Senate Seeks Greater Respect for Human Rights in Russia

The Hill reports:

"A Senate panel on Tuesday will move human-rights legislation that lawmakers of both parties say is critical to gaining their support for establishing normal trade ties with Russia.

The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee will vote on the so-called Magnitsky bill, named after a whistleblowing Russian lawyer who died in police custody, along with a number of other bills and ambassador nominations. The news comes after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Tuesday announced his intention to pair the human-rights bill with the trade legislation, which must clear his committee.

The Magnitsky legislation targets human-rights violators in Russia with financial and travel sanctions. The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the bill last week.

Without it, several lawmakers say, they cannot support establishing normal permanent trade relations with Russia, which would put U.S. companies at a disadvantage when Russia joins the World Trade Organization this summer. The Obama administration's top trade negotiator has called for a clean vote on the trade issue."