Idaho's Republican Senator Mike Crapo led the charge in the nation's capital to pass a bill Tuesday strengthening sanctions against Russia and limiting the President's ability to lift or interfere with sanctions.
Senate Democrats and Republicans came together in a moment of comity to pass the sanctions bill 97 to 2.
The bill maintains and tightens sanctions on Russia and empowers Congress, not the president, when it comes to overseeing diplomatic and economic restrictions on foreign powers.
Senator Crapo tells the Idaho Statesman he believes the legislation will send a message to Russia that its aggression in Ukraine and tactics in Syria won't be tolerated. He's confident President Trump will sign the bill despite the legislation taking away the president's ability to lift or alter sanctions.
Crapo says the legislation isn't meant as a rebuke to Trump who has tried to better relations with Russia; instead, Crapo says it's a move to try and return some oversight of the process to the legislature after years of ceding power to the executive branch.
With the Senate version passing 97 to 2, the House edition of the bill, titled the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act,” passed by an overwhelming 419 to 3. Crapo thinks a final version of the legislation will pass in the Senate before the Congress' scheduled recess in August.
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