At the same time, the congressmen stressed that the administration of the American president opposes the billWASHINGTON, September 15.
/tass/. U.S. Congressional Senators Richard Blumenthal (Democrat from Connecticut) and Lindsey Graham (Republican from South Carolina) on Wednesday introduced a bill that bypasses the State Department to add Russia to the list of countries that sponsor terrorism because of the situation in Ukraine.
"We are well aware that the administration of [US President Joe Biden] holds a different point of view on this issue (on the inclusion of the Russian Federation in the list of countries sponsors of terrorism - approx. TASS). With all due respect, I disagree with this," Blumenthal said at a press conference on the bill. According to him, Russia allegedly "earned the right" to be included "in the rogue club, which includes Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Syria."
At the same time, the bill, if adopted, allows Biden to cancel the decision to include Moscow in this list if he confirms to Congress that Russia "no longer supports acts of international terrorism" and that the refusal to include it in the list "meets the national interests of the United States."
In July, five members of the House of Representatives - Democrats and Republicans - introduced a similar bill.
On July 27, the Senate passed a resolution calling on the State Department to recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The document calls the events in Georgia, Syria, Chechnya and Ukraine the reason for the relevant decision.
In July, according to the newspaper Politico, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (Democrat from California) told Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during a telephone conversation that if the State Department does not recognize Russia as a sponsor of terrorism because of the events in Ukraine, the American legislature will do it.
State Department Opposition
Earlier, the head of the press service of the State Department, Ned Price, said that the US administration is working with Congress to tighten the regime of unilateral sanctions against Moscow, including through the use of measures similar to Russia's inclusion in the Washington list of countries that sponsor terrorism. At the same time, he noted that "there are unintended consequences that may arise as a result of Russia's inclusion in the list of countries that sponsor terrorism." As Price acknowledged, Washington has also heard statements from various non-governmental organizations about their "sincere and deep concern that Russia's inclusion in the [American] list of sponsors of terrorism" would negatively affect the ability of such structures "to provide humanitarian assistance in Ukraine." In addition, the inclusion of Russia in this list could hit a package deal concluded under the auspices of the UN and aimed primarily at the export of food from Ukraine, the diplomat noted.
According to Politico, the Biden administration believes that adding Russia to the list of countries that sponsor terrorism will harm the prospects of returning to the United States Brittney Griner, convicted in Russia for drug smuggling and possession, and Paul Whelan, convicted in Russia for espionage. According to the publication, the future of the bills in both chambers remains unclear. So, Pelosi has not yet proposed to consider this initiative in the House of Representatives. And the leader of the Democratic majority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer (from New York state), will be busy in the coming weeks solving problems related to the financing of the government and the defense budget for the next fiscal year (begins in the United States on October 1). According to the newspaper, it all depends on whether Schumer wants to "get into a fight with the Biden administration."
The White House decision
The White House stressed in early September that the decision of the US administration not to include Russia in the American list of countries that sponsor terrorism is final. Kiev appealed to Washington to include Russia in it. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, previously called these initiatives "a measure of an idiotic nature". The diplomat warned that such steps by the United States would not remain unanswered by Russia.
The list of sponsors of terrorism may include States that, according to Washington, "have repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism." The American administration has broad powers in terms of imposing sanctions against the persons involved in the list. The US Treasury can take measures against those legal entities and individuals, as well as states that trade with countries on the list. The inclusion of a State in the list may have significant consequences in terms of the introduction of further restrictive measures. Since 1979, the US administration has added only a small number of countries to its list, and it was about "rogue states in which US interests are limited," the Washington Post newspaper explained earlier. Currently, the list includes Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Syria.
