The action of the Parliament came after the Senate approved the two bills with 100-0 votes. The measures now go to President Joe Biden to sign into law. Lawmakers overwhelmingly support the substance of the two bills, but had languished in the Senate for weeks as lawmakers worked to find the final details. Biden has already taken executive action to ban Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal in the United States. Legislation puts effort into law. The bill to end normal trade relations with Russia paves the way for Biden to impose higher tariffs on various imports, such as some steel and aluminum products, further weakening the Russian economy under President Vladimir Putin. It also ensures that Belarus receives less favorable tariff treatment. A spokesman for Richard Neal, D-Mass., Said it was important to take action because innocent Ukrainians were being slaughtered even when lawmakers were meeting. “We have no time to lose and we must immediately further punish Vladimir Putin,” Neil said. “What we have seen in Bouha only in the last 72 hours justifies the positions we took in the past and to be more dynamic and aggressive in the future.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Sumer, DN.Y., announced late Wednesday a major breakthrough in the bill-voting negotiations before lawmakers return to their home states and congressional districts for two weeks. Some lawmakers said the failure to take final action on the bills was sending the wrong message to allies and Russia. “Now, I wish this could have happened sooner, but after weeks of talks with the other side, it is important that we have found a way forward,” Sumer said. Schumer described the images coming out of Ukraine as the war dragged on as “pure, pure evil. “Hundreds of civilians were cold-bloodedly killed.” “No nation whose military commits war crimes deserves a free trade regime with the United States,” Sumer said. While there was overwhelming support for the suspension of preferential trade treatment for Russia, Sen. Rand Paul R-Ky. is too wide, leaving it ripe for abuse. Some other Republicans had expressed similar concerns. Sumer chose to let senators work behind the scenes in language that could be accepted by lawmakers from both parties and the White House, rather than chewing time to overcome mistakes. Senator Ben Cardin, D-Md., Said in practical terms that the impact of the trade bill delay is minimal “because there is almost no trade from Russia at the moment.” However, he said the passage of the bill is the key. “Messaging is important here and action is important,” Cardin said. “You have the Ukrainians on the battlefield every day. “The least we can do is approve these bills.” The bills also give the President the power to return to normal tariff treatment for Russia as well as to continue trading in Russian energy products under certain conditions. While Russian oil accounts for only a small portion of US imports, it has a high price tag for lawmakers in Congress who saw the ban as a moral test of blocking an economic salvation for the Putin regime. Parliament votes were not as unanimous as they were in the Senate, but votes were not uncommon. The bill on the suspension of Russia’s preferential trade regime was passed by 420-3 votes. The bill banning energy imports from Russia passed with 413-9 votes. Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, wrote on Twitter that the president was looking forward to signing the bills. “I thank Congress for its cooperation and leadership in making Putin a global economic and financial idiot,” Sullivan wrote on Twitter. The White House says sanctions already imposed by the United States and more than 30 other nations have hit the Russian economy hard. He said experts now predict that Russia’s GDP will shrink by up to 15% this year and that inflation is already jumping above 15%. More than 600 private sector companies have already left the market. “Russia is very likely to lose its position as a major economy and will continue a long descent into economic, financial and technological isolation,” the White House said in a statement.
