Ranking Member Shaheen Speaks on Senate Floor in Support of the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor in support of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. This bill would impose mandatory sanctions against Russian political leadership, Russian financial institutions and the Russian shadow fleet to curb the Kremlin's revenues funding the war in Ukraine.

Ranking Member Shaheen also underscored the importance of creating new, narrowly targeted tools to apply pressure on the worst offending countries who continue to support Russia's war economy through sanctions evasion or the purchase of Russian oil and gas. She emphasized President Zelenskyy's support for the legislation as a means to build on Ukraine's success on the battlefield and finally force Putin to the negotiating table.

You can watch her remarks HERE.

Key Quotes:

• "This legislation is designed to cut off Vladimir Putin's most important resource in his war against Ukraine: his money."
  
  
• "What this legislation does is impose mandatory sanctions that target Russia's war machine, it clamps down on Russia's shadow fleet, it strengthens financial and export restrictions and it enforces targeted duties on top purchases of Russian oil and gas."
  
  
• "For the first time, this bill would impose sanctions on the Russian shadow fleet and any foreign vessel that's used by the Russian government for sanctions evasion."
  
  
• "Pressure is the only language Vladimir Putin understands. It is the only language he responds to. That is why it is critical that we pass the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act today. The Ukrainians are making great progress. They are striking deep inside Russia. They are targeting the defense factories and oil facilities that enable Putin's war. And now is the time to do everything possible to put pressure on Putin."
  
  
• "President Zelenskyy supports this bill, 'Everything that reduces Russia's revenues reduce the ability for Russia to continue the war against Ukraine.' As Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I believe this is the only bill that Congress has before it that has a realistic path forward for imposing new sanctions on Russia."
  
  
• "This is our best opportunity to support Ukraine, who are defending not just their country, but the rest of Europe from an increasingly aggressive Russia."

The Ranking Member's remarks, as delivered, are below:

Mr. President, I come to the floor today in support of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. I want to applaud Senator Schumer's comments about supporting this legislation to try to end the war in Ukraine. I applaud Senator Britt, Senator Wicker, and of course, Senator Blumenthal, who has worked for over a year to get to this point, and thank Senator Darline Graham for her efforts to support this legislation.

I had the privilege of traveling with Senator Graham earlier this month on what tragically turned out to be his final CODEL. We all know that he was a tireless advocate for Ukraine. He knew that Ukrainians stand on the front lines of freedom.

This legislation is designed to cut off Vladimir Putin's most important resource in his war against Ukraine: his money. And you can see from this poster, what this legislation does is impose mandatory sanctions that target Russia's war machine, it clamps down on Russia's shadow fleet, it strengthens financial and export restrictions and it enforces targeted duties on top purchasers of Russian oil and gas. This includes sanctions against the Russian Central Bank, which keeps Russia's war economy afloat, Sberbank, the country's largest lender, and Gazprombank, which has helped finance Russia's energy exports.

It also sanctions Russia's energy sector and the executives who run it-the major state energy projects that generate billions for the Kremlin and future Arctic energy projects designed to keep that revenue flowing.

For the first time, this bill would impose sanctions on the Russia shadow fleet and any foreign vessel that's used by the Russian government for sanctions evasion. It would impose tariffs on imports from the top five countries buying Russian crude oil or natural gas. And it would impose tariffs on imports from those top five countries facilitating Russia's oil sanctions evasion. And we know who topped that list in 2025: it was China. They topped both lists. They continue buying Russian oil even as Russia kills civilians and kidnaps Ukrainian children. And as sponsors of this bill, we've worked hard to protect our allies, those who have worked hard to get off of Russian natural gas purchases.

Now, some have raised concerns about the tariff provisions in this bill. They say that President Trump has used tariffs indiscriminately to target our closest allies. Well, I agree.

But in the case of this bill, Congress is explicitly directing these tariffs for one unambiguous purpose: to increase the pressure on Vladimir Putin and end his unprovoked war against Ukraine. That's why this bill is narrowly targeted at the worst actors supporting Russia.

I saw the consequences of Putin's strategy firsthand earlier this year on a congressional visit to Odesa. It was winter, ours was the first official congressional delegation to visit Odesa. The Russians had destroyed every bridge going into the city, except the one that our convoy crossed over that the Ukrainian engineers had managed to patch together. And sadly, it's not a new phenomenon, because Russia deliberately targets civilian infrastructure to break the will of the Ukrainian people.

And it attacks American businesses. It attacks the grain silos and ships that help feed the world, and you can see what they're doing-this is a rescue worker at a Philip Morris factory in Kharkiv. They've attacked Coca-Cola, Cargill, Mondelez, others, have been deliberately hit.

And when we met with businesspeople who were working for those American companies in Ukraine, they said they believed they were being deliberately targeted by Russia. So, for those people who are concerned about these tariffs, consider the cost of continuing to do nothing.

Pressure is the only language Vladimir Putin understands. It is the only thing he responds to. That's why it's critical that we pass the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act today.

The Ukrainians are making great progress. They are striking deep inside of Russia. They are targeting defense factories and oil facilities that enable Putin's war. And now is the time for us to do everything possible to put pressure on Putin.

President Zelenskyy supports this bill, "Everything that reduces Russia's revenues reduce the ability for Russia to continue the war against Ukraine." As Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I believe this is the only bill that Congress has before it that has a realistic path forward for imposing new sanctions on Russia. This is our best opportunity to support Ukraine, who are defending not just their country, but the rest of Europe from an increasingly aggressive Russia.

And so, Mr. President, I call on all my colleagues to vote for this bill to send Vladimir Putin a bipartisan message in a language that he understands. Let's pass the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act.

I yield the floor.

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