Why this Russian paranoia ? The only explanation that I can come up with is fear of what you don't know. Very few Americans, Congress included know anything at all about Russia. Very few Americans, Congress included have ever been there. Tour the palaces of St. Petersburg, visit the Kremlin. or Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, and you'll come away with a different feeling about this magnificent country. Russians are complex people, a bit paranoid about the West, but in general like Americans. I doubt that you'll find a more generous people with what they have (much more now than years ago). They are becoming more like us, but more community oriented. Russia and the US should be great friends.
It's not about the Russian people, it's their government, a government that kills people who dissent and tries to disrupt democracies around the world because they refuse to be one.
It's an interesting question. Clearly the stated reason, that they somehow "interfered" in our "democracy," is absurd and an obvious lie. Putin has become the de facto world leader of the ethno-nationalist bloc. He turned Russia around by emphasizing patriotism, a revival in religion and a rejection of the globalist agenda. The globalists in Europe and the US were determined to limit his influence, much as they have attempted to do the same with Trump. It is no coincidence that Obama's anger toward Putin began when Putin barred homosexual activists from the Olympics. Putin angered the Deep State when he pushed back against the CIA/John McCain engineered coup in Ukraine. Then Putin came to the aid of Russia's allies in Syria, frustrating an idiotic CIA/McCain plot to turn Syria over to "moderate" terrorists. Putin and Trump were natural allies, but I fear the Russian reaction to the new sanctions law was accurate. Trump has been boxed in and outplayed by the Deep State, and hopes for better relations with Russia are probably dashed. Think of it as McCain's parting gift to the country.