the chairman at the senate foreign relations committee robert menened es said the vote was a moment of proof. >> president putin is watching, waiting to see what we'll do, if he has a green light to take the next step. >> senator menened es says it's not just russia watching to see if the u.s. steps up, but other world powers. president obama may be overseas, but the vote is on his mind. at a press conference in italy he called on congress to act. it's not just democrats. house majority leader eric can't are spoke on the phone. >> it is important for the united states, in conjunction with the e.u. allies send a signal that the aggression will not be tolerated. together we must be prepared to commackt a significant cost for russia's behaviour. and that mr putin's actions will be met with the firmest of resolves. legislation had been held up for a couple of weeks because of a dispute whether to include reforms for the i.m.f. democrats wanted them, republicans disagreed. the democrats backed down, saying they wanted sanctions so they shelved imf changes. some of the sanctions are happenin