Two weeks ago I was busting Representative Bryan Steil for voting with the party to maintain the shutdown when I didn’t think he should. So today I have to thank him for going against the president and doing what is right for America.
What happened? Well the Trump regime is all gung ho to lift sanctions on one of the Russian oligarchs who support and defend the Putin regime. The House voted to maintain the sanctions by a vote of 362-53. The Democrats unanimously supported the measure and were joined by 133 Republicans…including three from Wisconsin, the aforementioned Rep. Steil plus Representatives Sean Duffy and Mike Gallagher!
Statements from our reps:
In a statement, freshman GOP congressman Steil, of Janesville, said:
“Russia poses a real and dangerous threat to the United States. Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted and has continued to undermine us, our interests, and our allies. Lifting these sanctions sends the wrong message to Moscow and our allies across the globe.”
His Republican colleague Gallagher said in statement:
“As I’ve said repeatedly, the way to hold Vladimir Putin accountable for his aggression is to penalize the oligarchs that underwrite his rule. If anything, we should be expanding sanctions on those close to Putin’s regime and their businesses.”
You will notice that Rep. Glenn Grothman is not on this list…he again decided to vote with the minority and take the wrong side of the issue.
A minority of GOP House members sided with the Trump administration, including Wisconsin’s Glenn Grothman.
Unfortunately President Trump will still be able to lift the sanctions because this bill did not pass in the Senate…it needs 60 votes and only received 57.
The House vote will not block the administration’s policy. That’s because an effort in the U.S. Senate to block the lifting of sanctions failed Wednesday, falling three votes short of the 60 votes needed to advance
One of the senators voting to support the president in lifting sanctions was Wisconsin’s own Senator Ron Johnson who just this past July 4th earned frequent flyer miles on a trip to Russia…cause:
In a telephone town hall with constituents Wednesday, Johnson defended his vote, saying, “I am absolutely for effective sanctions that create more pain for Vladimir Putin and Russia than they create for either the U.S. or our allies. All sanctions are not the same … some actually hurt us more than they hurt Russia and actually can be used against us by Putin to increase popular opinion (against the U.S.) within Russia.” (emphasis mine…Sen. Johnson prefers phone calls to appearing in front of an audience)
Sen. Bernie Sanders misses the vote; his spokesman says he was meeting with women who accused his 2016 presidential campaign of sexual misconduct.
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