Posts Tagged ‘Cardin’
FPI and Freedom House joint event: “Toward a Democratic Russia”
Yesterday in Washington DC, the Foreign Policy Initiative and Freedom House along with Senator Ben Cardin, Senator Kelly Ayotte, Kristiina Ojuland MEP and former Russian PM Mikhail Kasyanov debated how Russia can move towards democracy in the future.
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McCain Requests Additional Sanctions in Magnitsky Case
U.S. Republican Senator John McCain on Tuesday said he expected President Barack Obama to consider additional sanctions in the case of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky’s death in 2009.
In his letter to Obama, McCain proposed imposing sanctions against an organized crime group he claims comprises Russian officials and bankers allegedly involved in Magnitsky’s death.
“I write you today to request that you begin a process to determine whether to designate and impose sanctions, under the authority of Executive Order 13581, against a dangerous transnational criminal organization known as the ‘Klyuev Group,’ which publicly available information suggests may have been involved in numerous international crimes,” McCain said in his letter.
“It is possible that one of those crimes was the murder of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer killed in jail in retaliation for exposing the corruption of Russian officials who appear to have been aligned with the Klyuev Group,” he said.
“Publicly available information, much of it uncovered by Mr. Magnitsky himself before his arrest in Russia in 2008, suggests that the Klyuev Group has colluded with senior Russian officials to engage in bribery, fraud, embezzlement, company thefts, and other serious financial crimes,” he said.
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Senate panel OKs bill on Russian human rights Eds
A Senate panel moved ahead Tuesday on legislation that would impose tough sanctions on Russian human rights violators, a bill certain to be linked to congressional efforts to lift Cold War-era restrictions on trade with Russia.
By voice vote, the Foreign Relations Committee approved the measure that would impose visa bans and freeze the assets of those held responsible for gross human rights violations in Russia as well as other human rights abusers. Specifically, it targets those allegedly involved in the imprisonment, torture and death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Russian jail in 2009.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ben Cardin, enjoys strong bipartisan support in the Senate. The Maryland Democrat said he was optimistic that the House would accept his more far-reaching version. The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a similar bill earlier this month.
“This bill is universal,” Cardin told reporters shortly after the vote. “It’s absolutely motivated by Sergei Magnitsky, but it’s universal in its application.”
The Russian government has expressed strong objections to the bill and suggested that there would be retaliatory measures if it becomes law. The Obama administration has been noncommittal in its public statements about the measure.
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U.S. could feel effects of amendment meant to hurt Russia
Almost four decades ago, as the Cold War raged, the U.S. Congress passed an amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 aimed squarely at the Soviet Union’s policy preventing Jews from emigrating from the USSR.
The Jackson-Vanik amendment, which denied favorable trade relations to the Soviet Union, worked. In 1991, Russia stopped slapping exit fees on Jews who wished to emigrate and they have been free to leave ever since.
But the amendment has stayed on the books even though it has outlived its purpose, a Cold War relic that infuriated the Kremlin. In reality, it was only symbolic; since 1994, presidents, Republicans and Democrats have certified annually that Russia complies with the amendment. In fact, the U.S. maintains normal trade relations with Russia.
As part of its “reset” with Moscow, the Obama administration urged Congress to abolish the amendment, to “graduate” Russia from Jackson-Vanik. Now, there’s an economic reason to do it.
Last December, after 18 years of trying, Russia was given the green light to join the World Trade Organization. Russia’s Parliament is expected to ratify and approve entry, and President Vladimir Putin to sign it by the end of July. Once that happens, the Jackson-Vanik amendment could end up hurting the U.S. instead of Russia.
Having it on the books means the U.S. is in violation of WTO rules requiring all members to grant other members “immediate and unconditional free trade.” The U.S. would not be able to take advantage of all the concessions Russia will make as a WTO member – including market liberalization, transparency, committing to intellectual property protection, eliminating nontariff barriers and other provisions – and that would mean higher tariffs for American businesses seeking access to Russian markets.
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Kremlin calm about possible endorsement of Magnitsky Act
The Kremlin is calm about the possible endorsement of the Magnitsky Act, but warns Washington about possible counter measures.
Judging by the June 18 meeting of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama in Mexico, “the act will be passed this way or another,” Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Friday. “It seems the U.S. Administration has put up with that and seeks cosmetic changes.”
“Bearing in mind this reality, our president said calmly that the Russian reaction would be imminent. We are practically forced to react,” the aide said.
“We will react, and our reaction will be calm,” Ushakov said, without going into details. He said everything would depend on the final edition of the bill: there had been three editions so far. “We do not want to react at all, but we will have to,” he said.
In the words of Ushakov, Putin does not take this bill as a key question of Russia-U.S. relations. He thinks though that such problems may be solved in a calmer atmosphere. “It is possible to block travelling of particular persons in a quiet way, not in such a demonstrative form,” Ushakov said, adding that Putin conveyed that opinion to Obama. “That is a demonstrative anti-Russian step of the U.S.,” he said.
He also noted that the Kremlin had no illusions about the Magnitsky Act. “We knew from the start on which bill the Congress was working and which efforts the Administration was taking. We knew what it could do and what it could not, so it did not spring a surprise on us. The situation mirrors the heat of political structure ahead of the U.S. presidential election of November. Alas, it also mirrors the remaining anti-Russian feelings on the Capitol Hill,” he said.
Another confirmation of the use of the anti-Russian card in the election campaign, was the statement of Obama’s election rival, Republican Party candidate Mitt Romney, who said that Russia was a geopolitical rival of the U.S., he said. “We do not react to such statements; we take them absolutely calmly, because we understand that the election campaign is on and passions fly high,” he said. “Let us see whether such statements may help Romney win the election and whether he uses the same words after the election or understands that a balanced and pragmatic attitude to Russia meets U.S. national interests.”
Putin also commented on the possible adoption of the Magnitsky Act. “So be it,” he responded to an Itar-Tass question. “If any restrictions are imposed on U.S. trips of Russian citizens, then there will be appropriate restrictions on Russian trips of a certain number of Americans. I do not know who may need that, but if they do it, let it be. This is not our choice,” he said.
The bill known as the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Act provides for visa and economic sanctions against a number of Russian citizens suspected by Washington with implication in the death of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky during his imprisonment.
The vote was due originally in April, but active lobbying of the U.S. President Barack Obama Administration delayed it. Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry explained the delay with the need to overcome disagreements over certain provisions of the bill.
Senator Benjamin Cardin (a Democrat) is the main sponsor of the bill, which will bar the aforesaid Russians and their families from visiting the United States and freeze their accounts in U.S. banks. The Cardin draft compelled the U.S. state secretary and treasury secretary to publish the Magnitsky list within 90 days since the adoption of the bill, together with the list of persons responsible for torture and other serious abuse of human rights.
Many Congress members view the Magnitsky Act as a mandatory condition of the cancellation of the discriminative Jackson-Vanik Amendment and the granting of a normal trade partner status to Russia. The Obama administration had been opposing that link until recently. hairy women unshaven girl https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php займы на карту срочно
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Congressional Hearing Highlights the Need to Pass Magnitsky, PNTR to Russia
Yesterday and today, the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee held hearings on Russia’s abysmal human rights record and its looming accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The Obama Administration wants Congress to provide permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to Russia and scrap the 1974 Cold War–era Jackson–Vanik amendment, which denied Russia most-favored-nation status in trade.
The Administration, represented by Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and International Trade Representative Ronald Kirk, argued that if Congress does not waive Jackson–Vanik for Russia,U.S.firms will be put at a disadvantage vis-à-vis everyone else when Russia enters the WTO this August.
Private-sector witnesses attending the House hearing included Caterpillar’s CEO Doug Oberhelman, Michigan Farm Bureau president Wayne Wood, president of Argus Ltd. Michael Rae, and senior vice president of Medtronics James P. Mackin.
Russia is one of the world’s largest economies. The President’s Export Council estimates that the currently meager U.S.exports to Russia could increase when Russia joins the WTO. As Burns said:
Congress has a choice: it can extend Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to Russia, giving American exporters and workers a level the [sic] playing field in one of the fastest growing markets in the world; or it can keep Jackson-Vanik in place, preventing American companies from reaping the benefits of an unprecedented opportunity to boost trade in a large and growing market.
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Senators, Obama administration aim for compromise on Russia trade
Senators and the Obama administration remain at odds over how to proceed on making trade ties permanent with Russia although they are working together on a way forward.
Senate Finance Committee members said Thursday are backing a plan to link legislation repealing Jackson-Vanik, which allow for grant normal permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Moscow, with a human rights bill that would punish Russian officials involved with the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in police custody.
Obama administration officials, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, told the Finance panel on Thursday that they prefer separate tracks for the two measures but will continue to work with lawmakers toward a compromise to pass a measure before the August recess.
Regardless of current differences, lawmakers and Obama administration officials agree that PNTR needs to be granted before Russia joins the World Trade Organziation (WTO) in August.
Burns acknowledged Thursday that there is a “constructive dialogue” continuing with lawmakers and that the administration’s concerns are being considered. He opted to reserve a final opinion on how the administration will react until a bill emerges from the Senate.
House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), who held a Wednesday hearing, is siding with the Obama administration in pressing for a “clean” PNTR bill.
Support is building on both sides of the Capitol to link the two bills as a way to let Congress express its dissatisfaction with Russia’s record on human rights.
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Baucus Urges Swift Passage of Bill to Create U.S. Jobs by Expanding Trade with Russia
US Senate Committee on Finance
In a Senate Finance Committee hearing held today, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) called on Congress to pass his legislation by next month enabling U.S. businesses to pursue new job-creating export opportunities in Russia when it joins the World Trade Organization (WTO) this summer. Baucus introduced the bill last week along with International Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member John Thune (R-S.D.), Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.). The bill would establish permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia and remove Russia from the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment, steps necessary for American businesses to capitalize on the new market access Russia must provide as a condition of WTO membership.
“Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization this summer will mean thousands of new jobs and give a boost to our economy here in the United States, but only if we pass Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations legislation by August. If we don’t pass PNTR, American workers, businesses, farmers and ranchers will lose out to their competitors in China and Europe,” Baucus said. “Unlike a free trade agreement, we will not lower any of our tariffs or change any of our trade laws – it is a one-sided deal in America’s favor. We can’t ignore the host of difficult issues we face with Russia, but failing to pass PNTR will only harm U.S. exporters and the jobs they create. America needs the jobs PNTR will bring.”
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Obama Remains Obstacle to Sanctions
Senate Democrats corralling bipartisan support for commonsense sanctions legislation are experiencing a bit of déjà vu. In late 2011, the Senate agreed to new Iran sanctions by the widest possible margin: 100-0. Yet the Obama administration sought to delay the sanctions, and then worked to water them down. New Jersey Democrat Bob Menendez finally went public with his frustration toward President Obama for working so hard to protect Iran from the sanctions everyone had agreed to.
Now Senate Democrats are facing the same obstacle–President Obama–in trying to levy penalties on major human rights violators in Russia. Called the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, named after one prominent victim of those rights violators, the bill was sponsored by Ben Cardin and immediately obtained broad support. But on behalf of the Obama administration, John Kerry kept the bill bogged down in committee. So the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed its own version of the bill, and the White House finally dropped its open opposition to the bill. Now, as Reuters reports, Obama is trying to work changes into the bill that would essentially render it useless:
The measure would require the United States to deny visas and freeze the U.S. assets of Russians linked to Magnitsky’s death. The bill as originally written in both the House and Senate would make public the list of offenders and broaden it to include other abusers of human rights in Russia.
A reworked draft circulating in the Senate and obtained by Reuters would allow the list to “contain a classified annex if the Secretary (of State) determines that it is necessary for the national security interests of the United States to do so.”
[…]
Backers of the Magnitsky bill want the list of human rights violators made public both to shame those on the list and to keep them from doing business with U.S. financial institutions.
[…]
“How can an individual’s assets be frozen, if his or her name cannot be disclosed to financial institutions?” the aide asked.
The answer is: they wouldn’t. The move also comes as the bill received an endorsement from the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union, which supported the Cold War-era Jackson-Vanik amendment sanctioning Russia for its refusal to allow Jews to emigrate. Jackson-Vanik will be repealed this year in order to establish permanent normal trade relations with Moscow as it joins the World Trade Organization. Rights groups here, in Europe, and in Russia want the Magnitsky Act to replace Jackson-Vanik so rights abusers can be sanctioned without disadvantaging American businesses.
The debate about the Magnitsky Act is playing out against the backdrop of Vladimir Putin’s rigged election and post-election crackdown on protesters. Pro-democracy activists and politicians in Russia have been trying to convince Western leaders to show support for their struggle. As opposition politician Garry Kasparov tweeted last night: “Foreign laws that punish Putin’s crooks and thugs are not anti-Russian. They are pro-Russian people and anti-Putin. Critical distinction!”
But as with Iran, the Obama administration remains unmoved by that distinction and continues to try to block sanctions in favor of “engagement.” Yet if Obama is truly dedicated to a policy dominated by engagement, he should take the advice of Nouriel Roubini and Ian Bremmer, writing in the Financial Times about Russia’s pro-Western reformers:
For the moment, the Kremlin has managed to ignore these voices, acting like neither a Bric nor a G8 member in good standing. Washington should not make the same mistake. If U.S. and European leaders genuinely want to build new ties with Moscow, these are the people they should be talking to. hairy women hairy girl https://zp-pdl.com/online-payday-loans-in-america.php https://www.zp-pdl.com быстрые займы на карту
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