Financial Services Committee Republicans Introduce Legislation Responding to Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine

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Financial Services Committee Republicans Introduce Legislation Responding to Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine

Washington, Mar 2 -

Today, Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee introduced a package of legislation in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Each of the bills in this coordinated response will counter Russia’s unprovoked aggression by further isolating Putin’s regime from the international financial system and imposing real costs on Russia.

Rep. Andy Barr (KY-06), the top Republican on the Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy, introduced the No Energy Revenues for Russian Hostilities Act, which will prevent hard currency from supporting the Putin regime by prohibiting U.S. financial institutions from engaging in transactions related to Russian energy sales.

“The Biden Administration’s anti-American energy agenda has made the United States dangerously dependent on foreign sources of energy, resulting in a 28% increase in Russian oil imports since Biden became President,” said Congressman Barr. “This, in turn, has enabled and financed Putin’s brutal war in Ukraine and will continue to do so unless we take action to close the energy loophole in our sanctions against Russia. That’s why I have introduced legislation to eliminate the ability for energy-related transactions to continue despite the Treasury Department’s sanctions against Russian banks. It’s time to strike a blow to the heart of the Russian economy and impose a real cost on its prized energy sector as long as the brutal war in Ukraine continues. I am also calling on President Biden to stand up to the climate radicals in his Administration and unleash American energy producers, who stand ready to flood the world with U.S. oil and natural gas, reducing energy costs at home for Americans and decreasing European dependence on Russian energy abroad.”

Rep. Ann Wagner (MO-02), the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, introduced the Isolate Russian Government Officials Act to exclude Russian government officials from attendance at the World Bank-IMF Spring and Annual Meetings, G-20 proceedings, Financial Action Task Force plenaries, and Annual General Meetings of the Bank for International Settlements.

“Vladimir Putin and his cronies have breached the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine and declared war on an innocent people,” said Congresswoman Wagner. “These grievous violations will not stand, and Russian government officials must be completely and utterly isolated from the world stage during this unjust and unprovoked war. The Isolate Russian Governmental Officials Act will ensure Russian officials are excluded from major financial and intergovernmental forums and further restrict Russia’s inclusion in international meetings.”

Rep. French Hill (AR-02), the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance, introduced the Russia and Belarus SDR Exchange Prohibition Act, which will deprive Russia and Belarus of emergency liquidity through the exchange of IMF Special Drawing Rights for hard currency, while prohibiting the issuance of new SDRs for the Putin and Lukashenko dictatorships.

“I have been warning about the dangers of the IMF’s mistaken policy on Special Drawing Rights for more than three years, and I fear the worst-case scenario may come true: that Russia turns to Beijing to exchange its SDRs to finance their attempted invasion of Ukraine,” said Congressman Hill. “Unfortunately, Democrats have not only ignored repeated calls from Republicans to put guardrails on what these SDR funds can be used for, but incredulously continue to push for an additional SDR allocation of up to $2 trillion, which would send around $60 billion to the Kremlin and billions more to our adversaries like China, Iran, Belarus, and Syria. This would be a catastrophic mistake. That is why I am introducing the Russia and Belarus SDR Exchange Prohibition Act, which makes it absolutely clear that the United States is to play no part in making IMF funds available to Russia or Belarus.”

Rep. Bill Huizenga (MI-02), the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets, introduced the Russian Sovereign Debt Prohibition Act to pressure Russia’s financial system by prohibiting secondary market dealings in Russian sovereign debt, regardless of the date a bond was issued.

“Today’s legislation will continue to place tighter restrictions on Russian debt and more importantly, Russian banks,” said Congressman Huizenga. “The Russian Sovereign Debt Prohibition Act of 2022 cuts off another avenue for Vladimir Putin to finance his invasion of Ukraine by preventing U.S. financial institutions from buying and servicing Russian debt. The United States must continue to lead efforts to sanction Russia and I am proud to add this legislation to the arsenal of financial tools intended to do just that.”

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