|
 Republican leaders in the House of Representatives made a rare
show of support for President Barack Obama earlier on Wednesday,
saying they would work with the White House to address the crisis in
Ukraine.
Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the House would soon consider a $1
billion loan guarantee package for Ukraine, which the administration
has called for, and look at measures to "put significant pressure on
Russia to stop the flagrant aggression to its neighbor."
"The world community should stand united against this invasion,
America should be leading and we'll vote soon on legislation to aid
the Ukrainian people," he told reporters.
House Speaker John Boehner, who has had frosty relations with Obama,
said the House would work in a bipartisan way with the Democratic
president, who spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron as
part of intensive international diplomacy.
Later in the day, leaders of the House Appropriations Committee said
they had introduced legislation to provide loan guarantees to
Ukraine. The measure would be financed within the existing State
Department budget, so it does not require additional funds.
U.S. senators are preparing their own bill to aid Ukraine. It could
be introduced within days, with a vote in the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee next week.
Military leaders testified at a Senate hearing that they were
boosting training with Poland's air force and providing more U.S.
aircraft to a NATO air policing mission in the Baltics, seeking to
reassure allies without escalating the Ukrainian crisis.
Lawmakers have not agreed on what steps to take against Russian
President Vladimir Putin's government for its actions in Crimea,
where Russian forces have seized control, and to discourage Moscow
from further interference in its western neighbor.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Paris for talks aimed at
easing tensions and averting the risk of war, as the European Union
offered the new Kiev government 11 billion euros ($15.1 billion) in
financial aid over the next few years.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, who leads the Democrats in the Senate,
said he expected there would be a two-step legislative process on
Ukraine — first a bill to extend aid to Kiev and later to approve
sanctions on Russia.
TARGETING OLIGARCHS NOT SO SIMPLE
Some members of Congress have suggested halting visas and freezing
the assets of Putin and those in the Russian elite close to him who
are considered responsible for the actions in Ukraine.
Others have advocated sanctioning Russian banks, kicking Russia out
of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations or cutting back
on U.S. trade with Russia.
[to top of second column] |
"The oligarchs around Putin have a tremendous amount of money in
Western banks," U.S. Representative Ed Royce, the chairman of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on MSNBC.
"And, likewise, the state-run banks in Russia, they're involved in a
lot of money laundering. And clearly under a sanctions regime, with
an investigation by the Treasury Department or European governments,
those assets could be frozen," he said.
Royce and Democratic Representative Eliot Engel introduced a
non-binding resolution in the House on Wednesday that condemned the
violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and called for sanctions on
Russian officials, banks and state agencies.
A group of Democrats and Republicans offered a similar measure in
the Senate, calling for a withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea
and a negotiated settlement. It also urged the Obama administration
and the European Union to use "a range of economic and diplomatic
leverage" against Russia.
Agreeing on binding sanctions legislation will not be easy. Many
lawmakers — including Reid — have suggested that Washington should
wait for European nations, which have far more trade with Russia and
are more wary about restrictions.
It will take time to determine which banks or individuals were
involved in Ukraine, and then to identify assets held in the United
States or in U.S.-controlled banks.
"You can't just go after Russian oligarchs because they are Russian
oligarchs," a Senate aide said.
Republican lawmakers also offered harsh criticism of Obama's foreign
policy.
"With regard to Ukraine, the steps that have not been taken over the
last three or four years, (by Obama) frankly, allowed Putin to
believe that he could do what he's doing without any reaction from
us," Boehner said.
($1 = 0.7278 Euro)
(Additional reporting by David Alexander, Richard Cowan, David
Lawder and Susan Heavey; editing by David Storey and G Crosse)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
