Two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a new defense pact, Senators Lindsey Graham (D-Lausanne) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced a bill to declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.
At the beginning of a press conference announcing the bill, Blumenthal held up photos of Kim Jong Un and Putin and said, “Exhibit A. This concludes my argument.”
Blumenthal said the photo of Putin and Kim Jong Un depicts “two of the world’s most dictatorial and brutal leaders standing together.”
He also said the U.S. designation of Russia as a state sponsor of terror sends as important a message as the tougher sanctions it brings.
“This message to the world is as important morally as the practical consequences: Russia deserves to belong in this small, select club of murderers who commit atrocities,” the Democrat said.
Graham Introduced Last Congress, the Senate passed a resolution declaring Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. The resolution passed the Senate but was nonbinding, and only called for the Secretary of State to make that distinction himself.
The bill introduced Thursday would require the State Department to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, lift new sanctions, restrict U.S.-based foreign aid and significantly limit Russia’s immunity from U.S. lawsuits.
If passed, the bill would allow Americans to sue state sponsors of terrorism for crimes such as torture, extrajudicial killings and hostage taking.
If these cases are successful, plaintiffs may be able to recover damages from seized assets in sanctioned countries.
In the past, the courts have Almost pay It will pay $9 billion to the victims of the bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon and more than $500 million to the family of Otto Warmbier, a student who died in North Korean custody.
In the resolution, Senators Graham and Blumenthal would create diplomatic exceptions and allow exemptions for agriculture and pharmaceutical trade. The bill also would allow the president to determine that Russia is no longer a state sponsor of terrorism and quickly remove the designation without congressional approval.
Currently, the United States designates only four countries as state sponsors of terrorism: Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and Syria.
Ukraine, which has called on the United States to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, is in its third year of defending itself against Russian aggression. Russia controls about a fifth of Ukraine, and the United Nations, Western countries and Ukraine all accuse Russia of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including mass rape, summary executions, extrajudicial killings and the use of chemical weapons.
The United States and its Western allies have imposed a series of tougher sanctions on Russia since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and isolated the Russian economy from the West.
“We’re not trying to provoke President Putin by designating him a state sponsor of terror,” Graham said. “After the North Korea-Russia defense agreement, it’s time for us to fight back. Now is as important a time as any other. So I would urge the administration, in light of what President Putin did yesterday, to do everything in its power to designate his regime a state sponsor of terror.”
“The general rule is this: any country that enters into a defense agreement with North Korea must be a state sponsor,” he added.
Putin’s visit to North Korea was the first by a Russian president to the country in 24 years. During the meeting, Putin and Kim Jong Un announced a new partnership and pledged mutual assistance and protection.
Blumenthal said he has discussed the resolution with the Biden administration and that they are “sympathetic to the goals.”
“We’ll continue to work with them,” he added, “and we think now is the time for us to move forward. And they understand that we may have differences in approach and opinions, and I think they respect what we’re trying to do.”
European Parliament Declared Russia will become a state sponsor of terrorism in 2022.
Graham and Blumenthal also made clear that the resolution is “not a substitute” for continuing military aid to Ukraine, after the United States passed a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine in May.
“This is not a substitute for military aid,” Blumenthal said.
Laura Kelly contributed.
