With the U.S. Congress back in session this week, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is pushing his House colleagues to pass a Russia sanction bill that the U.S. Senate approved before the recess.
Blumenthal returned from a six-day trip to Ukraine last week.
While there, he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and urged him to personally lobby the U.S. House lawmakers the way he did U.S. senators, he said, briefing news reporters in Hartford about the trip on Friday.
“I suggested to President Zelensky that he talk to members of the House of Representatives just as he did to members of the Senate, “ Blumenthal said. “Which helped us pass my bill overwhelmingly, 86 to 11, with bipartisan support. He sat in the gallery as the Senate voted. And it was a moment of great joy.”
Blumenthal’s bill includes a sanctions package to deprive Russian President Vladimir Putin of oil and gas revenue fueling the war. It also helps provide Ukraine with Patriot interceptor missiles and licensing agreements. And it expands Ukrainian access to Elon Musk’s Starlink internet to help target strikes inside Russia.
