Beyer: This Bill Would Do More Harm Than Good For America And For Ukraine

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), the Senior House Democrat on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee and a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, delivered a stark warning against the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia And Iran Act during floor debate on the measure ahead of a final vote this afternoon. His remarks as delivered follow below, and video is available here . “Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this well-intentioned but terribly flawed bill. All of us on our side of the aisle strongly support Ukraine. But this bill would do more harm than good for America and for Ukraine. It has three main points: sanctions, tariffs, and symbolism. The new sanctions on Russia in this bill would be strong and sweeping, if they were enforced. But the bill gives Trump the power to simply ignore them, and that is what he is very likely to do. His criticism of Ukraine and friendliness to Russia have both been rising recently, and he is even calling for Russian energy exports, the very thing this bill is purported to block. The bill’s tariffs are a huge problem. President Trump has abused every presidential tariff authority – every single one – that Congress has given, often to target our allies. This bill has a loophole that would allow him to define basically any country as a facilitator of evading Russian sanctions. He could then hit them with tariffs of up to 100%, with no guardrails or oversight, and no expiration. It’s a much stronger tariff power than those he has already abused, and it would be much harder to challenge in court. Giving him this power when he has shown us over and over again what he will do with it would be an incredible mistake. And finally, we are told the bill will be a symbolic win for Ukraine and a show of American support. But if this bill passes, I predict Ukraine’s supporters will regret it. Yes they will be able to say “we stood with Ukraine,” in the immediate aftermath. But when Donald Trump hits our allies with new tariffs and waives sanctions on Russia, the propaganda victory for Putin will be lasting, and the damage will be embedded in U.S. law. Meanwhile the Ukrainian cause will be tied to Trump’s widely hated tariffs – deeply unpopular in America already, and further stressing Americans’ pocketbooks [which] is not good for Ukraine’s long term. We can do better, and the House has passed a better bill. With negotiation and compromise, we can pass a stronger bill that truly supports Ukraine and tightens the economic screws on Russia without harming Americans. I urge my colleagues to oppose this misguided bill so we can pass a better one.” Rep. Don Beyer serves as Senior House Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, chairs the New Democrat Coalition’s Trade Task Force, and serves on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee. Beyer is the sponsor of the Congressional Trade Authority Act , which would rein in presidential abuses of authorities under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. He is the co-lead, with Rep. Suzan DelBene, of legislation to end abuses of International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariff authorities, and an original cosponsor of the Repealing Outdated and Unilateral Tariff Authorities Act , which would repeal Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930; the Reclaim Trade Powers Act , which would strike Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law that currently allows the President to impose sweeping 15% tariffs on all imports under a “balance of payments” crisis; and the Stopping a Rogue President on Trade Act , which would halt President Trump’s trade wars, repeal tariffs, and reclaim Congress’ lawful authority over tariffs.