Lawmakers Push Yellen for More Sanctions, Insight Into Outbound Restrictions

The Treasury Department should sanction Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom, a “major source of funds” for Moscow and “one of the only largely unsanctioned Russian energy companies,” said Gregory Meeks, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s top Democrat. Meeks, speaking during a June 13 House Financial Services Committee hearing, pointed to his bill introduced last month that would require the administration to designate Rosatom (see 2305120015).

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, testifying during the hearing, said the agency has “taken steps to designate a number” of Rosatom’s subsidiaries and employees but declined to say whether it’s looking to add the company to the Specially Designated Nationals List. “We continue to take further sanctions actions as we can justify, and in situations where we think we're able to mitigate unanticipated or unwanted consequences,” she said.

Meeks, of New York, said adding Rosatom’s subsidiaries to the SDN List isn’t enough. “I really believe that this company needs to be fully sanctioned,” he said.

Other lawmakers also floated sanctions requests during the hearing, including Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif, who asked Yellen to sanction members of the Amhara forces, a group of fighters formed in Northern Ethiopia, for “ethnic cleansing and war crimes.” Sherman said: “I hope that the Treasury would look at sanctioning those” people.

Some lawmakers touched on the outbound investment restrictions being considered by the administration (see 2305310075). Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., asked Yellen to hold off on any new investment screening program until Congress works through the Chinese Military and Surveillance Companies Sanctions Act, his legislation that could require the U.S. to harmonize its financial sanctions with its investment restrictions (see 2302060005). He said pausing work on the outbound restrictions would allow Congress and the administration to better “coordinate.”

Yellen made no promises. “That's something that's up to the president,” she said.

Other committee members stressed the importance of restrictions on U.S. investment in the Chinese military, including Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., who pointed to recent reports that China has been operating military and spy facilities from Cuba. While Yellen again declined to give specifics, she said the administration is “looking” at restrictions on private investments in Chinese companies with ties to the country’s military.

“I don't have an answer for you on what we're going to do, but certainly protecting our national security is a core concern,” she said. “And with respect to China, we are carrying that out in a broad range of ways, from export controls to entity lists to, in some cases, sanctions, and potentially restrictions on outbound investment.”