Adams Releases Statement on Support for Ukraine and Congressional Action

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Tomorrow, Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) and her fellow members of the House Financial Services Committee are advancing bipartisan legislation to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for his unprovoked, illegal war against Ukraine and its people.

After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address to Congress this morning, Rep. Adams released the following statement:

"President Zelenskyy gave a moving speech to Congress this morning as he joined us from Kyiv, Ukraine," said Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12). "He called on us to act, specifically imploring us that ‘More packages of aggressive sanctions are needed every week until the Russian military machine stops.' I'm proud to answer that call.

"Since Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, President Biden has imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia. Tomorrow, as a member of the House Committee on Financial Services, I will join Committee Democrats and Republicans to uphold & strengthen these sanctions. Our legislation will hold President Putin accountable, further isolate Russia from the rest of the world, and support President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine."

Background

Tomorrow, the House Committee on Financial Services is expected to consider the following legislation:

• Legislation to support Ukraine by suspending its crippling debt obligations.
  • As Russia's war in Ukraine intensifies, the U.S. and its allies must continue to support Ukraine's means to defend themselves, including suspending Ukraine's external debt payments.
    • Ukraine currently owes $21.7 billion to multilateral institutions, such as the IMF and the World Bank; $6.5 billion to other bilateral creditors; and $3.5 billion to external commercial creditors.
    • Legislation led by Rep. Chuy Garcia D-IL, the "Ukraine Comprehensive Debt Payment Relief Act," would direct the Department of Treasury to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and other relevant multilateral development banks to advocate for the immediate suspension of all debt service payments owed to each institution by Ukraine. It also directs the Secretary of Treasury, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to commence immediate efforts with other official bilateral creditors and commercial creditor groups to pursue similar comprehensive debt payment relief for Ukraine.In total, this legislation seeks to eliminate $4.6 billion dollars of Ukrainian debt service payments this year alone.

• Legislation that will take further actions to prevent Putin and his cronies from evading existing sanctions.
  • Putin's power is bolstered by his cronies, oligarchs that he made rich over the past two decades by looting Russia's riches. To stop this abuse of our financial system, we must improve our ability to identify the location and ownership of those assets.
  • Right now, Putin and his cronies are evading sanctions and hiding their ownership of assets, like mansions and art, in the U.S., using shell companies and other money laundering techniques to avoid detection.
    • As it stands, it is far too easy for Russian elites, including kleptocrats who amassed their fortunes by pillaging state resources, to move and hide huge sums of stolen money through the American economy without notice. They can invest in real estate, purchase luxury goods, and hide assets in U.S. financial institutions and markets.
    • Legislation led by Chairwoman Waters the "Nowhere to Hide Oligarchs' Assets Act" would remove the geographic limitation on the "Geographic Targeting Order" authority, allowing FinCEN to request information on oligarchs and others nationwide. This will allow FinCEN to better understand how Russia and its oligarchs are working to hide and launder money and, as the sanctions pile up against oligarchs, their family members, and their entities, how they evade sanctions. This bill would also expand existing recordkeeping and reporting requirements on foreign financial agencies to include transactions with foreign nonfinancial trades or businesses, enabling FinCEN to obtain information concerning Russian oligarch-controlled shell companies or other legal entities.
  • Legislation to deny Putin economic resources and access to financial markets that enable his unlawful war against Ukraine.
    • Led by Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA), H.R. 7066, the "Russia and Belarus Financial Sanctions Act" would clarify that for U.S. financial institutions that are obligated to comply with various sanctions against Russia and Belarus must take all necessary and available actions necessary to ensure any entity it owns or controls, including any foreign subsidiary, fully complies with the sanctions against Russia and Belarus.
    • Led by Representative French Hill (R-AK) the "Russia and Belarus SDR Exchange Prohibition Act" seeks todeprive Russia and Belarus of emergency liquidity by calling for the U.S. and relevant IMF member countries to prevent Russia and Belarus from exchanging Special Drawing Rights for hard currency, while prohibiting the issuance of new SDRs for the Putin and Lukashenko dictatorships.

• Legislation to isolate Russia from major financial and intergovernmental forums, and further isolate the country from the financial system.
  • Led by Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO), H.R. 6891, the "Isolate Russian Government Officials Act," will make it the policy of the United States to seek to exclude government officials of the Russian Federation, to the maximum extent practicable, from participating in meetings, proceedings, and other activities of the Group of 20 (G-20), Bank for International Settlements (BIS), Basel Committee for Banking Standards (BCBS), Financial Stability Board (FSB), International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), and International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. is in her fourth full term representing Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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