[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 173 (Thursday, November 21, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6709-S6711]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                      Remembering Sergei Magnitsky

  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to honor the 
legacy of Sergei Magnitsky, who was killed 15 years ago this weekend. 
Sergei was born in 1972 in Odessa, in Ukraine. He was brilliant. He won 
the physics and mathematics Olympiad when he was just 15 years old.
  He knew right from wrong and was willing to stand up for what he 
believed in. Working as a tax attorney in Moscow, he uncovered a scheme 
that included the theft of $230 million of taxes by Russian corrupt 
officials. He not only filed criminal complaints against the Russian 
police officers involved; he testified against them. He named names. He 
did what any lawyer and responsible citizen should do. He believed that 
individuals should be held accountable for their corrupt actions.
  In response, they arrested Sergei. They held him in custody for 358 
days. They refused visits from his wife and mother and telephone calls 
with his children. They denied him medical care. They tortured him, 
trying to get him to recant his testimony.
  Most people would have given in, but Sergei refused. So they had him 
chained to a bed as eight guards with rubber batons beat him to death.

[[Page S6710]]

  I want to read what his colleagues wrote about him in memorial.
  They said that Sergei ``wasn't involved in politics. He wasn't an 
oligarch and he wasn't a human rights activist. He was just a highly 
competent professional. The kind of person whom you could call up as 
the workday was finishing at 7 pm with a legal question, and he would 
cancel his dinner plans and stay in the office until midnight to figure 
out the answer. He was what many people would describe as the good face 
of modern Russia: a smart and honest man working hard to better himself 
and to make a good life for his family.''

  And he was murdered because he sought the truth in Russia.
  When I talk about values of foreign policy, I think about the values 
of Sergei Magnitsky.
  Mr. President, the two of us have the honor of serving on the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee.
  I must tell you, our Presiding Officer is one of the great champions 
to advance human rights, a bedrock of our value-based foreign policy. 
America's strength is in its foreign policy. It is based upon values, 
supporting human rights, anti-corruption, democratic institution 
building--as compared to autocratic regimes that have foreign policy 
based upon transactional goals and media goals that they enforce many 
times by corruption and force.
  We see that today with Mr. Putin in Russia, as he tries to take over 
Ukraine.
  We have value-based foreign policy--our strength. Sergei Magnitsky 
was about values: his bravery, his honesty, and his willingness to 
stand up to a corrupt authoritarian state.
  Looking around the world today, we see war in Europe and the Middle 
East and Africa. We see a growing autocracy and kleptocracy across 
states like Russia and China, a rise of anti-democratic sentiment in 
traditional bastions of liberty.
  I believe one of the keys to fighting back against these forces 
starts with holding the perpetrators of human rights violations 
accountable.
  If we hold the perpetrators accountable, others will not follow in 
that path. If there is impunity and no accountability, it breeds more 
perpetrators that violate individuals' rights.
  The idea has informed how I think about foreign policy and the rule 
of law. And it also informed two pieces of legislation I am proud of 
writing in my time in the U.S. Congress: the 2012 Sergei Magnitsky Rule 
of Law Accountability Act and the 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
Accountability Act.
  At the time of Sergei Magnitsky's killing, our main policy tool for 
penalizing human rights abusers and corruption was country-based 
sanctions. This is a blunt tool--useful to respond to major events like 
Russia's invasion of Ukraine or Iran's enrichment of uranium to nuclear 
weapons grade. If you go against the country, there is a penalty to be 
paid. But it is less effective to provide accountability for human 
rights violators which are individuals who are perpetrating those 
violations.
  We needed something more responsive, more targeted. And inspired by 
the tragedy of Sergei Magnitsky's murder, I set out to write 
legislation to hold his murderers accountable. I didn't know at the 
time the profound impact the bill would have for human rights and 
accountability.
  The original bill targeted the individuals who were complicit in the 
jailing and murder of Sergei Magnitsky. It blocked these individuals 
from enjoying the benefits of America. It stopped them from traveling 
to the United States and stopped them from using our banking system.
  It gave the U.S. Government the authority to seize the properties. It 
stopped them from violating human rights with impunity.
  Magnitsky-style sanctions seem like a foregone conclusion today but 
not when we got it enacted. Although it passed the Senate with 
overwhelming bipartisan support, it was not an easy fight.
  Different parts of our foreign policy community were vehemently 
opposed. It was something. It was change. And change is hard.
  The executive branch doesn't like the legislative branch interfering 
in how they conduct their business. But that is our responsibility--the 
legislative branch's responsibility--to set the policies.
  We pushed ahead. In 2016, we expanded the bill beyond the reach of 
human rights violators and corrupt actors around the world. We have 
expanded it--the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Act--and we made that 
permanent.
  I want to acknowledge that one of the ways we got this done was 
because it was bipartisan. Senator Lugar helped me, as I was a freshman 
Member of this body in the Foreign Relations Committee, in getting the 
attention on the need for this legislation.
  The late Senator John McCain was my principal cosponsor and helped to 
get the original Sergei Magnitsky Accountability Act included in a bill 
that could pass the U.S. Senate.
  And my good friend and the leader with me on the Helsinki Commission, 
Senator Roger Wicker, was principally responsible, working with me to 
get the Global Magnitsky bill made permanent with a place in the 
National Defense Authorization Act.
  The sequence was, 2017, Executive Order 13818 was issued to structure 
the implementation of the law and broadened the scope of the law.
  In 2022, we made the law permanent by repealing the sunset clause.
  In 2023, the United States sanctioned 78 foreign persons under the 
Magnitsky Sanctions Program.
  And as of November 7 of this year, the program has sanctioned over 
712 foreign persons and entities since its inception.
  I can tell you specific examples. I can tell you about being in 
Bulgaria and being treated as a hero because it was the Magnitsky 
sanctions against their corrupt leaders that allowed their country to 
move forward with the reforms that the people of Bulgaria wanted. It 
meant real change.
  I can tell you about recently being in Guatemala, where we see hope 
for a democratic regime. It was Magnitsky sanctions that helped get to 
that point.
  These sanctions have real consequences because, you see, corrupt 
leaders want the protection of a country's rule of law for their 
wealth, even though they live in countries that don't believe in the 
rule of law. We take that away from them by the Magnitsky sanctions. It 
has had a profound impact on human rights, where now individual actors 
have to consider their own conduct, even when acting on behalf of the 
state.
  Their reputation, ability to travel, and ensure access to the assets 
are at risk. I have seen a lot in 58 years of public service, much of 
which I have devoted to human rights advocacy.
  I remain inspired by the heroism of Sergei Magnitsky and can 
confidently say that he did not die in vain. His death jarred the 
global conscience forever.
  Today, the Magnitsky name is synonymous with an approach by dozens of 
leading democracies to respond to human rights abuses and official 
corruption. The United States led on this issue. We were the ones who 
were able to get it started. When we lead and we lead with values and 
we lead on behalf of democracies, other countries will follow our 
leadership.

  Shortly after we passed the Magnitsky sanctions, there was action in 
the United Kingdom; there was action in Canada; the EU has adopted 
them; and now two dozen countries have Magnitsky-type sanctions.
  We have to do more. We have to figure out a way how we can coordinate 
these sanctions so we can really isolate those human rights violators 
and have a global approach to the imposition of the Magnitsky 
sanctions.
  There is more we need to do to fight corruption. So we have a lot 
more work to do. But I will tell you, Magnitsky is a name that strikes 
fear in the hearts of Vladimir Putin and corrupt oligarchs around him.
  As government officials and responsible citizens, we have an 
obligation to advance policies that respect human freedom and the 
dignity of the individual. That is especially true of those of us who 
live in democracies.
  I know that at times our task may seem difficult or impossible, but 
we must never give up hope. We must continue to have faith that our 
work is worthwhile. There were days where I thought the Magnitsky quest 
would not have any main consequences. I look today with pride. I am 
glad we did

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not give up hope, and we were able to get that law passed.
  Vaclav Havel once wrote:

       There is only one thing I will not concede: that it might 
     be meaningless to strive in a good cause.

  I will never concede either. The struggle for human rights can 
sometimes seem insurmountable. Let me just share with you one of my 
experiences in life. I have been very fortunate to have had an 
incredible career. In 1987, as part of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, I 
traveled to Germany and went to West Berlin. I went through Checkpoint 
Charlie to East Berlin. I walked up to the Brandenburg Gate and saw 
East German machineguns focused at me so that I would not cross back 
into West Berlin by trying to sneak across.
  I met with East Berliners who were desperate for someone to listen to 
their cause. They never gave up hope. They were living in a very 
oppressed country. They fought for their freedom. And we helped them. 
We didn't give up hope; they didn't give hope.
  Two years later, I returned to Berlin with a hammer in hand to help 
knock down the Berlin Wall. I have returned to Berlin many times since 
and see a unified city. We can never give up hope.
  What we do in this Chamber, the leadership we take, to go after those 
abusers affect real people and the future of real countries.
  We must not give up hope in striving for a good cause because if we 
do not give up hope, we will overcome oppression and violence and build 
a world that is safe and peaceful and prosperous.
  It is not only the right thing to do, it is the right thing for our 
national security. I am proud of the work we have been able to do in 
this Chamber. I thank my colleagues who have helped in this effort, 
including the distinguished Presiding Officer, who has been incredible. 
We have a lot more work yet to be done. Thank you for all your help. I 
appreciate your listening to my comments.
  With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.