Mr. McFaul, who has been the envoy in Moscow since January, urged Congress to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which was passed in 1974 to restrict U.S. trade with nations that prohibit free emigration.
The bill, sponsored by Democratic Sens. Henry M. Jackson of Washington and Charles A. Vanik of Ohio, was targeted at the Soviet Union for refusing to allow Jews to leave the country.
“We don’t believe that holding onto Jackson-Vanik advances the cause of democracy, or human rights, for that matter, in Russia,” Mr. McFaul told the Peterson Institute for International Economics during a Washington visit.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, U.S. presidents have regularly waived the amendment, but it still prevents the United States from adopting full trade relations with Russia.
A group of 150 businesses this week also urged Congress to repeal the amendment.
“Russia is an important part of U.S. business’ global strategy to create and sustain jobs at home by enhancing our long-term competitiveness abroad,” the Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade said.
The group noted that Russia is the world’s 11th-largest market and that U.S. companies are at a competitive disadvantage because of Jackson-Vanik.
The coalition includes major companies such as Bank of America Corp., the Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and the Walt Disney Co.
• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297 or email jmorrison@washingtontimes.com. The column is published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
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James Morrison joined the The Washington Times in 1983 as a local reporter covering Alexandria, Va. A year later, he was assigned to open a Times bureau in Canada. From 1987 to 1989, Mr. Morrison was The Washington Times reporter in London, covering Britain, Western Europe and NATO issues. After returning to Washington, he served as an assistant foreign editor ...
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