[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 178 (Thursday, December 20, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S13945]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. LUGAR:
  S. 1861. A bill to authorize the extension of nondiscriminatory 
treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to the products of Russia; 
to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, at the request of the Administration, I 
rise today to offer legislation to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment 
to Title IV of the 1974 Trade Act and to authorize the extension of 
normal trade relations to the products of the Russian Federation.
  Congress passed the Jackson-Vanik amendment as a means to deny 
Permanent Normal Trade Relations to communist countries that restricted 
emigration rights and were not market economies. Jackson-Vanik 
continues to apply to the Russian Federation today despite the findings 
of successive Administrations that Russia had come into full compliance 
with requirements of freedom of emigration, including the absence of 
any tax on emigration. Furthermore, although Russia's transformation 
has been imperfect, substantial progress has been made toward the 
creation of a free-market economy.
  Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there have been dramatic changes 
in all aspects of life in Russia. It is clear that the Jackson-Vanik 
amendment played a role in bringing about these changes and in 
promoting freedom of emigration in many countries in the former Soviet 
Union.
  But, the time has come to move beyond the Cold War era.
  Since 1991, Congress has authorized the removal of Jackson-Vanik 
restrictions from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, the 
Slovak Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Kyrgyszstan, Albania, and 
Georgia. Because Russia continues to be subject to Jackson-Vanik 
conditions, the Administration must submit a semi-annual report to the 
Congress on that government's continued compliance with freedom of 
emigration requirements. The Administration reports that this 
requirement continues to be a major irritant is U.S. relations with 
Russia. The changed circumstances that have permitted the removal of 
other communist countries from Title IV reporting now apply equally to 
Russia.
  I understand there remain those with concerns about extending 
nondiscriminatory treatment to the products of the Russian Federation. 
But I would simply point out that the U.S. and Russia concluded a 
bilateral trade agreement on June 17, 1992 and that Russia is currently 
in the process of acceding to the World Trade Organization. In other 
words, the time has come to take the next step in the U.S.-Russian 
bilateral relationship, namely, Permanent Normal Trade Relations. It is 
for that purpose that I introduce this legislation today.
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