US and Russian officials imposed mutual sanctions on one another in December, accusing each other of human rights violations and saying they would ban one anothers’ violators from their country.
The US version, the Magnitsky Act, calls for not only a full banning of violators but for seizing their assets. President Obama signed the law on December 14, but they’re still trying to figure out who to ban and how many.
The Act obliges the administration to publish a full list of who is being effected, or at least a good excuse for why they don’t want to publish a full list, by mid-April. With that deadline fast approaching, officials seem to be at odds on what to do.
Officials familiar with the dispute say there is concern that adding too many people will damage relations with Russia, while not adding enough would alienate Congress. In the end, the decision will be entirely a political one, and is unlikely to have anything to do with the facts of the cases.
Americans are now considered the biggest trouble-makers in the WORLD.
….And this would not be an issue if Obama had grown a pair and vetoed this damn bill last December. It's obvious that his administration wants nothing to do with this bill which does absolutely nothing but anatagonizes and ultimately impairs US relations with Russia. You can be certain that if they go ahead with this mess, that Russia will simply respond with their own list of Americans to ban. There really are fanatics in Congress who are hell bent in turning Russia into an enemy. If this is revenge for Syria, then this lame bill will most certainly make things MUCH worse.