Lawmakers Push Ideas on Russia Sanctions, Outbound Investment
House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said Dec. 4 that he is seeking several changes to a Russia sanctions and tariffs bill that lawmakers are trying to get through Congress this month.
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While the Sanctioning Russia Act would impose additional sanctions on Russia and new tariffs on countries that buy its oil and gas (see 2512020053), Meeks would prefer an alternative approach to tariffs.
“Tariffs is a big issue,” Meeks said in a hallway interview at the Capitol. “I want to make sure that we do something to prevent India and China from buying Russian oil, but I don’t think that tariffs is the way because that comes back as a tax on the American people. I think there are other ways we can do that.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., one of the lead Senate sponsors of the Russia bill, downplayed concerns about tariffs, saying U.S. consumers are unlikely to pay them because the legislation is expected to force China and India to stop buying Russian energy. "The chances are pretty good they would stop because they would get hit harder" than the U.S., Blumenthal said.
Meeks also wants the bill to include more “direct sanctions” on Russia, including its oil tankers, and designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Existing provisions in the legislation would sanction senior Russian officials, supporters of the Russian government, financial institutions and other entities affiliated with that government, and those that support Russia's energy production or uranium trade.
Meeks is eager to get a Russia bill enacted into law. With Russia continuing to bomb Ukraine and with no peace deal in sight, “I think Congress needs to make a statement and we’re just going to keep working hard to try to see if we can get something out of the House and send it to the Senate,” he said.
Meeks and Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Financial Services committees, said talks also continue over whether the final FY 2026 National Defense Authorization Act will include a Senate-passed proposal to restrict U.S. outbound investment in China (see 2510100015). Barr told us that negotiators are juggling “a lot of different opinions” about what the final measure should include.
While some lawmakers like Barr favor an entity-based approach, others are pushing for an approach that imposes restrictions on whole technology sectors. Barr also said he was told that Senate Banking Committee ranking member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., wants to include environmental, social and governance, or ESG, language, “which, obviously, is a non-starter for all of us.”
Warren declined to address Barr’s ESG comment but said, “We need a strong outbound bill and we’re still in the back-and-forth about what needs to be in it. There are a lot of pieces that are in play right now.”