No House Vote on Bill to Lift Trade Barriers With Russia

Morningstar

House Republican leaders won’t bring legislation that would permanently lift trading restrictions with Russia before the congressional summer recess, a House Republican leadership aide said, delaying until the fall a debate on whether to lift one of the remaining Cold War-era economic barriers with the former American foe.

There had been a strong push to bring the legislation forward before the month-long recess begins next week. Ultimately the momentum fell short after several major labor unions, including the AFL-CIO, urged lawmakers to oppose the legislation in a concerted messaging effort last week.

The bill would permanently lift the Jackson-Vanik amendment, a measure that places trading restrictions on countries that seek to place controls on emigration. It initially became law in 1974 and was aimed squarely at Russia.

Since the end of the Cold War, the bill has been repealed annually by Congress. But with Russia set to join the World Trade Organization in August, the U.S. must permanently strike the measure from its books in order for American exporters to be able to compete for a larger share of Russian trade.

Senate and House committees had approved versions of the bill, but Senate leaders had made it clear they wouldn’t move the bill until the House had voted for it.

House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) has called on the White House to engage more fully in the push to lift the restrictions, saying if President Barack Obama wanted to see action on it, he would have to help make the case to Congress.

On Tuesday, Jay Carney, White House press secretary, said “the president has worked very closely, his administration has, with Congress on this matter and will continue to do so.”

Mr. Carney once again urged Congress to pass the measure.

While lifting the restriction itself is a technical change that ultimately stands to benefit U.S. firms by granting them wider access to Russian markets, the bill ran into difficulty from several quarters in Congress.

In addition to those who have concerns about the openness of Russian markets, several lawmakers expressed disquiet over human rights issues both domestically in Russia but also over its tacit support for Syria.

Mr. Boehner and Democratic leaders in the Senate have said they expect that Jackson-Vanik will ultimately be repealed by Congress, but more time is likely to be needed to educate lawmakers about what is at stake.

Both the House and Senate panels added human rights language to their bills named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison after accusing Russian government officials of fraud. The provision would freeze assets and deny visas to Russian human-rights abusers. hairy girls займ на карту https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php https://zp-pdl.com/apply-for-payday-loan-online.php займы без отказа