Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick has said he will introduce a bipartisan Bill to block President Donald Trump’s move to lift sanctions on Russian diesel after talks with President Vladimir Putin. The move has the backing of outgoing Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska, though the effort appears largely symbolic as the current term of the US House of Representatives ends in January, leaving only a few months for the measure to pass.
advertisement
The push followed Trump’s announcement on Friday, after a phone call with Putin, that he had reached a deal with Russia to immediately supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the US and the global marketplace. The announcement surprised Congressional leaders because Congress last month overwhelmingly passed the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which empowered Trump to impose sweeping sanctions on Moscow and 100 per cent tariffs on its top five trading partners in oil and gas, including India and China.
Fitzpatrick, co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, said in a post on X: “We will be introducing bipartisan legislation to block any and all purchases of Russian oil.” He added, “It will be called the ‘Ronald Reagan Peace Through Strength Act’. It will be forced to the Floor via discharge and it will pass overwhelmingly.” Bacon said in a post on X: “I’ve already agreed to be an original cosponsor. Congress must make a stand.” Bacon is not seeking re-election in the midterm polls on November 3.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “Congress banned Russian energy imports in 2022. @POTUS cannot simply ignore that law to buy diesel from Putin. The law mandates consultation with Congress and a formal review process. The Administration appears to have bypassed both.” Earlier, Senator Richard Blumenthal, a co-author of the Russia sanctions Act, called Trump’s deal with Putin an “embarrassment”. Blumenthal and late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had authored the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which was passed by both Houses of the US Congress with an overwhelming majority on September 16. Trump signed it into law two days later.
It was Blumenthal who had warned China and India to “clean up your act” and buy oil from elsewhere soon after the US Congress passed the Russia sanctions Act on September 16. Congressman Dave Min, a Democrat from California, said: “If Trump keeps cutting (illegal) oil deals with Russia, we may just have to start sanctioning ourselves.” Republican Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas said on X: “Unfortunately, while I understand the desire to bring down diesel prices, I am concerned the lifting of sanctions on Russian oil will only fund the Kremlin’s war machine-emboldening more violence and destruction, as we have seen in recent days.”
The controversy over Trump’s diesel deal with Russia has now triggered a bipartisan move in the House, sharp criticism from senators and questions over whether the administration has followed the law passed by Congress only weeks ago.
With PTI Inputs
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
