Senate bill proposes tough sanctions on Russia

[DonViejo]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress will weigh some of the most significant U.S. sanctions on Russia since the end of the Cold War in a bid to pressure President Vladimir Putin to pull Russian troops out of Crimea, according to a copy of a new Senate bill obtained by The Associated Press.

The legislation authorizes the Obama administration to impose economic penalties on Russian officials complicit in Ukrainian corruption or anyone responsible for Moscow’s military takeover of Ukraine. It would also target Russians complicit in corruption. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans a vote Wednesday afternoon.

“Putin has miscalculated by playing a game of Russian roulette with the international community, but we refuse to blink, and will never accept this violation of international law,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, who introduced the legislation. “Ukraine is confronting a menacing threat challenging its very existence and in t heir hour of need, we firmly stand with the Ukrainian people to choose their own destiny without Russian interference,” said Menendez, chairman of the Foreign Relations panel.

Beyond sanctions, the bill enables the administration to make good on a pledge of $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine’s new, pro-Western government. And it would enhance the lending capacity of the International Monetary Fund, which some House Republicans oppose.

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/03/12/senate_bill_proposes_tough_sanctions_on_russia/

[okaawhatever]

1. Take away Putin's corrupt oligarchs and he's in trouble. In all fairness, he didn't create the

corrupt oligarch class in Russia, but he's certainly taken advantage of it.

I hope the change in the IMF goes through. Repubs in Congress are blocking it. It basically fulfills an agreement made in 2010 to move $60 Billion from one type of account to another.
Again, it's a case of the Republicans blocking something not because they object to the actual bill, but rather trying to sabotage the IMF, as they want to shut it down along with the UN, EPA, NLRB, and Dept of Education.