Posts Tagged ‘congress’
Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak: On normal trade relations and the deficit of normalcy
Russia is about to formally enter the World Trade Organization. The State Duma and the Federation Council have both approved ratification documents, which were signed by the president of the Russian Federation on July 21, 2012. In August our country will become a full-fledged member of the WTO.
It took Russia 18 long years of intensive negotiations to settle all issues with the members of this global trade bloc. Accession to the organization is important for Russia as the largest economy outside the framework of the WTO. It is also potentially important for bilateral trade and economic cooperation with the United States.
To fully enjoy the benefits of Russia’s accession to the WTO, the United States will have to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment — a Cold War relic that used to bind bilateral trade to emigration restrictions in the former USSR. Failure to remove this obstacle will pose a problem for both Russian and American businesses. And, most probably, American companies will suffer more than ours.
But should we really have to measure who will suffer the most damage? Wouldn’t it be better to seek truly normal relations? While our countries are slowly moving in the right direction with regard to trade, political relations are still fragile and vulnerable to what I would call an extension of Cold War-era thinking.
The U.S. Congress is in the process of considering Permanent Normal Trade Relations, or PNTR, with Russia. This is something that should be welcomed, especially after so many years of absence of normalcy in our bilateral trade. In the meantime, the draft laws to achieve normalcy are bundled on Capitol Hill with legislation that has nothing to do with trade and would in fact deny normalcy in the relations between our countries. The so-called Magnitsky bill seems to be part of that bundle.
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US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations mark-up of “Magnitsky Act”
Here is some summary footage of the discussions that took place inside the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations where Senator John Kerry and Senator Ben Cardin discussed the application of a US visa ban on those Russian officials implicated in the Magnitsky case.
There is also some footage of the speech made by Senator John McCain at the film screening of the documentary entitles “The Magnitsky Files”, which was given its global debut on the 26 June 2012 in Washington DC.
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Optimism grows Russia trade bill will pass before August recess
Optimism is rising among lawmakers and trade advocates that Congress can pass a Russian trade bill before the August recess.
The bill to normalize trade relations with Moscow, which appeared hopelessly stalled before a Senate Finance Committee markup, found new life after winning unanimous support among panel members following an agreement crafted by Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and top Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah.
While actions last week — moving the joint trade and human rights bill through Senate Finance and locking in a bipartisan deal in the House — provide greater hope that Congress can get a bill to President Obama’s desk before Russia joins the World Trade Organization next month, lawmakers are running short on time.
“I remain confident this will get done by the August recess,” Christopher Wenk, head of international policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told The Hill on Friday.
“The Chamber won’t let Congress leave town without getting it done.”
The broad support in the Senate Finance Committee for a bill that combines the repeal of the 37-year-old Jackson-Vanik provision to grant permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with a measure that punishes Russian officials involved in the death of whistleblower lawyer Sergei Magnitsky seemed to simultaneously surprise trade watchers and pave the way for a final resolution.
Although the chances for the bill to clear Congress are looking up, and the measure represents a bright spot amid the legislative logjam in Congress, there are no guarantees, supporters caution.
“Based on what I’ve been hearing, I wouldn’t say that they’re [lawmakers] confident about getting it done before the August recess,” said Ed Gerwin, a senior fellow for trade and global economic policy at Third Way.
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Why Does the Kremlin Defend the Suspects in the Magnitsky Case?
Many countries have mafias. I’ve reported on gangsters in Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil. I’ve spent time mulling the human landscapes in Sicily and in the United States.
In those countries, if credible, outside investigators produce an exhaustive report alleging the theft of nearly $1 billion in government money and the murders of five people, the governments would respond in two ways.
One: Say, “Thank you very much” and find an honest prosecutor and give the political and financial backing to take the cases to trial.
Two: Say, “Thank you very much” and then quietly do nothing.
Russia is taking a radically new strategy.
Here’s what’s going on:
Over the course of the last two years, investigators with Hermitage Capital have compiled highly detailed reports on the alleged theft of $800 million in Russian tax money and the cover-up murders of five people, including Hermitage lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The most recent report drills down to the detail of showing receipts for vacations that alleged gang leaders and Russian government accomplices took together in Cyprus and Dubai.
Hermitage recently released a powerful 17-minute video that is now moving minds across the world. Posted on YouTube, it’s called: “The Magnitsky Files: Organized Crime Inside the Russian Government.”
At last count, about 20 parliaments, starting with the United States Congress and the British Parliament, are drawing up legislation to ban visas and freeze assets of suspects in the Magnitsky case.
Facing this international PR disaster, what is Russia doing?
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Senate Finance poised to approve Russia trade bill
Senators were poised Wednesday to clear the first hurdle to extend permanent normal trade relations to Russia, but plenty of uncertainty remains.
The Senate Finance Committee is expected to easily approve a measure combining a repeal of Jackson-Vanik, an obsolete Cold War-era provision, along with a human-rights measure that would punish Russian officials involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison.
“By enacting PNTR together with the Magnitsky bill, we are replacing Jackson-Vanik with legislation that addresses the corruption and accountability issues that Russia confronts today,” Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said.
The show of bipartisan support — Baucus and ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) hammered out the compromise — could boost the bill’s chances of getting through Congress before lawmakers leave for a month-long August recess.
Russia is on track to join the World Trade Organization next month. All that is left for its accession is for President Vladimir Putin to sign the package, which passed through Russia’s upper chamber on Wednesday. Once Putin signs, the clock begins ticking, and Russia will become a member of the WTO within 30 days.
Still, there are plenty of pieces in play with no resolution in sight.
Lawmakers are divided over whether to pass a clean measure repealing the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment, while also holding Russia accountable for what lawmakers say is a dismal human-rights record.
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Senators Bungled Anti-Magnitsky Road Show
Last week, a delegation of Russian senators traveled to Washington to make a last-ditch attempt to derail the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act. By the time they were finished, the trip had turned into a fiasco, highlighting the need for the law they so vehemently oppose.
The Magnitsky act seeks in part to ban entry to the United States and freeze the U.S. assets of the people responsible for the illegal arrest, torture and murder of my former law partner, Sergei Magnitsky. It also seeks to do the same to any Russian government official who abuses his position to attack anti-corruption activists, journalists and people who defend fundamental human freedoms.
The Kremlin is categorically opposed to the Magnitsky act and argues that punishment of corrupt Russian officials must be left to the Russian government. It is adamant in asserting that its criminal justice system works and should be trusted by other nations. To demonstrate why there is no need for the Magnitsky act, the senators said the purpose of the trip to Washington was to present findings of a new and independent Federation Council investigation of the Magnitsky affair.
The timing of the announcement was not coincidental. The Magnitsky act is sailing through hearing after hearing on Capital Hill. There is huge inertia to pass it before the summer recess. Just about the only thing that could derail the act is if the Russians carried out a legitimate investigation and started prosecuting their own corrupt officials.
But the composition of the Russian delegation was disquieting. It was headed by Vitaly Malkin, whose net worth is estimated to be more than $10 million and who was previously named by the Canadian government in court proceedings as “a member of a group engaging in organized or transnational crime.” Malkin has been banned from entering Canada. A politician accused of skimming $48 million off a debt-reduction deal with Angola and who enjoys immunity from prosecution in Russia was probably not the best choice to head a delegation determined to prove that the Russian government is capable of punishing its own corrupt officials.
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Senate panel approves normal trade relations with Russia, adds human rights provision
A Russia trade bill that could double U.S. exports to Russia but complicate already frosty relations with the former Communist superpower advanced in the Senate on Wednesday.
Lawmakers rejected a provision that would have required the president to certify that Russia is no longer supplying arms to Syria.
The Senate Finance Committee combined the trade measure with a bill to punish Russian human rights violators.
The committee’s unanimous vote to lift Cold War trade restrictions and establish permanent normal trade relations with Russia came against a background of strong objections to Russia’s poor human rights record, its threats against U.S. missile defenses in Europe, its failure to protect intellectual property rights, its discrimination against U.S. agricultural products and most recently its support for the Assad government in Syria.
Enacting permanent trade status is necessary if U.S. businesses are to benefit from the lowering of trade barriers that will take place when Russia enters the World Trade Organization next month.
Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said current U.S. exports to Russia, about $9 billion a year, could double in five years if trade relations are normalized.
“There is no time to waste. America risks being left behind,” Baucus said. “If we miss that deadline, American farmers, ranchers, workers and businesses will lose out to the other 154 members of the WTO that already have PNTR (permanent normal trade relations) with Russia.” U.S. imports from Russia last year were four times the export level.
Getting the trade bill through Congress has been a top priority for business and farm groups, which see it as a jobs creator and a boost to the economy. “Without PNTR, U.S. companies and workers will be at a distinct disadvantage in the Russian market as our competitors in Europe, Asia and elsewhere begin to lock in sales and long-term contracts,” said Caterpillar Inc. chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman, who also chairs the Business Roundtable’s International Engagement Committee.
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Senate Panel Advances Trade Bill With Russia
A Senate committee advanced a measure on Wednesday to normalize trade relations with Russia for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union while also sanctioning officials implicated in human rights abuses.
With the measure passed in the Senate Finance Committee on a unanimous vote, lawmakers dispensed with two decades of resistance to lifting cold war-era restrictions under the so-called Jackson-Vanik law. But senators insisted on the human rights sanctions to send a message to President Vladimir V. Putin as Moscow under his new term cracks down on dissent.
The trade move has been a priority of President Obama’s as he seeks to improve Russian-American relations, but his administration unsuccessfully lobbied against adding the sanctions, arguing that it was already taking action on human rights. The sanctions have provoked deep anger in Moscow at a time when Mr. Obama has been seeking help from Mr. Putin in resolving the crisis in Syria.
Russian lawmakers visited Washington last week to lobby against the sanctions, and on Tuesday, Moscow repeated its plan to respond tit for tat.
“There is a whole range of situations in the U.S. where senior and other officials of this country’s ministries and agencies are responsible for systematic and severe human rights violations,” Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, told the Interfax news agency.
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Russia trade and human rights legislation advances, but time running short
The Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved today a bill to grant Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status as well as a bill to punish Russian human rights violators, but time is running out to pass the legislation through the full House and Senate.
Committee Chairman Max Baucus (R-MT) called on Congress to quickly pass the bills before lawmakers leave town at the end of this month for the long August recess. Russia’s accession to the WTO is imminent, and unless the United States grants Russia PNTR status, U.S. businesses won’t be able to take advantage, he argued.
“There is no time to waste; America risks being left behind,” Baucus said. “If we miss that deadline [of Russia’s WTO accession], American farmers, ranchers, workers and businesses will lose out to the other 154 members of the WTO that already have PNTR with Russia. American workers will lose the jobs created to China, Canada and Europe when Russia, the world’s seventh largest economy, joins the WTO and opens its market to the world.”
Baucus also trumpeted the fact that the PNTR bill is now officially joined with the Senate version of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Act of 2012, which passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously in June. The bill imposes restrictions on the financial activities and travel of foreign officials found to have been connected to various human rights violations in any country. The House version of the bill, approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee earlier this month, targets only Russian human rights violators.
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