The Defending American Security from Kremlin Aggression Act, known by the acronym DASKA,U.S. Senate committee backs Russia energy bills, delays vote on sanctions 'from hell'
Reuters, 11 December 2019. was introduced by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC),

Bob Menendez Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2006. Gale Biography In Context. A member of the Democratic Party, he was firs ...

(D-NJ), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Ben Cardin (D-MD),

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

(R-AZ), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) on August 2, 2018.

Introduction and passage in Congress

In a joint statement on August 2, 2018, Senator Lindsey Graham said, "Our goal is to change the status quo and impose crushing sanctions and other measures against Putin’s Russia until he ceases and desists meddling in the US electoral process, halts cyber-attacks on US infrastructure, removes Russia from Ukraine, and ceases efforts to create chaos in Syria. The sanctions and other measures contained in this bill are the most hard-hitting ever imposed – and a direct result of Putin’s continued desire to undermine American democracy. I strongly believe that DNI Coats’ assessment – that the warning lights are blinking red when it comes to Russian meddling in the 2018 election – is accurate. These sanctions and other measures are designed to respond in the strongest possible fashion." On August 8, the Russian business-oriented newspaper '' Kommersant'' published the full draft text of the bill.Kommersant
8 August 2018 This caused the ruble to fall 2.2%. Provisions in the draft bill include: *A ban on some of Russia's largest state banks *

Sanctions A sanction may be either a permission or a restriction, depending upon context, as the word is an auto-antonym. Examples of sanctions include: Government and law * Sanctions (law), penalties imposed by courts * Economic sanctions, typically a b ...

on investment in Russian government or affiliated oil and gas companies *Sanctions on Russian individuals suspected of

cyber attacks A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricted ...

against the United States *A new Sanctions Office to fortify the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act On 11 December 2019, the

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid pro ...

approved four energy bills, including the ″Energy Security Cooperation with Allied Partners in Europe Act of 2019″, which is meant to counter Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline, but the committee did not consider DASKA. On 18 December, the Senate panel approved DASKA, with the vote being 17–5 (all five “no” votes came from Republicans); but there was no indication of when the full Senate might vote on the measure.Senate panel advances Russia sanctions bill 'from hell'
Reuters, 18 December 2019.

Reactions

In February 2019, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to determining Putin's wealth with "It can hardly be taken seriously. Most probably it’s another Russophobic fuss."

References

{{Russia–United States relations Proposed legislation of the 116th United States Congress Sanctions legislation Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections Russia–United States relations United States sanctions Sanctions against Russia

Introduction and passage in Congress

Reactions

See also

References