That includes preventing the president from giving the Kremlin control over two properties on US soil that the government seized late previous year, accusing Russia of using them for intelligence-gathering purposes, while expelling 35 Russian operatives from the country.
Similarly, senators tussled over Russian Federation sanctions for several months, as lawmakers filed competing measures while others wondered whether Congress should be stepping ahead of a new president with unorthodox ideas about how to engage with Moscow.
The energy-specific sanctions generated sharp criticism from Germany and Austria, which said the penalties could affect European businesses involved in piping in Russian natural gas.
The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed tough sanctions on Russian Federation and Iran, sending the House of Representatives a bill that would prevent President Donald Trump from unilaterally easing penalties against Moscow.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson questioned the legislation on Wednesday, urging Congress to ensure that any sanctions package "allows the president to have the flexibility to adjust sanctions to meet the needs of what is always an evolving diplomatic situation".
In a rare moment of bipartisan unity, the Senate voted 97 to two to approve the sanctions, with only Republicans Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky voting against.
The US Senate has overwhelmingly passed an amendment to strengthen and expand the current sanctions against Russian Federation, sending a "strong" signal to President Vladimir Putin over territorial violation in Crimea, alleged meddling in elections and aggression in Syria.
BC NDP and Green Party intend to form minority government
Randal Macnair, the NDP representative, said the agreement between the two parties is a good thing. For Clark, it's the end of the line, as premier and as leader of the BC Liberal Party.
At the same time, he also said he doesn't want to preemptively shut down a potentially productive conversation.
And he's also cautioned against taking steps that might close off promising avenues of communication between the two former Cold War foes. But support for the bill is easily enough to overcome a presidential veto.
This new bill would also give sanctions imposed by then president Barack Obama via an executive order the full force of law.
The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to allow Congress exercise the power. Those penalties were on top of existing USA sanctions over Russia's actions in Ukraine, which have damaged Russia's economy but had only limited impact on President Vladimir Putin's behavior.
Before this amendment emergence, there were three Senate bills attempting to either strengthen or reinforce existing sanctions against Russian Federation.
The bill penalizes Moscow for interfering in the 2016 election by imposing sanctions on key sectors of Russia's economy, including mining, metals, shipping and railways. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat. He said Tuesday the administration should be supportive of the measure.
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