Senators unveil sweeping Russia sanctions bill, urge passage in honor of Graham

By Jennifer Hansler, Morgan Rimmer, Manu Raju, Alison Main, CNN

(CNN) — US senators on Tuesday unveiled their sweeping bipartisan Russia sanctions bill, which they have urged Congress to quickly pass to honor of one its main sponsors, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The legislation, which is meant to pressure Moscow and deprive it of revenue for its war against Ukraine, has been in the works for more than a year. Graham announced on Friday, just a day before his sudden death, that lawmakers reached an agreement with the White House to move forward on the bill.

The more-than-60-page bill, if passed, would impose mandatory sanctions on Russian political and military leaders, including President Vladimir Putin, as well as oligarchs, state-owned enterprises, and foreign companies that support Russia’s defense industrial base.

It would also impose sanctions on Russia’s shadow fleet, its energy projects, and its financial institutions. In addition, it would impose up to a 100% tariff on the top five countries, including China and India, that purchase Russian crude oil and natural gas. It does allow an exemption for countries that import less than 15% of Russia’s total natural gas exports and are “taking significant steps to reduce those imports,” a Senate aide said.

Another Senate aide noted that “the vast majority of Russia’s income, particularly used toward its war of aggression in Ukraine, is made up from its exports of Russian oil and gas,” so the legislation has been “narrowly tailored . to very much focus on that aspect of the Russian economy.”

It is unclear when the bill will come to a vote, but the first Senate aide said there were more than two dozen co-sponsors and growing as of Tuesday early afternoon. Senators expressed confidence that the legislation would move forward, including in the House of Representatives, now that it has Trump’s support.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, one of the bill’s key backers, said he believed it could be passed “before August.” He said Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated that he’s “ready to go forward when he has the votes, and I think we have the votes.”

“This bill has been negotiated over almost two years, painstakingly, sometimes painfully, at great length,” the Connecticut Democrat said.

The second Senate aide said that at last week’s NATO summit, Graham and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen – a main co-sponsor of the bill – held a number of high-level conversations with administration officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to move the bill forward.

The negotiating points with the administration “were largely technical,” Blumenthal told reporters. He said that in the original bill, more than 60 countries could have been hit by tariffs. Now, five countries could face tariffs for oil purchases and five for natural gas purchases, with China facing tariffs for both purchases, according to the first Senate aide.

Blumenthal said the tariff rate will be set by the US Trade Represenative, and it is expected to be set “at a level appropriate to discourage from China, India, and other major purchases of Russian oil and gas.”

‘Fitting tribute’ for Graham

Both Democratic and Republican senators called for passage of the legislation, calling it a “fitting tribute” to Graham.

Blumenthal said he spoke to Graham “literally hours before his passing” and had “never heard him so exultant because we received word that the White House would support our sanctions bill after painstaking and sometimes painful, difficult bipartisan negotiation with the trade representative, the White House, the Treasury Department.”

Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt, another cosponsor, said she spoke to Graham on Saturday night and “he was so excited about getting the White House on board with the Russian sanctions bill.”

“He had just talked to the president. He said that it was going to be the most consequential thing that he has accomplished in his long and storied career,” she said.

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott was clear that he will back the bill.

“Whatever we can do to sanction Russia, I’m all in,” Scott said, calling Putin a “thug.”

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the bill had “a good chance,” but suggested that additional measures targeting Iran and Hezbollah could be added.

“With all due respect to the President, he has approved this bill, and we should move forward with this bill, rather than opening it to, in my view, to other potential targets,” Blumenthal told reporters Tuesday.

The first Senate aide, asked about Trump’s comments, said that the legislation “does contain secondary sanctions and secondary tariffs … for those that are engaged with the Russian defense industrial base, among other items,” which would impact Iran.

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