Staff Reports
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson is calling on Congress “to enact additional economic sanctions on Russia for their interference in the 2016 elections, and even suggested freezing the bank accounts of some of Russia’s most senior leaders,” according to a Monday press release.
“I hope we’re going to come together quickly, in a bipartisan way, to defend ourselves and to finally push back on Putin,” Nelson, a Democrat, said in a statement.
“I hope that we are going to insist that the White House enforce all of the economic sanctions that the Congress has already pushed through that the White House has been very slow to enact.
“And I hope this Congress is also going to enact more economic sanctions and get it to where it will really start causing a crimp in the step of the Russian leaders,” added Nelson, who faces a re-election challenge from term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Scott. “Why not start freezing the bank accounts of some of the highest leaders?”
Nelson’s comments came just hours after President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met privately in Helsinki, Finland on Monday.
Nelson called Trump’s comments at a news conference after that meeting – and his refusal to accept the fact that Putin interfered in the 2016 election – “alarming,” “embarrassing” and “unacceptable.”
