OK, this is a day when I lay out the candles and the prayer cards not only to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Michael the Archangel, and the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen (who confirmed me in 1968 and is in line for sainthood), but Dorothy Day (also in line to be canonized) and maybe St. Anthony (a Pakistani deli owner sold me his last personal St. Anthony candle for $2 during Hurricane Sandy which he had been using to light his store) and certainly St. Yakov, a handy Russian saint whom we can cross over to pray to near that point where you can see Russia from your window in Alaska.
Because the Magnitsky bill is coming to the floor of the Senate, and I believe it's in trouble.
However, Sen. Cardin has done a very good thing, with releasing this message yesterday:
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 4, 2012
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CONTACT: Sue Walitsky 202-224-4524 or 202-320-0819 |
CARDIN STATEMENT ON THE STATUS OF THE MAGNITSKY ACT
“We are creating a precedent for future trade agreements”
Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and author of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, made the following statement regarding his legislation:
“I am pleased that the Senate finally will be voting on passage of the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act.
In the memory of one courageous Russian, we are setting a precedent for
future trade agreements that tells the world that gross violators of
human rights cannot escape the consequences of their actions even when
their home country fails to act. Visiting the United States and having
access to our financial system, including U.S. dollars, are privileges
that should not be extended to those who violate basic human rights and
the rule of law.
“This
bill may only apply to Russia, but it sets a standard that should be
applied globally. I encourage other nations to follow our lead. I will
continue to work with my bipartisan cosponsors towards passage of the
Magnitsky sanctions for other countries so that human rights violators
in all corners of the world understand that the United States is still
committed to the universal cause of liberty and human dignity for those
who stand up against oppression.”
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I *hope* that Sen. Kerry — who is weeping today over his perception that certain senators can't get behind an obvious no-brainer like the Disabilities Treaty and claiming that the Congress is "broken" — will realize he is broken if he can't get behind the same "all human rights for all" in the Magnitsky Act.
I really do hope and pray this will turn out all right.
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