Congress sends Biden a bill banning Russian oil imports

The House passed and sent to President Joe Biden for his signature legislation that would bar U.S. imports of Russian oil, gas and coal.

The 413-9 House vote followed 100-0 Senate approval earlier Thursday. Once signed by Biden, it will put into law an order he issued last month.

Congress also voted Thursday to approve legislation stripping Russia of its normal trade relation status, a move that allows the U.S. to impose large tariff increases on goods from Russia and Belarus in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

“These atrocities that are taking place in Ukraine are unthinkable,” Representative Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, said shortly before the vote. “These actions will further isolate Putin and inflict greater pressure in the Kremlin to end its reign of terror on Ukraine.”

When crude oil and all other petroleum products are included, such as unfinished fuel oil that can be used to produce gasoline and diesel, Russia accounted for about 8% of 2021 U.S. oil imports, according to the Energy Information Administration.

The effort comes amid mounting pressure on lawmakers to tighten economic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin as the atrocities of the war in Ukraine are revealed.

“This package is about bringing every tool of economic pressure to bear on Vladimir Putin and his oligarch cronies,” said Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who authored the Senate version of the oil ban and trade legislation. “Putin’s Russia does not deserve to be a part of the economic order that has existed since the end of World War II. Ending normal trade relations hammers home that Putin has made Russia into a pariah state.”