Langevin Questions Adequacy of Administration Sanctions on Russian Cyber Actors

Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI), co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus and a senior member of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees, issued the following statement after the Trump Administration announced new sanctions in response to Russian cyber activity:

“Russia has become increasingly aggressive with respect to malicious cyber activities over the past decade, with operations that have targeted American elections, caused billions of dollars of economic harm across the globe, and turned off the power in Ukraine. These actions fly in the face of the well understood norms of state behavior, and they demand a response. I have been critical of the Administration for failing to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable. Today’s actions use authorities derived from an Obama Executive Order and the sanctions bill Congress passed last year. While these sanctions represent an acknowledgement that something needs to be done, they are woefully inadequate. Sanctioning individuals already under indictment thanks to Special Counsel Robert Mueller is not going to change Russia’s behavior. Relisting Russian intelligence agencies already sanctioned under different authority will not deter them. Although I am deeply grateful for our cyber defenders and their work identifying Russian actors collecting intelligence on our critical infrastructure systems, much of the analysis released by DHS and the FBI confirms open source reporting.

“Two weeks ago, Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone, the nominee to head the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, said of countries targeting the United States in cyberspace: ‘I would say right now they do not think much will happen to them. They don’t fear us.’ Sadly, I do not believe today’s actions will change that basic calculus.”