Today, March 17th, 2022, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) released the following statement after voting YES on the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act:
“I have repeatedly voted for and called for severe sanctions against Russia, its economy, President Putin, and his cronies. We must hold them accountable for their illegal invasion of Ukraine and the potential war crimes they have committed against the Ukrainian people. Suspending trade relations with Russia and its puppet Belarus will cut off revenues that are funding Putin’s war. We have taken action to send much-needed military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, cut off oil and gas imports, and now we must keep up the pressure to continue our support for the people of Ukraine and President Zelensky.”
Background:
The bill recognizes that Ukraine is a sovereign nation-state entitled to enter into agreements with other sovereign states and to full respect of its territorial integrity. It revokes Congress’s decision to permanently extend the tariff rates that the United States applies to World Trade Organization (WTO) Members (“normal trade relations”) to the Russian Federation in 2012 (as Russia was completing the process of joining the WTO).
Last week, Miller-Meeks voted to send nearly $14 billion in critical military, economic, and humanitarian assistance to help Ukraine respond to Russian aggression. Miller-Meeks also voted to ban all imports of oil and gas from Russia.
Miller-Meeks has cosponsored several pieces of legislation intended to sanction Russia, its government, and its leadership, including the GUARD Act, the Putin Accountability Act, the American Energy Independence from Russia Act, the Prohibition on Imports of Russian Oil Act, condemning Russia’s actions and calling for an investigation into potential war crimes, the Make Russia Pay Act, the Ban Russian Energy Imports Act, sanctioning the Russian Parliament, and to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the Defenders of Ukraine.
Original source can be found here
