The House voted 419-3 Tuesday to pass a bipartisan bill that would limit the White House’s authority to lift sanctions against Russia and provide Congress the ability to veto any measure that seeks to reverse such sanctions, The Hill reported Tuesday.The bill would codify into law current Russian sanctions in response to the country’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections and aggression in Ukraine.
The legislation’s new version only covers sanctions on Russia’s energy export pipelines and bans U.S. investments in Arctic offshore, shale and deepwater projects in which Russian entities have a 33 percent controlling interest.
The measure would also impose sanctions on Iran with regard to its ballistic missile activities as well as on North Korea’s shipping sector amid the country’s missile and nuclear development programs.
“While the president supports tough sanctions on North Korea, Iran and Russia, the White House is reviewing the House legislation and awaits a final legislative package for the president’s desk,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a spokeswoman for the White House, said in a statement Tuesday.
The report added that the sanctions package is now headed to the Senate, which has not yet scheduled a vote on the bill.
