Today, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17), helped to pass legislation to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus to further isolate Putin from the global economy. Passing the House with overwhelming bipartisan support, the bill now heads to the U.S. Senate.

“As Vladimir Putin continues to wage violence against innocent Ukrainians, the United States will continue to escalate sanctions against Russia’s economy,” said Congresswoman Bustos. “Today’s bipartisan action is a continuation of our work to increase pressure on Putin, and further isolate him from the world. I’ll continue to support the Ukrainian people, President Zelenskyy and the Biden Administration as we stand up to protect democracy against tyranny.”

Cheri Bustos

The legislation includes three main provisions to increase pressure on the Russian economy:

• The bill suspends normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus – stopping them from selling goods in the United States at the same preferential duty rates that Ukraine enjoys. It also allows President Biden to raise tariffs on products from Russia and Belarus.
• The bill will take steps to review Russia and Belarus’ access to the World Trade Organization and explore how Congress and the Administration can further diminish their position in the global economy.
• The bill extends and strengthens the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act so that the United States can impose further sanctions on Russia. In 2012, Congress took bipartisan action with the Magnitsky Act to impose sanctions on human rights abusers in Russia, while also normalizing trade relations. This standard was expanded in 2016 to apply globally, broadening the human rights abuses that can be punished with sanctions and bolstering coordination with our partners. This new bill extends the Magnitsky Act so that the United States can continue to punish Russia and its leaders for heinous attacks on Ukrainian civilians and violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, as well as any perpetrators of gross human rights abuses around the world.

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Sean Leary Director of Digital Media

Sean Leary is an author, director, artist, musician, producer and entrepreneur who has been writing professionally since debuting at age 11 in the pages of the Comics Buyers Guide. An honors graduate of the University of Southern California masters program, he has written over 50 books including the best-sellers The Arimathean, Every Number is Lucky to Someone and We Are All Characters.