{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://escobar.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3350", "Congresswoman Escobar Statement on Russia Sanctions Bill", "2026-09-16", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "TX", "Veronica Escobar", "E000299", "escobar.house.gov", "escobar", "https://escobar.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) released the following statement on the Russia sanctions bill:\n\n\u201cI strongly support holding Russia accountable for its brutal war against Ukraine, and I believe strong, targeted sanctions are an important tool to pressure Vladimir Putin and his regime and to support Ukraine\u2019s defense against Russian aggression.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s why I supported amendments to today\u2019s Russia sanctions bill that would have removed problematic provisions granting President Trump sweeping power to impose tariffs without sufficient congressional oversight. At a time when this President has repeatedly failed to use America\u2019s leverage to push back on Russia and has instead used tariff authority in ways that have harmed American consumers, businesses, and our relationships with longstanding allies, Congress should be strengthening its oversight. Unfortunately, these provisions remained in the final bill, and I could not support it.\n\n\u201cCongress should use this moment to force the President to act against Putin, not hand him more authority on tariffs. I would have proudly voted to pass a clean sanctions bill that imposes real costs on Russia and makes clear that the United States will not tolerate its continued aggression against Ukraine. We should not have to surrender Congress's authority over trade and tariffs to do it.\n\n\u201cI will continue to support strong sanctions that hold Putin and his regime accountable, and I will continue fighting for Congress to exercise its constitutional responsibility over the economic and foreign policy tools of the United States.\u201d", 1, "2026-09-17T09:52:05Z", "2026-09-17T09:53:00Z"]], "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://escobar.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3350"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9872039556503296, "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"}