House OKs expanded trade with Russia in 365-43 vote
The House passed legislation Friday morning that expands trade with Russia, but also allows for sanctions against Russian officials involved in human rights violations.
Members approved H.R. 6156, which gives Russia and Moldova permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status, in an overwhelming 365-43 vote. The bill was opposed by a handful of Republicans and about three dozen Democrats.
Granting Russia the trade status is a step the United States needs to take if it is going to benefit from the concessions Russia made when it entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in August. Russia’s ascension marked the end of a nearly two-decade effort to join the WTO, which sets global trade rules and fosters favorable trading terms between members.
House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) on Friday said the bill would help dramatically expand U.S. exports to Russia.
“This bill would allow us to gain important rights and powerful new enforcement tools with respect to one of the world’s largest economies without giving up a single tariff or other concession,” he said. “We could double or even triple U.S. exports to Russia within five years.”
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The 2009 Death Of A Moscow Lawyer Could Totally Derail US-Russian Relations
The House is voting on a bill today that could drastically improve or worsen US-Russian relations.
It all depends on whether a human rights bill, the Magnitsky Act, is included in a bill to end Cold War-era restrictions on Russian trade.
The administration and economists have predicted that US exports of goods and services, currently at $11 billion, could double in five years if trade relations were normalized, the AP reports. But the Magnitsky act, which imposes restrictions on Russian officials involved in human rights violations, could cause severe retaliation.
To understand the Magnitsky Act, you have to go back to 2009, and the death of its namesake, Moscow lawyer Sergei Magnitksy. While the case of Pussy Riot may have grabbed more headlines, it is the Magnitsky’s sad case that may have more real impact inside and outside Russia.
Moscow-based civil-law lawyer Magnitsky had been working for Hermitage Capital, a fund managed by American Bill Browder. After Browder was refused entry to Moscow in 2005 and Hermitage’s offices were raided in 2007, Magnitsky began investigating.
Magnitsky later testified that he had uncovered a huge scam by top police officials to embezzle $230 million in taxes, from money that Hermitage Fund companies had paid in 2006. Magnitsky alleged that the corrupt cops had used corporate seals and documents seized in a June 2007 raid on Hermitage’s Moscow office and set fake companies under the same names, which then received a full tax rebate.
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Magnitsky Supporters Make Final Push Before U.S. Vote
Supporters of the late Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky made a final push ahead of a U.S. vote set for November 16 that would move toward sanctioning officials implicated in his death.
Senator Benjamin Cardin and William Browder, Magnitsky’s former employer, were among those advocating passage of the legislation at a November 15 hearing of the U.S. Congress’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
Magnitsky died in harsh prison conditions in 2009 after implicating Russian officials in a scheme to defraud the government.
The House of Representatives bill would deny visas to and freeze the U.S. assets of implicated officials.
It has been joined to legislation that would grant Moscow permanent normal trade relations with Washington.
The measure is expected to pass, after which it would then need Senate approval.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on November 15 that Moscow will have a “tough” response if the bill is adopted. unshaven girl hairy woman https://zp-pdl.com https://zp-pdl.com/get-a-next-business-day-payday-loan.php займы на карту срочно
U.S. House to take up Russian rights bill as another graft case comes to light in Moscow
As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to take up legislation known as the Magnitsky bill this week, a newspaper reported Wednesday that a key figure in the Russian corruption case that inspired the measure is involved in a two-year-old criminal investigation.
Olga Stepanova was the head of a tax office that approved a fraudulent $230 million refund in 2007, a scheme revealed by whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky before he was arrested. He died in jail three years ago Friday. Now, the newspaper Vedomosti reports that criminal investigators have been following a separate tax-refund case — from 2009, worth $130 million — in which Stepanova was a principal actor.
The Vedomosti article was sparked by the burgeoning corruption cases that have made news here over the past few weeks. They began with an investigation in late October into Russia’s Defense Ministry that has claimed the job of one of President Vladimir Putin’s most loyal colleagues, Anatoly Serdyukov.
Stepanova worked for former defense minister Serdyukov when he was head of the tax agency, and she later transferred to work under him at the Defense Ministry. She no longer works there and has not been directly linked to the Defense Ministry scandal, which involves the sale of millions of dollars worth of property at rock-bottom prices.
Andrei Piontkovsky, a political analyst, suggested Wednesday that without Serdyukov’s protection, Stepanova may have been sacrificed in a last-ditch bid to mollify the West and perhaps even derail the House bill, which would put strict banking and visa sanctions on Russian officials associated with the Magnitsky case.
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Russia trade bill stands at the ready
Better late …: After months of delays, the House is prepared to pass a bill normalizing trade relations with Russia before heading off for some turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie.
Pressure from business groups has been intense on the issue, with the National Association of Manufacturers fanning out and knocking on 100 doors on Capitol Hill on Thursday to round up support.
The bill also includes language related to human rights in Russia, which specifically calls for denying U.S. visas to Russian officials involved in the 2009 death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, as well as the freezing of any U.S. assets of those officials.
But Democrats said Thursday that the inclusion of the Magnitsky language makes it easy to support the bill, because it is now much more than just a regular trade bill.
Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Democrats can vote for the bill “with good conscience” because of the Magnitsky language. He and other lawmakers are looking to expand the language to include global human rights violations.
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Russia Vows Retaliation If Magnitsky Bill Passes
The Foreign Ministry on Thursday responded to the advancement of the Magnitsky Act in the U.S. House of Representatives by issuing a warning of retaliation.
The bill, which seeks to punish Russian officials involved in the jail death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, is expected to come up for vote in the House on Friday.
Russia will get back at the United States if the bill becomes law, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
“We will have to react, and it will be a tough reaction,” he said, Interfax reported.
He did not specify what the government had in mind, saying only that Russia’s response would depend on the final content of the “unfriendly and provocative” legislation and cover the complete range of bilateral ties.
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Congressman McGovern remarks on the Rule for HR 6156, the Magnitsky Bill
Congressman McGovern remarks on the Rule for HR 6156, the Magnitsky Bill
I thank the gentleman from California, the honorable Chairman of the Rules Committee, for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. And I thank him for bringing this rule to the floor. He and I co-authored a “Dear Colleague” in support of the underlying legislation, and it was a pleasure to work with him on this important bill.
M. Speaker, H.R. 6156 joins together two pieces of legislation that deal with trade and human rights in the Russian Federation. The distinguished Chairman has provided a clear description of the provisions in the bill that grant Permanent Normal Trade Relations – or PNTR – to the nations of Moldova and the Russian Federation. It is fairly straightforward.
Simply put, after more than 18 years of negotiations, Russia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in August. That membership will require Russia – for the first time – to play by the same rules of trade as the United States and virtually every other nation in the world.
But, under WTO rules, the United States cannot take advantage of Russia’s WTO membership unless and until Congress grants Russia “permanent normal trade relations,” replacing the 1974 special bilateral agreement with Russia known as the “Jackson-Vanik” amendment.
The United States is not required to change any U.S. law as a result of Russia’s WTO membership, other than this change to the 1974 trade law. This is in contrast to bilateral free trade agreements, where the United States is required to provide duty-free treatment.
If that were all there was to H.R. 6156, it would pass or fail along familiar lines of trade-related legislation. But H.R. 6156 will become known as a landmark piece of trade legislation not because it grants PNTR for Russia and Moldova, but because it includes Title IV, the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012.
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Andrei Sannikov: Today’s Russia threatens independence of Belarus
The leader of European Belarus civil campaign took part in a discussion in the UK parliament.
Adoption of the Magnitsky Act can become a serious precedent for applying international pressure on the governments of Russia and other countries with blatant human rights violations. The universal jurisdiction of the act is vital, Andrei Sannikov, a former Belarusian presidential candidate and leader of European Belarus civil campaign, said at a roundtable discussion held in the UK Parliament on November 14.
“The Russian authorities follow in Lukashenka’s footsteps and carry out the methodical offensive against human rights and civil liberties. The strong international pressure, also by means of such legislative initiatives as the Magnitsky Act, should become an effective tool to counter impunity of officials. We cannot close our eyes on the dangerous processes in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine,” Andrei Sannikov said. He enlisted the names of Belarusian political prisoners and emphasised the necessity of taking urgent measures to save the lives of people suffering from incredible pressure in prisons.
Answering the question about threats from Russia, Andrei Sannikov said the Russia of today poses a threat to Belarus’s independence and noted the Russian leaders still had imperial ambitions and didn’t hide them saying about Russia’s “zones of influence” and “spheres of interests”.
The event in London, which was organised by the Russia Studies Centre at The Henry Jackson Society and Hermitage Capital, was held to commemorate the third anniversary of the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian attorney who worked for Hermitage Capital Management company in 2007-2008. Sergei Magnitsky and his colleagues exposed corruption among Russian officials involved in takeovers of companies, jailing businessmen and large-scale tax evasion. Having been accused of tax frauds, Magnitsky was taken into custody and died on November 16, 2009, in notorious Matrosskaya Tishina detention centre in Moscow.
The event was attended by British prominent political and public figures – former Conservative MP Lord Norman Lamont, former minister of justice Jonathan Djanogly and Labour MP Chris Bryant; representatives of human rights groups Index on Censorship, ARTICLE 19, Reporters without Borders, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, journalists of leading UK media and university professors.
The Magnitsky Act (Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act) is expected to be adopted by the US Congress to impose sanctions, including visa restrictions, on the Russian officials suspected of having relation to the prosecution and death of Sergei Magnitsky.
The Magnitsky Act may become the foundation for the legislative aid for the democratic movement in Russia. The judicial system in Russia serves either to the authorities or to the rich. The fate of Russian opposition leaders directly depends on the adoption of the Magnitsky Act, says Natalia Pelevine, the Democratic Russia Committee head. займ срочно без отказов и проверок займ на карту без отказов круглосуточно https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-cash-advances.php https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php payday loan
US Magnitsky Accountability Act Discussed at House of Commons
International Criminal Law Journal
On Wednesday 14th November at Portcullis House, Steven Kay QC joined a roundtable discussion hosted by the British foreign policy think-tank, The Henry Jackson Society.
The topic under discussion was the fate of Russian lawyer and whistleblower, Sergei Magnitsky, and international efforts to sanction those responsible for his death.
Also on the panel were former British Ambassador to Russia Sir Anthony Brenton; Hermitage Capital CEO, Bill Browder; Guardian journalist and author of Mafia State, Luke Harding; and Director of Research at the Henry Jackson Society, Michael Weiss. The panel was chaired by the Conservative MP, Jonathan Djanogly.
Panelists discussed details of the Magnitsky Accountability Act, which will be the subject of a vote in the US Congress on 16 November, as well as proposals for similar legislation in European countries including the United Kingdom.
The broader debate focused upon Western countries’ business relationships with Russia, poor diplomatic relations, the realities imposed by the gas market and, addressing the notion of ‘dirty’ Russian money in London.
Aside from Magnitsky Act-type legislation, the panel discussed the potential utility and constraints attached to greater use of existing UK legislation, such as the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act and the 2006 Fraud Act. In particular, the panel felt that the existing legislation was underused despite inherent difficulties in meeting the standard of proof and in the collection of evidence. Steven Kay QC suggested that the lower threshold of culpability used in command responsibility cases in international criminal law, ‘known or should have known,’ could be used to enable seizure of proceeds of crime laundered through London Banks. He also put forward that in order to address a problem essentially international in character, law-makers and lawyers could revisit Trinidad and Tobago’s 1989 proposition relating to the International Criminal Court, which suggested corruption and money laundering as proper candidates for international jurisdiction.
Finally, Sir Anthony Brenton drew the discussion to a close by emphasising that in light of the shifting economic balance, there is an opportunity for the European Union collectively to press Russia on reforming its business practices and regulation. займы на карту без отказа быстрые займы онлайн https://zp-pdl.com www.zp-pdl.com срочный займ
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To learn more about what happened to Sergei Magnitsky please read below
- Sergei Magnitsky
- Why was Sergei Magnitsky arrested?
- Sergei Magnitsky’s torture and death in prison
- President’s investigation sabotaged and going nowhere
- The corrupt officers attempt to arrest 8 lawyers
- Past crimes committed by the same corrupt officers
- Petitions requesting a real investigation into Magnitsky's death
- Worldwide reaction, calls to punish those responsible for corruption and murder
- Complaints against Lt.Col. Kuznetsov
- Complaints against Major Karpov
- Cover up
- Press about Magnitsky
- Bloggers about Magnitsky
- Corrupt officers:
- Sign petition
- Citizen investigator
- Join Justice for Magnitsky group on Facebook
- Contact us
- Sergei Magnitsky
