The Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act Passes the House

Congressman Wesley Hunt's legislation H.R. 9563 - The Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act of 2024 passed the House of Representatives by Voice Vote. H.R. 9563 marks Wesley's third piece of legislation that has been passed favorably out of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress. 

Background information:

The following members from the House Judiciary Committee cosponsored this bipartisan legislation: Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), and Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL).

H.R. 9563 will protect U.S. businesses and ensure that they are not unfairly punished for complying with U.S. sanctions and export controls. Currently, Russia is pursuing spurious legal action against American companies who have ceased to continue business with Russian entities due to their compliance with U.S. sanctions and export controls. The United States has no provision that would protect U.S. companies from this type of lawsuit. This legislation closes the legal loophole countries like Russia are exploiting and will protect U.S. companies from unfair litigation.

Statements:

"Russia's use of this Title 28 loophole to impose fines on American companies and workers is abhorrent," said Hunt. "Let us recall that sanctions against Russia were only instituted after they made the deliberate decision to invade Ukraine. Protecting America and our business interests should be a top priority for Congress and I'm profoundly grateful for the bipartisan support this legislation has garnered."

“The Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act will ensure that Americans will not be punished for good faith compliance with U.S. sanctions, including those placed on Russia following Putin’s unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine. Russia should not benefit from its own wrongdoing,” said Rep. Ivey. “I am pleased this important and necessary legislation passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

“Today, the House sent a clear message to our adversaries – including Russia and others – that they will not be allowed to retaliate against U.S. sanctions by attacking American businesses using bad-faith litigation. The sweeping bipartisan support for the Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act demonstrates our commitment to protecting American enterprises from unjust legal attacks for complying with U.S.-imposed sanctions",said Rep. Issa."I am proud to co-lead this effort with Rep. Hunt and my Judiciary colleagues to protect the sovereignty of American businesses."