Michael McFaul remembers Ohio congressman Charles Vanik

Former Democratic congressman Charles Vanik, 94, passed away August 30th at his home in Jupiter, FLa. A 13-term congressman from Ohio, his biggest impact came when he and former Sen. Henry Jackson (D-Wash.) sponsored what became known as the Jackson-Vanik amendment in 1974. It was "one of the most successful foreign policy ideas initiated by Congress during the Cold War," Michael McFaul, Director of CDDRL, recalled. "The Jackson-Vanik amendment was a moral act. It explicitly linked the Soviet Union's trading status to levels of Jewish emigration." Read more »