Since day one, I have been a vocal opponent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This unprovoked attack is indefensible, and I will continue to support sanctions and other measures taken by the U.S. and our NATO allies to bring an end to this war.
I am a proud cosponsor of both the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act and the Defund Putin Act. If passed, these bills would impose strict regulations on Russian oil and other goods in an effort to put an end to Russia’s unjust invasion of Ukraine by suffocating their economy.
This week, Congressional leadership brought up a bill that would suspend normal trade relations with Russia, but it was not the bill I cosponsored. Instead, House leadership chose to bring up a bill with a policy rider that, if signed into law, would grant the President of the United States with unprecedented power to influence foreign governments’ laws by changing the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
In its current form, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act provides the executive branch with the power to sanction foreign officials or governments implicated in specific human rights abuses, such as kidnapping, extrajudicial killings, or holding people without trial.
Within the Russian trade relations bill that passed the House this week, House leadership included provisions that would significantly change the purpose of the Magnitsky Act by removing definitions of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights in favor of more vague language.
This revised version of the Magnitsky Act would leave open the possibility of the U.S. government weaponizing our vast financial wealth to threaten foreign officials that hold traditional views on life or marriage in the form of the confiscation of assets or the denial of visas. The President having the ability to threaten other countries to turn on their Christian heritage stands in opposition to our support for the advancement of human rights and freedom on the world stage.
This is not just theoretical, we are seeing it happen already. It was recently reported that legislators in the Dominican Republic have received a warning from the American embassy that if they do not legalize abortion, they will be without American visas. With the changes to the Global Magnitsky Act found in this bill, this warning could be backed up with the threat of sanctions, too.
I adamantly oppose Russia’s attack on Ukraine. I support sanctions on Russia. I support the idea of suspending normal trade relations with Russia and, in a heartbeat, would vote for either of the two bills mentioned above that I have cosponsored. But, I could not in good faith vote for the Russian trade relations bill that passed the House this week because of the changes to the Global Magnitsky Act contained within. It is not unusual for the current leaders in Congress to play political games and inject poor policy riders into bills that should otherwise not be controversial, and this week was another example of that.
