Earlier this month. in recommending that MFN be renewed for Romania. the President observed that. Over the years. MFN has stimulated increased Romanian emigration and made possible the reunification of thousands of families. MFN has also enabled us to have an impact on Romanias human rights practices and to help strengthen the conditions for religious observance there. I agree with the Presidents conclusion. That it is better to direct our efforts to improving the conditions that arouse our concern than to abandon the principal means of influence we now have and walk away. The JacksonVanik amendment was designed to encourage increased emigration from countries which deny the fundamental right of freedom of movement. It was never conceived to be an instrument capable of effecting farreaching internal change. However. through prudent use of the leverage MFN has afforded the United States. the United States has been able to obtain limited human rights improvements while maintaining an acceptable rate of emigration to the United States. By expanding the conditions under which IFN is granted. we run the great risk of decreasing the leverage embodied in MFN with respect to emigration and reducing our ability to use MFN to promote other limited improvements in the human rights situation. While this amendment would only affect Romanias MFN status. it undermines the uniform standard of compliance embodied in JacksonVanik. For these reasons.
Keywords matched
emigration