Senate approves Crapo amendment tightening Russia sanctions

Idaho Republican Senator Mike Crapo helped push legislation through the Senate Wednesday to maintain and expand sanctions against the government of Russia. The sanctions are in response to the violation of the territorial integrity of the Ukraine and Crimea, cyber-attacks and interference in elections and continuing aggression in Syria. Crapo is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Crapo introduced the “Countering Russian Aggression and Cyberattacks Act of 2017” Tuesday as an amendment to the Iran sanctions bill. “This legislation signals to the world the United States’ unflagging commitment to the sanctity of territorial integrity, human rights, and good governance,” Crapo said.”It also demonstrates our resolve in responding to cyber-attacks against American citizens and entities and against our allies. The Crapo-Brown-Corker-Cardin bill will result in some very powerful, new sanctions against Russia.” The Crapo-Brown-Corker-Cardin amendment has four main objectives: it escalates and expands the current sanctions regime against Russia; it creates new sanctions against Russia; it engages Congress at a higher level than before by providing a mechanism for Congress to vote before lifting any sanctions on Russia; and it increases the Treasury Department’s ability to track illicit finance, including illicit flows linked to Russia. The amendment passed 97-2.