Russia Trade Bill Remains Stalled In The Senate

Heated debate is currently underway on the Senate floor on the bill to revoke Russia's favoured trade status.

• The current issue centers around the wording of the Global Magnitsky Act. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has objected to a lack of clarity in a rewritten version of the act, claiming that it had been revised to allow for unreasonable power invested in the executive to apply sanctions upon 'human rights' grounds. Paul believes that this could be used to pursue a political agenda.
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke forcefully on the floor saying that the GOP criticised the Biden administration for moving slowly on sanctions, and 'now one Republican senator is blocking passage of a bipartisan bill.'
• Schumer had hoped to force a vote on the bill today but that is now looking unlikely. Yesterday the bill was stalled by Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) objecting to the absence of an oil ban in the bill. That has now been attached to the bill but with Senator Paul's objection a vote on the bill could be bumped to next week.
• Senate proceedings can be followed here.