For Immediate Release
September 1, 2022
Contact:
Arthur Bryant 202-225-1621
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Ann Wagner (R-MO), Vice Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Financial Services Committee, today called on the Secretary of State Antony Blinken to deny any top Russian officials entrance to the United States amid reports Russia is trying to secure a visa to attend the U.N General Assembly in New York in September.
Vice Ranking Member Wagner said: “Vladimir Putin and Russian forces continue their unconscionable assault on the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion began six months ago, over 5 million civilians have been forced to flee their homes and thousands have lost their lives, including countless innocent women and children.
“The Russian Federation has forfeited its right to be treated as a responsible member of the international community. Its ongoing participation in international forums threatens to delegitimize these organizations, whose express purpose is to safeguard global security and enforce peaceful relations between states. We must continue to punish Putin and Russia for the brutality of their invasion and the potential war crimes they are committing, and I urge you to deny any Russian official entry to the United States.”
Vice Ranking Member Wagner further said regarding her legislation to ensure Russia is held accountable for this unprovoked war: “As Vice Ranking Member of both the House Financial Services Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I have been working to expose the horrors of this unjustified war and to properly punish Russian officials. My legislation, H.R. 6891, Isolate Russian Government Officials Act of 2022, requires the Department of Treasury and other financial agencies to take the necessary steps to exclude Russian government officials from key international financial meetings. This important bill overwhelmingly passed the United States House of Representatives in May 2022, and then again in July as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023. The House has made a strong statement that the United States must hold Russia accountable for their actions and isolate Russian officials from the world stage.”
Read her full letter to Secretary Blinken here.