Orrin Hatch: “we will soon vote on H.R. 6156, the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law…”

“we will soon vote on H.R. 6156, the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012. The trade elements of the bill are identical to legislation which passed the Senate Finance Committee by unanimous vote on July 18, 2012. The bill repeals the application of the Jackson-Vanik amendment to Russia and Moldova, which will enable U.S. workers and job creators to fully benefit from Russia and Moldova's accession to the World Trade Organization. The bill will also put into place new tools to help stop human rights abuse and battle systemic corruption within Russia. After 18 years of hard fought negotiations under both Republican and Democratic administrations, President Obama finalized the terms of Russia's accession to the WTO on November 10, 2011. Russia was invited to join the organization on December 16, 2011, and officially joined in August of this year. Now that Russia is a member of the WTO, for our workers to benefit Congress has no choice but to extend permanent normal relations to Russia through repeal of the application of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. Russia is now a member of the WTO, but they are under no obligation to extend the economic benefits of their membership to the United States unless we have permanent normal trade relations.…”