WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration Thursday urged Congress to end a Cold War restriction on trade with Russia, saying the measure had accomplished its goal of promoting free emigration and greater religious freedom.
"Russia has come very far forward since the fall of the Soviet Union," Alan Larson, U.S. undersecretary of state for economic, business and agricultural
affairs, told a panel in the House of Representatives. "Graduating Russia from Jackson-Vanik is now the right thing to do."
The so-called Jackson-Vanik amendment was approved by Congress in 1974 as part of broader trade legislation. The provision required "non-market economies" such as the Soviet Union to demonstrate they allow free emigration to be eligible for normal trade relations with the United States.
But in a speech to a Washington trade group, a key senator said there was little chance Congress would approve the change before President Bush travels to Moscow in late May to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I'm not one that favors doing things just because the president is going to
visit (a particular) country," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said.
Jackson-Vanik may be outdated, but it can still be a valuable tool in U.S. negotiations with Russia on its entry into the World Trade Organization, the
Montana Democrat said.
Meanwhile, Rep. Tom Lantos, a California Democrat who is leader in the House
on human rights issues, tied his support for graduating Russia from Jackson-Vanik to a firm commitment that the United States would continue to monitor emigration and human rights concerns in Russia.
Lantos also wants Russia to return religious properties illegally seized by the former Soviet Union. He said he was optimistic of reaching agreement with the Bush administration on provisions to address his concerns.
Larson credited the Jackson-Vanik provision for allowing 573,000 refugees, many of them Jews, evangelical Christians and Catholics, to immigrate to the
United States from the former Soviet Union and Russia since 1975. Another 1 million Russian Jews immigrated to Israel in the same period.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier sought to assure the panel that lifting Jackson-Vanik would not reduce the United States' leverage in negotiations with Russia on the terms of its entry into the WTO.
"We intend to seek the highest level of commitments from Russia with respect
to the adoption of WTO rules in its trade regime," Allgeier said. "The requirement that we and other WTO members reach a consensus on the terms for
Russia's WTO accession guarantees that our concerns will be heard."
Even though the White House has found Russia in compliance with emigration provisions of Jackson-Vanik since 1994, some lawmakers are reluctant to end the measure before Russia has agreed to sweeping new measures to open its economy to foreign competition in order to join the WTO.
On a related issue, both Larson and Allgeier said they have told Russia Congress was unlikely to remove the Jackson-Vanik restriction until Moscow has followed through on a promise to lift a ban on imports of U.S. poultry.
Russia had pledged to lift the ban, which it said it imposed last month for food safety reasons, by Wednesday.
But as of Thursday morning, it was still in place.
Allgeier said the Bush administration was working hard to see the ban lifted
"in the next few days."