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Katie Britt: Put ‘America’s national security first’ to honor Lindsey Graham
U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala, joined a bipartisan group of senators Tuesday as they called for the passage of a bill that the late Sen. Lindsey Graham was working on that would impose sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine.
During a press conference, Britt spoke about Graham’s role in moving the legislation to this point and that passing the bill would be a way to “honor” him.
“Lindsey never stopped fighting to put America’s national security first, and he believed this would be the most consequential piece of legislation that he ever had an opportunity to get behind and get to the President’s desk. I urge all of my Senate colleagues to join us in honoring Lindsey as we move this forward,” Britt posted.
Graham, 71, died over the weekend from an aortic dissection.
“I talked to [Graham] after he had spoken with President Trump, and he was overjoyed at talking and landing the plane in a place that we could all get behind that would hold Putin accountable,” Britt said.
Co-sponsored by Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, an initial version of the measure was introduced last year but disagreements between lawmakers and the White House put the legislation on hold.
On Monday, a White House official confirmed that President Donald Trump was in support of the revised bill.
According to Politico, the revised legislation would, “apply mandatory sanctions not only on Russia’s leadership and energy sector, but on secondary helpers of the Russian defense industrial base and so-called shadow fleet. It also narrows the president’s tariff authority over global buyers of Russian energy compared with the previous version.”
The bill would also impose 100% tariffs on the top purchasers of Russian energy with exceptions for potential allies that are working to reduce dependency on Russian exports.
The legislation gives additional power to Trump by granting him the ability to waive sanctions if they are in America’s national interest.
Britt said that Graham was “looking down on this moment with a big smile.”