General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Hey, ABC This Week, Sanders is not (D) Vermont [View all]Power 2 the People
(2,437 posts)President Obama and Secretary Clinton felt that it would jeopardize the efforts they were making to reset relations with Russia.In order to do that,President Obama would need to repeal the Jackson-Vanik Amendment which prohibited normal trade relations with Russia.
Powerful lawmakers signaled theyd only support the repeal if the Magnitsky Act was signed into law. The two provisions were lumped together and approved by the House and the Senate in December 2012. Obama signed them into law almost immediately.
President Obama and his administration were not in support of the bill but he was willing to compromise in order to get Jackson-Vanik repealed.
To be fair, Bernie Sanders agreed with the reasoning and positions of President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's position and voted no. Sanders agreed with the President that he already had significant leverage against Russia to enforce sanctions if needed in the future.