For Immediate Release: Rep. Wesley Hunt Introduces The Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act
September 12, 2024
Contact: Matthew Topolski, Communications Director
Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Wesley Hunt introduced - The Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act of 2024. The following members from the House Judiciary Committee have 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).
The bill will protect American companies and their interests so that they are not subject to litigation for good faith compliance with U.S. sanctions and export controls. U.S. federal law affords no protections for domiciled companies complying with sanctions and export controls, while UK and EU law does. This legislation closes that loophole and amends Chapter 111 of Title 28 of the United States Code to ensure that American companies are not unfairly punished.
In response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government imposed a myriad of sanctions and export controls on Russia. To comply with these measures, U.S. companies wound down operations and ceased work in Russia. This has resulted in numerous suits being brought against U.S. companies in Russian courts.
Accordingly, U.S. companies are being targeted by Russian litigants seeking damages for good faith compliance with such measures implemented as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As a result, Russian courts have been awarding large, often inflated claims against U.S. companies, with some facing hundreds of millions of dollars in potential damages.
These subjective decisions are then used as the basis for Russian litigants to seek significant damages under U.S. law – essentially functioning as a countersanction for Russia.
"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."
“This bill will ensure that American companies and workers 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 has strong bipartisan support, and I thank Congressman Wesley Hunt for his partnership on this issue.”
“Congress has an opportunity to close a clear loophole and establish key protections to American business and industries that comply with international sanctions, but are then targeted by foreign adversaries and bad-faith litigation. That’s why I’m proud to join Rep. Hunt and my Judiciary colleagues by introducing the Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act of 2024,” said Rep. Issa.
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