Washington — on Saturday, July 22, congressmen from the Republican and Democratic parties announced that they had reached agreement on a broad package of sanctions against Russia designed to punish her for interfering in the US presidential election, as well as for military aggression in the Ukraine and in Syria.
The house of representatives member from the Democratic party Steni Hoyer (Hoyer Wall) said that the Congress was able to settle all differences and questions about this bill, which also includes the introduction of strict economic sanctions against Iran and North Korea. However, the greatest attention is drawn to the sanctions against Russia due to the desire of the President of Donald trump to establish a more cordial relationship with President Vladimir Putin, as well as with ongoing investigations of Russian interference in the election campaign of 2016.
The adoption of this bill, which may occur before Congress leaves for the August recess, can cause conflict between Capitol hill and trump. The white house has expressed its opposition to a key provision of this bill that allows Congress to review the President’s decision in that case, if trump will try to lift sanctions against Moscow. But if trump will use its right to veto, it risks provoking a violent backlash from Republicans and Democrats that will be able to revoke its decision. The point about the possibility of reviewing the decision of the President was added to the text of the bill because of concerns members of Congress from both parties excessive sympathy trump in relation to Putin.
What is the part the Democrats of the house of representatives will take in the process of reviewing the decision of the President, was the main stumbling block, but according to Hoyer, he satisfied with the result.
“This bill ensures that the majority and the minority can exercise control over how the administration is implementing the sanctions,” said Hoyer.
The minority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer (Chuck Schumer) called the bill on sanctions “tough”, adding that, most likely it will be approved pretty quickly.
“Given the many crimes of Russia and the obvious inability of President trump deal with them, we need a strict law on sanctions, similar to the bill that has just been agreed by Democrats and Republicans,” said Schumer.
The majority leader in the House of representatives Kevin McCarthy (Kevin McCarthy) has published the programme of work of the chamber, whereby a vote on this bill will be held on Tuesday, July 25. McCarthy insisted that this package was included sanctions against North Korea. In may, the majority of the members of the house of representatives voted for the introduction of additional economic sanctions against Pyongyang, but the Senate has not yet considered this bill.
In June, the Senate approved a bill involving the imposition of sanctions only against Russia and Iran. According to aides of congressmen who wished to keep their names secret, the Republicans of the Senate may object to the addition of sanctions against North Korea, but it is unclear whether these objections to delaying the adoption of the bill.
“North Korea, Iran and Russia in various ways to threaten its neighbors and actively tried to prevent the realization of American interests, — said McCarthy, a member of the house of representatives and the Chairman of the Committee on foreign Affairs ed Royce (Ed Royce) in a joint statement. — The bill which the House of representatives will vote next week, will focus exclusively on these three countries and will allow you to call them to account for their dangerous actions.”
Members of the house of representatives and the Senate took into consideration the concerns of the American oil and gas companies who believe that sanctions against the Russian energy sector could impact negatively on them and play into the hands of Moscow. In this bill the conditions change when the American companies will not be allowed to participate in energy projects, which also involved Russian companies.
Despite broad support for the bill, the adoption process was halted after it was approved by the Senate because of disputes over technical details. In particular, the Democrats of the house of representatives said that the leaders of the Republican party deprived them of their right to participate in the review of the decision of the President in case if trump will offer to cancel or suspend the anti-Russian sanctions. But Republicans rejected this claim and accused the Democrats of obstructing the adoption of this bill.
The point about the possibility of reviewing the decision of the President in this bill to impose sanctions is in many respects similar to the bill proposed by Republicans and approved by the Senate in 2015, which gave Congress the right to vote on the question of lifting sanctions against Iran. The bill was a reflection of complaints from Republicans that Obama exceeded presidential powers, and Congress must control its activities.
Under the new bill, trump will be required to submit to Congress a report, which he would need to explain why he wants to cancel or suspend specific sanctions. After that, Congress will have 30 days to allow Trump to do it or be banned.
A bill to impose sanctions against North Korea was approved by the House of representatives 419 votes to 1, and Republicans were very annoyed by the fact that the Senate did not rush to his consideration, despite broad bipartisan support. This bill prohibits ships of North Korea and other countries refusing to comply with the requirements of the UN resolutions, to operate in American waters and come into American ports. In addition, the bill prohibits supply goods manufactured in North Korea using forced labour to the American market.
This bill imposes mandatory sanctions against the people involved in the implementation of Iran’s program to develop ballistic missiles, and those collaborating with them. It also provides for sanctions against the Islamic revolutionary guard Corps and the embargo on arms.
