A new bill introduced in the House on Thursday would allow Congress to use assets seized from Russian and Belarusian oligarchs to pay for humanitarian aid to Ukraine, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said that the Confiscating Corrupt Criminal Proceeds Act would seize assets from wealthy individuals who support Russian President Vladimir Putin and the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, and would allow the federal government to use those assets.
"There would not be a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine if Vladimir Putin had refrained from starting this war," Burchett told the Free Beacon. "Russia is responsible for its army's vile attacks on evacuation convoys, hospitals, and apartment buildings that are causing enormous suffering among innocent Ukrainians."
The congressman added, "The oligarchs who profit off of Putin's murderous regime should be the ones who pay for humanitarian aid to Ukraine, not American citizens who are burdened by inflated gas prices."
The U.S. Department of the Treasury said last week that it and the State Department have "intensified pressure on Russia by sanctioning numerous Russian elites and their family members ... The elites sanctioned continue to provide direct and indirect support to the Government of the Russian Federation through their business empires, wealth, and other resources.
"The aid of these individuals, their family members, and other key elites allows President Vladimir Putin to continue to wage the ongoing, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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