<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">For Immediate Release</div><div class="">Contact: Arthur Stamoulis, (202) 494-8826 or <a href="mailto:media@citizenstrade.org" class="">media@citizenstrade.org</a></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><b class=""><font size="5" class="">Statement on Proposed Suspension of Normal Trade Relations with Russia</font></b></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Washington, D.C. — Citizens Trade Campaign’s Executive Director Arthur Stamoulis issued the following statement in support of the bipartisan proposal to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, announced by House Ways and Means Committee Republican Leader Kevin Brady (R-TX), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA), Senate Finance Committee Republican Leader Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR).</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><blockquote class="" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; border: none; padding: 0px;"><div class=""><div class=""><div class="">"Citizens Trade Campaign voices our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and our support for the suspension of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) for Russia and Belarus.</div></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><p class="MsoNormal">"Unfettered access to U.S. markets is not a right, and must always be predicated on respect for human rights. The Putin regime’s unwarranted aggression in Ukraine demonstrates the long-term importance of selecting trading partners that embrace democratic values and of creating supply chains that are not overly reliant on any one producer nation. </p></div></div><div class=""><div class=""><p class="MsoNormal">"As supportive as we are of this proposal, it should not take a military invasion to spark the prioritization of human rights in trade policy. President Joe Biden and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai’s insistence on worker-centered trade policies that uplift the rights of working people across borders and that protect consumers and the environment is reflective of a much-needed shift in the U.S. trade agenda that could help contribute to a more stable, peaceful and equitable world in which authoritarians like Putin have no place." </p></div></div></blockquote><div class="">###</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><i class="">Citizens Trade Campaign is a coalition of labor, environmental, family farm, faith and consumer organizations that work work together to improve U.S. trade policy.</i></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826</div>
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