Political Quotes

“at the request of the Administration, I rise today to offer legislation to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment to Title IV of the 1974 Trade Act and to authorize the extension of normal trade relations to the products of the Russian Federation. Congress passed the Jackson-Vanik amendment as a means to deny Permanent Normal Trade Relations to communist countries that restricted emigration rights and were not market economies. Jackson-Vanik continues to apply to the Russian Federation today despite the findings of successive Administrations that Russia had come into full compliance with requirements of freedom of emigration, including the absence of any tax on emigration. Furthermore, although Russia's transformation has been imperfect, substantial progress has been made toward the creation of a free-market economy. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, there have been dramatic changes in all aspects of life in Russia. It is clear that the Jackson-Vanik amendment played a role in bringing about these changes and in promoting freedom of emigration in many countries in the former Soviet Union. But, the time has come to move beyond the Cold War era.”