{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://delbene.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3714", "DelBene, Graves, Peltola, Wittman Call on Biden to Expand Sanctions on Russia\u2019s Seafood Sector", "2023-12-14", "2023", "2023-12", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Suzan K. DelBene", "D000617", "delbene.house.gov", "delbene", "https://delbene.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Today, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Garret Graves (LA-06), Mary Peltola (AK-At-Large), and Rob Whittman (VA-01) led 38 members of Congress in urging President Biden to strengthen U.S. sanctions targeting Russia\u2019s seafood sector.\n\nThe seafood industry is a major driver of Russia\u2019s economy and has become a critical source of revenue for the Kremlin since the invasion began. To hold Russia accountable for its continued aggression, President Biden issued an Executive Order in March 2022 banning Russian-origin seafood and other revenue-generating Russian products from entering the United States. However, Russia has largely been able to side-step this ban by exporting its seafood to third countries for processing before entering the United States.\n\nIn a bipartisan letter, the lawmakers called on the Biden administration to address this loophole by expanding sanctions to cover Russian-harvested seafood, even if it is processed in third countries.\n\n\u201cNew executive action to ensure U.S. sanctions apply to all Russian-harvested seafood\u2014regardless of its movement through third countries\u2014is an important step to drain Putin\u2019s war chest and bring an end to this disastrous war,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201cExcluding all Russian-harvested seafood from the U.S. market would impose immediate consequences on the Russian economy.\u201d\n\nThrough October of this year, Russian exports to China are up more than 30% compared to last year and have more than doubled since 2021. Vast quantities of Russian-harvested seafood that is processed in China continue to enter the U.S. market as a \u201cproduct of China\u201d at a duty-free rate. Russia\u2019s total seafood exports this year are already estimated at over $5 billion in value, and the Kremlin is raising record sums off this trade through fishing quota auctions, export tariffs, and increased fishing activity.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://delbene.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3714"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8204751648008823, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}