PRESS RELEASE
Senators Concoct a New Sanctions Bill Against Russia; Tillerson Calls for Dialogue
June 13, 2017 (EIRNS)—On June 12, a bipartisan group of senators on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and ranking Democrat Ben Cardin (Md.), announced an agreement on a legislative package that would codify sanctions on Russia that were imposed by the Obama Administration, thus taking out of President Trump’s hands the ability to end them as quickly as Obama imposed them.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested as much in testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this morning. Tillerson said that the U.S. and Russia
"have some channels that are open where we’re starting to talk, and I think what I wouldn’t want to do is close the channels off with something new."
Coverage in Politico hints that Tillerson’s opposition "spells trouble" for the sanctions deal. The House has yet to take up the bill, which is currently scheduled for a Senate vote tomorrow.
The new Senate anti-Russia bill places new economic restrictions, in an effort to economically harm specific individuals and Russia’s economy. The new sanctions would be placed on Russians
"who violate human rights, supply weapons to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria or who are involved in the Russian defense and intelligence industry,"
reported NBC News. Yahoo News’s Michael Isikof reported on June 5 that the Obama moles in the State Department, cronies of former Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, gave birth to this effort, after going "berserk" last Winter, over the possibility that President Trump might succeed in improving U.S.-Russia relations.
The senators also agreed that these sanctions could not be lifted without Congressional approval.
"By codifying existing sanctions and requiring Congressional review of any decision to weaken or lift them, we are ensuring that the United States continues to punish President Putin for his reckless and destabilizing actions,"
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote in a statement endorsing the package, based on the lie that the Democrats lost the election because of the mythical Russian interference.
"These additional sanctions will also send a powerful and bipartisan statement to Russia and any other country who might try to interfere in our elections that they will be punished."
The measure is to be attached as an amendment (identified as the Corker amendment) to Iran sanctions legislation that passed a Senate procedural vote 92-7 last week.
