Lance: Russian Sanctions Only First Step

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Leonard Lance (NJ-07) issued the following statement after the U.S. Treasury issued sanctions on Russia through the Office of Foreign Assets Control:

“The government of Russia must be held accountable for meddling in our sacred electoral process and sowing discontent in the United States.  Today’s sanctions are a step in the right direction but more must be done to expose Russian malfeasance, hold Vladimir Putin’s government accountable and protect our country.  Severing access to our financial system is one tool, but the Trump Administration must fully enforce the sanctions passed overwhelmingly in Congress last year.  I will continue leading the cause to make sure those sanctions are fully implemented. 

“I also stand with our great ally, Great Britain, as the world community condemns the nerve agent attack clearly executed by the Russian government.  The United States and our allies must stand against Mr. Putin’s attempts to destabilize the world.  We must denounce his actions without hesitation.”      

Last week, Lance became the first Republican lawmaker to introduce legislation that would force the sanctioning of the Russian government.  Lance joined with Reps. Denny Heck (WA-10), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Karen Bass (CA-37) to introduce legislation requiring the Trump Administration to enforce the congressionally-mandated sanctions against the Russian government for election meddling.  The Directing Implementation of Sanctions and Accountability for Russian Mischief (DISARM) Act will punish the Russian government and eliminate any option the executive branch may exercise to ignore the will of Congress in seeing Russian officials held accountable.  Lance was also one of the first Republican lawmakers to introduce legislation punishing Russia for election interference