U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern on today's State Department Report on the Magnitsky law

McGovern Was Original House Sponsor of the Legislation

Washington, DC, December 23, 2013

STATEMENT BY U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JIM MCGOVERN ON TODAY’S STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT ON THE MAGNITSKY LAW

McGovern Was Original House Sponsor of the Legislation

“The lack of new names on the list is very disappointing.  I am looking forward to the day when the Magnitsky law will become obsolete because the climate of impunity no longer prevails inside Russia. But today is not that day. The Magnitsky Act is the law of the United States, and I will do everything I can to ensure that it is implemented properly and in the spirit in which it was written.  I expect to receive a full briefing from the Administration on this issue soon.

“Without a doubt, some of the world’s most urgent problems require that Russia and the United States work together and build long-lasting and productive partnerships.  I welcome and support Russia’s cooperation on resolving the Syrian chemical weapons crisis and the Iran nuclear crisis. I welcome the clemency President Putin has granted for imprisoned activists from Greenpeace and the Pussy Riot rock band members, as well as for Mikhail Khodorkovsky. These are positive actions, which I hope will also be expanded to resolving Syria’s humanitarian crisis. But a true partnership cannot and should not be built on a shaky foundation of corruption and condoning human rights violations.”