The House on Tuesday passed legislation that would require the Trump administration to investigate Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wealth.
In a voice vote, lawmakers approved the Vladimir Putin Transparency Act, a bipartisan bill that accuses Putin of undermining democratic reforms in Russia.
“It is the sense of Congress that the United States should do more to expose the corruption of Vladimir Putin, whose ill-gotten wealth is perhaps the most powerful global symbol of his dishonesty and his persistent efforts to undermine the rule of law and democracy in the Russian Federation,” the bill said.
The legislation would require the Director of National Intelligence, and the secretaries of Departments of State and Treasury, to assess the extent and location of Putin’s wealth. The report would have to estimate his net worth, sources of income, and shell companies he might use.
The bill is one of four House lawmakers were considering Tuesday aimed at Russia.
Another that passed by voice vote, the Keeping Russian Entrapments Minimal and Limiting Intelligence Networks, or KREMLIN, Act would require officials to assess Russia’s potential for military action against NATO allies, its possible responses to a larger U.S. presence in eastern Europe, and how Russia might exploit divisions among western allies.
The House passed another bill calling out Russia for the murder of a pro-democracy Russian, Boris Nemtsov, which condemns Putin for “targeting political opponents and covering up the assassination.” That bill passed 416-1.
The House also passed the Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act, which prohibits the U.S. from recognizing Russia’s claim to Crimea, in a 427-1 vote.
That bill, however, lets the president waive this prohibition if he “determines that it is vital to the national security interests of the United States to do so.”
