Those Russians who oppose this legislation are no friends of a prosperous Russia. They are part of the problem.
Russian authorities have warned Washington that their government’s participation in President Obama’s “reset” of relations will end if Congress passes the Magnitsky legislation. Right now, it is not clear how committed Moscow is to the reset, with or without Magnitsky. President Vladimir Putin’s decision to skip last month’s Group of 8 summit at Camp David; the recent threat by Gen. Nikolai Makarov, Putin’s armed forces chief of staff, to launch a preemptive strike against NATO over an ongoing missile defense dispute; and the continuing harassment of U.S. Ambassador Mike McFaul, the author of the reset, all raise some doubts.
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But in any case, we believe the Magnitsky legislation should be the starting point for a second phase of the reset, one that focuses on Russian respect for universal human rights standards and its integration in the open international economy, from which average citizens stand to benefit.
One element of that is Russia’s expected entry into the World Trade Organization. That is why we favor lifting the Jackson-Vanik amendment, legislation dating to 1974 that denied most-favored nation status to countries, including the Soviet Union, that restricted the ability of its citizens to emigrate and travel. That legislation has long outlived its utility, since Russian authorities for years have eliminated such restrictions. The Obama administration and U.S. businesses that operate in Russia have been pushing Congress to lift Jackson-Vanik; doing so, and thereby granting Russia most-favored nation status, would level the playing field for U.S. companies.
But these measures can’t succeed if Russia continues on its current path. The human rights situation in Russia in the last dozen years has deteriorated significantly, as documented both by Freedom House and by the State Department’s Human Rights Report. These abuses are a symptom of the larger problem in Russia, which is the endemic corruption of people in high places. That is why Congress should replace Jackson-Vanik with modern legislation that addresses today’s Russia.
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