[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 27, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H1577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RUSSIA AND THE JACKSON-VANIK AMENDMENT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Dreier) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of issues with which we have 
to contend around here. Obviously there are dramatic increases in 
gasoline prices. We are going to be dealing with the budget this week. 
FCC reform is on the agenda for today. But one issue that hasn't gotten 
a great deal of attention that we are going to be addressing in the 
coming weeks and months is whether or not we deal with the issue of so-
called ``Jackson-Vanik legislation'' and allow us to proceed with 
extending permanent normal trade relations for us to be able to trade 
with Russia.
  Mr. Speaker, as we look at this issue, there are a number of factors 
that need to be addressed: first and foremost, what impact is this 
going to have on our Nation's job creators, those who are trying to 
grow our economy; and equally, if not more, important is the impact on 
human rights, the development of the rule of law, and the building of 
democratic institutions in Russia.
  Now, we all heard the statement that was made by the President just 
yesterday in his off-microphone discussion with President Medvedev 
about how things are going to go and the flexibility he'll have in his 
second term. Well, Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that one thing that is 
very important for us to recognize is, there is action that we can take 
today that will allow us to deal not only with the notion of our 
creating jobs here in the United States of America but also tackling 
the very important human rights issue.
  Let's also realize that Russia is going to be a member of the World 
Trade Organization. All that's necessary now is for the Duma, the 
Russian Parliament, to ratify their accession. The question is, will 
U.S. workers have access to the Russian market? And that's very 
important. But also, as we look at the challenges of getting our 
economy growing, we recognize that that is a priority. But as I said, 
Mr. Speaker, it's also very, very, very critical for us to do 
everything that we can to ensure the development of those democratic 
institutions in Russia, the development of the rule of law, which we 
all know has been lacking based on what we've seen in the last 
election, and also to ensure the kinds of human rights and women's 
rights that have been ignored.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with my colleagues a little bit of 
a letter that was just put forward by a half-dozen of the lead human 
rights activists in Russia. These are not my words. These are the words 
of these human rights activists. They say:

       Those who defend the argument that Jackson-Vanik provisions 
     should still apply to Russia in order to punish Putin's 
     antidemocratic regime only darken Russia's political future, 
     hamper its economic development, and frustrate its democratic 
     aspirations.

  They go on to say:

       Jackson-Vanik is also a very useful tool for Mr. Putin's 
     anti-American propaganda machine. It helps him to depict the 
     United States as hostile to Russia, using outdated Cold War 
     tools to undermine Russia's international competitiveness. 
     We, leading figures of the Russian political opposition, 
     strongly stand behind efforts to remove Russia from the 
     provisions of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Jackson-Vanik is 
     not helpful in any way, neither for the promotion of human 
     rights and democracy in Russia nor for the economic interests 
     of its people.

  Mr. Speaker, it's high time that we tackle this issue to ensure that 
we can promote human rights, the rule of law, and the development of 
democratic institutions in Russia and ensure that we, for the American 
worker, can create job opportunities right here in the United States.

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