House Panel Advances Sanctions Bills on Russia, Syria, Burma
The House Financial Services Committee approved legislation July 22 to increase sanctions on Russia and Burma and revise sanctions on Syria.
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The Preventing the Escalation of Armed Conflict in Europe Act, or Peace Act, which received a 53-1 vote, would give the Treasury Department expanded authority to prohibit U.S. bank access for foreign financial institutions that serve Russia’s energy sector or sanctioned Russian entities (see 2507080037).
“The sanctions in the Peace Act send a clear message: if foreign banks want to maintain access to the U.S. financial system, they must cut ties to Russian bad actors,” committee Chairman French Hill, R-Ark., said.
Hill said the Peace Act would be more effective in cutting Russia’s energy export revenue than the existing international price cap on Russia oil. The bill “is the kind of pressure Moscow won’t ignore,” he asserted.
The committee rejected several Democratic amendments to the Peace Act, including one by its ranking member, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., to impose a wider range of sanctions on Russia. Opponents of the Waters amendment, which was identical to a stand-alone proposal other lawmakers introduced in April (see 2507090023), said it would bog down the Peace Act because it would have to go through several other committees with jurisdiction.
The Syria Sanctions Accountability Act, which received a 31-23 vote, would update the conditions for lifting sanctions in the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (see 2507180055). It would, among other things, require the Syrian government to fight the illicit proliferation of the drug Captagon and not engage in the targeting or extrajudicial detention of religious minorities.
By voice vote, the committee approved an amendment by Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., that would require the Syrian government to take “reasonable steps” to protect religious and ethnic minorities. By a 17-37 vote, the committee defeated a Waters amendment that would have repealed the Caesar Act.
The Bringing Real Accountability via Enforcement in Burma Act, or the Brave Burma Act, which was agreed to by a 54-0 vote, is designed to strengthen sanctions against several sources of funding for Myanmar’s military (see 2505080021). It would require the president to determine annually whether to impose stronger property-blocking sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, Myanma Economic Bank and foreign persons operating in the jet fuel sector of Myanmar’s economy.