WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a lead author of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), today released the following statement on implementation of the legislation.
“As a lead author of this important legislation, I am particularly invested in its implementation,” said Corker. “Based on the classified briefing our committee staff received yesterday afternoon from the State Department, I am encouraged by the diplomatic steps Secretary Tillerson has taken in recent months to compel other governments to comply with CAATSA. On the whole, it is clear the administration is working in good faith, and I am committed to applying pressure, as needed, to ensure further implementation.”
Section 231 of CAATSA prohibits other states from engaging in significant transactions with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors. In October, the administration released guidance and publicly named specific actors in those sectors. Yesterday merely marked the effective date on which sanctions will be imposed when and if significant transactions with the outlined blacklisted actors occur. This is in accordance with the law as written.
The administration also released the “oligarch report” as required by CAATSA and transmitted to the Senate a classified sovereign debt report and a report on the Ukrainian energy sector as required under the law.
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