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- Obama’s pushing
- Lobbying hard
- Top priority
- AT: Magnitsky Bill
- Magnitsky bill is compatible with reset – no harm to relations
- The Magnitsky doesn’t hurt the reset of US-Russian Relations – they respect strength
Obama Pushing JV RepealObama is pushing hard for JV repealHelene Cooper, 5-10-2012, “As Putin Postpones Meeting Obama,” NY Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/world/europe/analysts-seek-political-import-as-putin-puts-off-meeting-obama.html The Obama administration, like those before it, has tried to persuade Congress to repeal it, but dozens of lawmakers have linked its repeal to the new legislation, named after Sergei L. Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was arrested and died in prison after trying to expose tax fraud by government officials. The legislation would deny visas to officials accused of abuse, in Russia and elsewhere, and freeze their assets in the United States. The administration has opposed those provisions as an intrusion on the ability of executive and consular authorities to conduct foreign affairs. Russian officials say they were led to believe that the administration would fight hard against the Magnitsky bill, and complain that it has not done enough. The administration backs the idea behind the bill, but is pushing hard to remove the provisions that most upset the Russians. The administration supports repealing the Jackson-Vanik law, because it could hurt American companies. A vote on both proposals is expected this year. Obama’s pushingDoug Palmer, staff writer, 3-7-2012, “Obama push for Russia trade bill ignites debate,” Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-rt-us-usa-russia-tradetre8261rl-20120307,0,406922.story U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday disagreed over President Barack Obama's push for legislation this year to strengthen trade ties with Russia by repealing a largely symbolic Cold War provision that conflicts with today's global trade rules. Lobbying hardKathy Lally, staff writer, 3-12-2012, “Putin critics oppose Jackson-Vanik trade sanction law,” Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/putin-critics-oppose-jackson-vanik-trade-sanction-law/2012/03/12/gIQA1iMd7R_story.html The Obama administration has been lobbying Congress hard to repeal the trade amendment, known as Jackson-Vanik and introduced in 1974 to pressure the Soviet Union to allow Jews to emigrate. Though its sanctions have been regularly waived for years, Russia considers it an affront. The amendment will put the United States in violation of World Trade Organization rules when Russia joins in a few months, resulting in unfavorable tariffs for American companies. Top priorityKen Martinez, staff writer, 3-14-2012, “McFaul Pushes for Trade Status,” The Moscow Times, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/mcfaul-pushes-for-trade-status/454625.html McFaul, former National Security Council senior director for Russia and a key architect of the administration's reset policy, said repealing the amendment is the administration's top trade priority for 2012 and that he sees no reason for it not to happen. AT: Magnitsky BillThreats are just threats – wont follow through with MagnitskyElena Chernenko, staff writer, 12-16-2011, “The "Magnitsky list" is prepared for a reset,” RusData Dialine, Lexis. Mr. Barrasso was seconded by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). "Despite the fact that we are cooperating with Russia in the sphere of our common interests, we need new tools to put pressure on the Russian leadership, where our opinions differ," she suggested. "One such tool could be the Magnitsky Act. I welcome the measures taken by the State Department (which blacklisted 11 people in the Magnitsky case - Kommersant), but hope that we could achieve more." The president of the Freedom House, David Kramer, who spoke at the hearings, expressed the opinion that "already at the development stages, the Magnitsky Act has provided more tangible results than US administrations' efforts over the last 20 years combined. No other initiative has resulted in such an active reaction from Moscow," explained Mr. Kramer. "People responsible for human rights violations have, for the first time, felt the reality of the fact that they and their families will no longer enjoy the privileges of traveling to civilized countries, being educated there, and holding assets in Western banks." However, experts doubt that the bill will become law. "US lawmakers won't go as far as to completely undermine relations with Moscow and burn all bridges," Aleksey Malashenko told Kommersant. "Though, they will continue to threaten us." Magnitsky bill is compatible with reset – no harm to relationsJuliette Kayyem, 11-3-2011, “Taking on Russia: A global financier fights back after a lawyer’s suspicious death in prison”, The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2011/11/02/takingrussia/bt9apZGnveS3tadO5pZ1YJ/story.htm The reset strategy, however, should be coupled with this different kind of containment strategy. The significance of the Magnitsky legislation is that it allows the United States to engage and condemn simultaneously. Too often, human-rights legislation requires a singular and primary focus on injustices, without taking into account competing interests. Here is a law that actually merges human-rights values with street-fighter sensibilities. The US government could punish atrocities by individuals where it hurts them the most - in their wallets, via access to Western markets - and still break bread with the Kremlin. It focuses on individuals without actually needing the US government to say anything about that nation’s culpability. The United States could still say all the right things about Russian relations, but with our fingers crossed behind our backs as we make clear our disdain for those who act with impunity. It’s a kind of disingenuousness, but the kind that Russia would understand. The Magnitsky doesn’t hurt the reset of US-Russian Relations – they respect strengthGarry Kasparov, 2-28-2012, “Why Vladimir Putin Is Immune to the American Reset”, Heritage Foundation, http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/2012/02/why-vladimir-putin-is-immune-to-the-american-reset Pushing back hard and setting a firm, even confrontational line is the only message the Putin regime will respond to. They respect only strength. All this talk of engagement transforming Russia slowly has been disproven. Twenty years ago, it was expected that Russia would eventually embrace the manners of the West, but now it’s clear the opposite has happened. Countries dealing with Russia have conformed again and again to the corrupt practices institutionalized by Putin. As I said in my testimony on the Hill last June,[2] the system is not corrupt; corruption is the system. So if you are going to go after these guys, you have to use banks, not tanks. Hit them in their wallets, because that is what they care about. Senate Bill 1039, titled the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, would do exactly that. It is a bill that has the real teeth that Speaker Boehner referred to. Just one bureaucrat punished for his participation in crimes against human rights and the rule of law would have a huge ripple effect in Russia. Sadly, the State Department has attempted to preempt such tough action by issuing their own “secret” list for a travel ban on select Russian officials. This should be seen for what it is: watering down a serious effort with a superficial one. The entire point must be to publicize the list, to name names, to confront the criminals and their crimes, make it clear there are standards that will be defended. Resolution and openness are the best weapons against a mafia structure. Jackson–Vanik is an obsolete structure, of course, but do not trivially discard it without putting something in its place that makes clear America’s commitment to human rights and its willingness to defend them. Senate Bill 1039 is such a piece of legislation, and I would urge everyone to make it a reality. Twenty-five years ago, Ronald Reagan met with Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik, and the last Soviet leader had an ambitious reset proposal. I remember this meeting well. Reagan refused the offer categorically, refused to make concessions to a system he understood to be evil, refused to compromise on principles where they mattered most. How about this as a model for a reset with Putin’s Russia? Stand up for your principles. Make a reset that supports the Russian people, not our oppressors. Make that distinction clear. As in 1987, resolve is required. You must never be afraid to confront dictators, because strength is the only language they understand. To remove a dangerous virus, a reset or a reboot is not enough. The entire system must be replaced, and that is what we hope to do. Directory: file -> fetch fetch -> 11 th Lit Semester 1 Final Study Guide!!! fetch -> Industrial Revolution Inventors fetch -> Analysis for Galveston Hurricane of 1900 fetch -> The Illuminators (Team 2) 1900 Galveston Hurricane Cycle a team Assignment fetch -> Team csi-utb ruth Reyes Jose Ferrer fetch -> Galveston Hurricane of 1900 Cycle a-teacher as a Problem Solver fetch -> Is Climate Change Starting a New Dust Bowl? 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