Smith Statement on President Trump’s Refusal to Impose Russia Sanctions
Washington, DC – Today, House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) made the following statement about President Trump’s refusal to impose statutorily mandated sanctions on Russia by the required deadline:
“Last summer, Congress passed forceful legislation with a veto-proof majority requiring the imposition of certain sanctions in response to the Russian government’s actions to intervene in the 2016 American election. Under that law, President Trump was required to implement those sanctions yesterday unless the President submitted a certification to Congress. This week, we learned his administration has declined to impose new sanctions and that he will put Russian entities ‘on notice’ instead. It is a grave breach of President Trump’s responsibilities to reward President Putin by inaction for his intervention in an American election—it represents nothing less than appeasement for an attack on our country’s democracy.
“It is time for us time to stand up for our country. We cannot let these actions to continue to go unpunished.”