Committee backs bill shielding U.S. firms from foreign suits tied to sanctions compliance

The House Judiciary Committee voted to report HR 6194, the Protecting Americans from Russian Litigation Act of 2025, designed to protect U.S. companies from foreign suits and judgments that penalize compliance with U.S. sanctions against foreign adversaries.

Supporters framed the bill as a necessary clarification: when a U.S. company freezes assets or denies service to comply with U.S. sanctions, foreign courts should not be able to obtain enforcement in U.S. courts for resulting judgments. The sponsor and supporters cited an example in which JP Morgan froze funds in compliance with sanctions and later faced litigation in Russian forums.

The ranking member backed the bill, saying U.S. companies should "face penalties for breaking the law, not for following the law," and stressed the bill's bipartisan rationale in protecting commerce and national-security policy implementation.

Committee adopted the amendment in the nature of a substitute (technical title edits) and ordered the bill reported favorably to the House.