House Bill Asks Biden To Sell Seized Oligarch Assets To Help Ukraine

The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill calling on President Joe Biden to liquidate the seized assets of oligarchs linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin to fund efforts to help the Ukrainian people.

The ’’Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act,” introduced by Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), was passed 417-8. The measure is symbolic, since it wouldn’t force Biden to do anything.

“It is hard to imagine giving Russia’s wealth back to Putin while Ukraine lies in ruin and Ukrainians are burying their dead,” Malinowski said in a statement.

The bill encourages the president to confiscate assets worth over $2 million from individuals with ties to Putin who have been sanctioned by the U.S. in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Funds from sales of seized assets should be spent helping Ukrainians, including reconstructing their country, humanitarian aid and technological support “to ensure the free flow of information to the Ukrainian people in Ukraine, including items to counter internet censorship by Russian authorities.”