A bill Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn is co-sponsoring would impose new sanctions on Russia as it continues attacking Ukraine, “to send a clear message to Russia: the world is watching and we will not stand by.”
The bill would give the U.S. Treasury Department authority to block foreign banks from having access to U.S. financial institutions if those overseas banks are doing business with Russian energy companies or any individual linked to Russia’s leader. “Every delay empowers Putin. Every loophole prolongs this war,” Nunn said. “Every life that is lost in Ukraine today is a potential threat to Europe and the United States’ national security tomorrow.”
The bill targets “the financial pipeline that’s fueling Putin’s war,” according to Nunn.
“We must act with urgency and strength,” Nunn said, “reinforcing the message that access to the U.S. financial system should not be used by any enablers of Moscow’s aggression.”
In remarks during a House committee’s consideration of the bill, Nunn cited Russia’s largest aerial attack of the war. It happened on July 9, after President Trump said European allies could buy U.S. made Patriot missiles for Ukraine. “As President Trump continues to ask for peace in the region, pleading directly to Moscow itself…this escalation requires a strategic, immediate and forceful response,” Nunn said.
Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, is co-sponsoring the bill with a Democratic congressman from New Jersey and the House Financial Services Committee approved the measure this week on a 53-1 vote. It’s eligible for debate in the full House when lawmakers return in September from their summer recess.