FOREIGN POLICY/RUSSIA: “It won a near-unanimous vote in the Senate, involves a hostile foreign power that interfered in the election last fall and now shadows the president. And it is now before a House Republican majority that has long placed a hawkish approach to Russia at the center of its foreign policy.
So why is it taking so long for Congress to clear legislation that would punish Moscow for election meddling and military aggression?
‘Pass it, for Christ’s sake,’ said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.
On Wednesday [7-12-17], the case of the stalled sanctions took a new turn as House Republicans and Democrats battled behind the scenes over the details of the bill, and the White House continued to press Republican lawmakers to hold out for changes. Now, weeks of delays, both procedural and substantive, have left the measure’s fate in limbo even as the cloud of Russia-tinged scandal darkens over President Trump.”
-Jullie Hirschfeld Davis and Matt Flegenheimer, “Congress Wants to Punish Russia, but Can’t Dole Out the Punishment,” The New York Times online, July 12, 2017