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As a huge supporter of Ukraine in its fight against the brutal, unprovoked war against it by Putin’s Russia, I agree with Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08) on this – for the reasons Rep. Beyer lays out. Specifically, this bill actually would give Putin’s puppet President Donald Trump more power, which he almost certainly would misuse. Check out this insanity: “This bill has a loophole that would allow [Trump] to define basically any country as a facilitator of evading Russian sanctions. He could then hit them with tariffs of up to 100%, with no guardrails or oversight, and no expiration. It’s a much stronger tariff power than those he has already abused, and it would be much harder to challenge in court.” And yes, “Giving him this power when he has shown us over and over again what he will do with it would be an incredible mistake.” For all those reasons, I urge every Virginia Democrat in Congress – including Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA07), a Ukrainian-American who of course passionately wants to help Ukraine, but whose reasoning on this bill I find highly unconvincing – to vote NO on this bill.
P.S. BTW, I also strongly disagree with Rep. Vindman on this, from that same interview I linked to above: ” We got ourselves into a situation with an election, and we’re going to get out of this situation with an election.” In fact, we “got ourselves into a situation” with numerous elections over many years, but more to the point, we got ourselves into the horrible situation we’re in right now because of racism, xenophobia, ignorance, idiocy, an almost completely broken “mainstream” media, normalization of far-right extremism, (anti-) social media, etc, etc. And unless/until we address those root causes, one election will simply be a necessary but not sufficient condition to get us out of it. And, by the way, this is NOT meant to downplay the importance of the midterm elections, let alone the 2028 elections, as they are both absolutely CRUCIAL. But even if we win the midterms AND the 2028 elections AND the Trump regime actually leaves power non-violently, the hot mess the next Democratic administration will inherit – and have to deal with – is going to be a f’ing NIGHTMARE. So…no, we are not going to “get out of this situation with an election” alone, but elections really do matter.
Beyer: This Bill Would Do More Harm Than Good For America And For Ukraine
September 16, 2026 (Washington, D.C.) – Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), the Senior House Democrat on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee and a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, delivered a stark warning against the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia And Iran Act during floor debate on the measure ahead of a final vote this afternoon.
His remarks as delivered follow below.
“Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose this well-intentioned but terribly flawed bill.
All of us on our side of the aisle strongly support Ukraine.
But this bill would do more harm than good for America and for Ukraine.
It has three main points: sanctions, tariffs, and symbolism.
The new sanctions on Russia in this bill would be strong and sweeping, if they were enforced.
But the bill gives Trump the power to simply ignore them, and that is what he is very likely to do.
His criticism of Ukraine and friendliness to Russia have both been rising recently, and he is even calling for Russian energy exports, the very thing this bill is purported to block.
The bill’s tariffs are a huge problem.
President Trump has abused every presidential tariff authority – every single one – that Congress has given, often to target our allies.
This bill has a loophole that would allow him to define basically any country as a facilitator of evading Russian sanctions.
He could then hit them with tariffs of up to 100%, with no guardrails or oversight, and no expiration. It’s a much stronger tariff power than those he has already abused, and it would be much harder to challenge in court.
Giving him this power when he has shown us over and over again what he will do with it would be an incredible mistake.
And finally, we are told the bill will be a symbolic win for Ukraine and a show of American support.
But if this bill passes, I predict Ukraine’s supporters will regret it.
Yes they will be able to say “we stood with Ukraine,” in the immediate aftermath.
But when Donald Trump hits our allies with new tariffs and waives sanctions on Russia, the propaganda victory for Putin will be lasting, and the damage will be embedded in U.S. law.
Meanwhile the Ukrainian cause will be tied to Trump’s widely hated tariffs – deeply unpopular in America already, and further stressing Americans’ pocketbooks [which] is not good for Ukraine’s long term.
We can do better, and the House has passed a better bill.
With negotiation and compromise, we can pass a stronger bill that truly supports Ukraine and tightens the economic screws on Russia without harming Americans.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this misguided bill so we can pass a better one.”
Rep. Don Beyer serves as Senior House Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, chairs the New Democrat Coalition’s Trade Task Force, and serves on the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee.
Beyer is the sponsor of the Congressional Trade Authority Act, which would rein in presidential abuses of authorities under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. He is the co-lead, with Rep. Suzan DelBene, of legislation to end abuses of International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariff authorities, and an original cosponsor of the Repealing Outdated and Unilateral Tariff Authorities Act, which would repeal Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930; the Reclaim Trade Powers Act, which would strike Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law that currently allows the President to impose sweeping 15% tariffs on all imports under a “balance of payments” crisis; and the Stopping a Rogue President on Trade Act, which would halt President Trump’s trade wars, repeal tariffs, and reclaim Congress’ lawful authority over tariffs.
