U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) on March 8 introduced legislation that would require the Trump administration to hold the Russian government accountable for meddling in the 2016 United States presidential election by enforcing previously mandated sanctions.
“Sanctioning Russia is not optional. Russia has intolerably involved itself in our electoral process and the sanctions I championed need to be enforced,” said Rep. Lance, who is the sole Republican among the total 74 original cosponsors of the bill that include U.S. Reps. Denny Heck (D-WA) and Karen Bass (D-CA).
If enacted, the bipartisan Directing Implementation of Sanctions and Accountability for Russian Mischief (DISARM) Act, H.R. 5216, would “punish the Russian government and eliminate any option the executive branch may exercise to ignore the will of Congress in seeing Russian officials held accountable,” according to a statement from Lance’s office.
Specifically, the executive branch would be required to enforce the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), H.R. 3364, which the president signed into law on Aug. 2, 2017. The law, among several provisions, imposed new sanctions for the election interference and requires the president to get permission from Congress before lifting or easing “sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation,” according to the congressional record summary. The U.S. Treasury also must provide a report that details individuals who were involved in any interference with the election, stop their entry into the United States and freeze their assets, according to Lance’s office.
“The United States must respond forcefully to Russian interference and this bipartisan legislation ensures that Russia faces severe consequences,” said Lance.
Moscow continues to “create wedges that reduce trust and confidence in democratic processes, degrade democratization efforts, weaken U.S. partnerships with European allies, undermine Western sanctions, encourage anti-U.S. political views, and counter efforts to bring Ukraine and other former Soviet states into European institutions,” according to the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, released to members of Congress on Feb. 13 by National Intelligence Director Daniel Coats.
Additionally, the intelligence community predicts that Russian President Vladimir Putin will gain another term in office and rely on “assertive and opportunistic foreign policies to shape outcomes beyond Russia’s borders,” while also resorting to more authoritarian tactics to maintain control of his position.
Rep. Heck agreed and said, “Russia will continue to sabotage the democratic process if we don’t do something. Therefore it’s urgent for both parties to come together to show that we will not stand by and allow these antics to hurt the greatest country on earth.”
H.R. 5216, which would “direct the President to impose sanctions on certain senior foreign political figures and oligarchs in the Russian Federation and certain Russian parastatal entities, and for other purposes,” according to the bill’s text, has been referred to both the House Foreign Affairs Committee and to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration.