt” Pompeo “looks at Russia as a great threat” to the U.S. “I don't think this is a partisan issue,” McCaul said. “I hope we can pass legislation out of this committee.”

During the hearing, titled “Countering a Resurgent Russia,” a panel of three experts stressed the need for harsher Russian sanctions but cautioned the committee on how they should be used. Victoria Nuland, former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs at the State Department, said that while the U.S. should put in place an “agreed escalation ladder of painful new economic sanctions” against Russia, they should all have specific aims and end goals. “Sanctions are useful,” Nuland said, “but only when they're with allies, when they are targeted and when they can be ratcheted up and can be ratcheted down.”

Daniel Fried, who served in Nuland’s same position and was also a coordinator of U.S. sanctions policy during parts of the Obama and Trump administrations, said the U.S. needs to use sanctions more “wisely.” “We need to decide what we’re trying to achieve and with what priority,” he said. “Volume is less important than the right targets.” Fried suggested more sanctions on Russia’s financial sector and on “corrupt Russian oligarchs” with ties to President Vladimir Putin, but cautioned against sanctions on the energy sector. “If we escalate, we should go after future Russian production, not cause a spike in energy prices that would give the Kremlin a windfall,” Fried said.

Former Army vice chief of staff Jack Keane also told the committee to “sanction additional oligarchs and entities involved in illegal activity,” including banning U.S. banks from acquiring Russian debt. “The most important issue for this committee is keeping sanctions on Russia,” Keane said.

Fried said the U.S. should save its “best sanctions” for issues related to Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine and Russia’s interference in U.S. elections. In March, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned six Russian government officials in response to the country's involvement in Ukraine, and on April 26 OFAC issued regulations that authorize sanctions in the case of “foreign interference” in U.S. elections. “Get them ready, because if the Russians act, we need to be able to respond promptly and the Russians need to know that we’re prepared to act,” Fried said.