Senate Passes HR 3364 – Cyber Sanctions

Yesterday the Senate passed HR 3364, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act by a vote of 98 to 2 (page S 4387). While the bill is generally addressed at Russia, Iran and Korea, it does contain specific sanction requirements based upon reported Russian cyber-attacks.

There has not yet been an official statement from the White House as to whether or not the President will sign or veto the legislation. There were, however, certainly sufficient votes in both the House and Senate to overturn any presidential veto.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, even if/when the bill becomes law there are sufficient provisions in the bill to allow the President to avoid placing any sanctions on the Russian Federation if he so desires.