WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, urged President Trump to swiftly sign a package of new economic and financial sanctions to hold Iran, North Korea, and Russia accountable for their actions.  The U.S. Senate voted 98-2 in favor of the bill, which would provide Congress with the ability to block President Trump from lifting the Russia sanctions. It also includes new penalties against Iran and North Korea.

“This was a strong, bipartisan rebuke of Iranian, North Korean, and Russian transgressions.  It also sends a signal to President Trump that the American people will not tolerate attacks on our democracy.

“I commend Senators Brown, Crapo, Corker, Cardin, and McCain and all the members of the Banking Committee and Foreign Relations Committee who worked together to broker this bipartisan package with the leadership of both the Senate and House of Representatives. 

“This legislation sends a strong signal to our adversaries and our allies.  It is a first step in holding Russia accountable for its interference in the U.S. presidential election, and its ongoing interference in other democratic elections.  We need this bill because President Trump continues to ignore the strong consensus of our own intelligence agencies and it prevents him from lifting any of the sanctions without Congressional review.

“We also need to do more to demonstrate to North Korea that it must stop its destabilizing nuclear and ballistic missile programs, but these sanctions are a good additional step to move us in the right direction.

“Now that both the House and Senate have spoken and sent the bill to the President’s desk, he should swiftly sign it into law.  If he tries to veto it, that would be a serious misstep by the President and I am confident Congress will put the interests of the United States first and override him.”

The bill was passed by the House on a vote of 419-3 earlier this week.