[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12740-12741]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                RUSSIA AND THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, August 22 is a very important date.
  The reason I say that is that August 22 is the date that Russia will 
become a member of the World Trade Organization. It's a done deal. Both 
Houses of the Russian Parliament have passed it, and it's been agreed 
to.
  I point to this day because there are many who believe that as we 
look at a vote on permanent normal trade relations with Russia that 
will be on the horizon--we're not going to be able to do it this week; 
I hope we will do it shortly after we come back in September--there are 
some who believe that we are playing a role in getting Russia into the 
World Trade Organization. That is not the case.
  All we're saying, Mr. Speaker, is that since Russia is already going 
to be a member as of August 22 of the World Trade Organization, we want 
to make sure that U.S. workers and U.S. businesses will have the 
opportunity to have access to the 140 million consumers in Russia.
  Mr. Speaker, it's important for us to note the question is not 
whether or not Russia will be a member of the WTO,

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because I believe that our access will play a role in undermining the 
policies of Vladimir Putin. The question is: Are we going to get our 
Western values into Russia? We need to say ``yes.''

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