(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn says a bill he’s co-sponsored would impose new sanctions on Russia as it continues attacking Ukraine. “To send a clear message to Russia: the world is watching and we will not stand by,” Nunn says. The bill would give the U-S Treasury Department authority to block foreign banks from having access to U.S. financial institutions if they’re doing business with Russian energy companies or any individual linked to Russia’s leader.

“Every delay empowers Putin. Every loophole prolongs this war,” Nunn said. “Every life that is lost in Ukraine today is a potential threat to Europe and the United States’ national security tomorrow.” Nunn says the bill targets the financial pipeline that’s fueling Putin’s war. “We must act with urgency and strength,” Nunn says, “reinforcing the message that access to the U.S. financial system should not be used by any enablers of Moscow’s aggression.”

Nunn says Russia’s largest aerial attack of the war happened on July 9th after President Trump said European allies could buy U-S made Patriot missiles for Ukraine. “As President Trump continues to ask for peace in the region, pleading directly to Moscow itself…this escalation requires a strategic, immediate and forceful response,” Nunn says.

Nunn, a Republican from Bondurant, is co-sponsoring the bill with a Democratic congressman from New Jersey and the House Financial Services Committee approved the measure this week on a 53-to-one vote. It’s eligible for debate in the full House when lawmakers return in September from their summer recess.