WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged Congress to cooperate with the Biden administration as it continues to develop the U.S. sanctions regime against Russia amid the war in Ukraine.
Yellen, testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, also emphasized the importance of maintaining the multilateral approach that the U.S. and its allies have taken to suffocating the Russian economy.
The Treasury secretary specifically highlighted the role of international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in strengthening the Russia sanctions regime and limiting economic fallout for the rest of the world.
“The importance of the [international financial institutions] is even more paramount given Russia’s brutal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” Yellen said in prepared remarks. “Russia’s actions represent an unacceptable affront to the rules-based, global order, and will have enormous economic repercussions in Ukraine and beyond.”
Yellen said that the Biden administration will seek congressional authorization for the U.S. to finance two IMF lending facilities — the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and the Resilience and Sustainability Trust — that are designed to blunt potential food shortages around the world and other ramifications of the war.
Yellen’s remarks came on the same day that the Treasury Department announced
House Financial Services Chair Maxine Waters praised the administration's multilateral approach to Russia sanctions, saying that “the unity of our allies in helping Ukraine did not occur by accident. In fact, this unity is the direct result of the Biden administration’s efforts to renew the U.S. commitment to global economic cooperation.”
Republicans on the committee generally called on the Biden administration to further escalate sanctions against Russia. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., said more must be done to target the Russian energy sector.
“U.S. sanctions coordinated with our allies have had some effect, but we can do more,” Barr said. “The atrocities on display,
Barr highlighted legislation he has proposed, the
Yellen expressed cautious support for the idea, saying that “something along those lines is a constructive suggestion, and I think it's an approach that is worth exploring.”
Several other Republicans expressed concerns about China’s role on the world stage, scrutinizing the country’s quiet support of Russia. “We must remain cleareyed about who we're dealing with here,” McHenry said. “China must feel the pinch of its no-limit partnership with Russia.”
McHenry also suggested that the threat of U.S. sanctions against China could be warranted to discourage Chinese military aggression against neighboring Taiwan — a
Yellen, in response, said the Biden administration and Treasury were “opposed to any unilateral change in the status quo with respect to Taiwan, and we are working very closely with our partners in the administration to make sure that we have at our disposal tools to respond to provocations in that regard.”
Though sanctions were the hearing's focus, Democratic lawmakers also questioned Yellen about the implementation of anti-money-laundering measures and beneficial ownership reforms that became law last year.
The Treasury Department has missed
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the law’s chief sponsor, was notably blunt with Yellen about the Treasury Department’s pace in implementing requirements that corporations disclose their beneficial ownership structures.
“Secretary Yellen, my message to you today is a very simple one: Please speed up the process for the beneficial ownership rulemaking,” Maloney said. “This is taking far too long, and we need action now. Not in a few months, but now.”
Yellen said that the Treasury Department was committed to implementing the rule as quickly as possible but that the effort was “very complex. We have to get this right. I can’t agree to a deadline.”
