In 1978, my family fled the Soviet Union thanks to the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.
This landmark law tied trade relations with communist countries to the right to emigrate by denying permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to any state that limited emigration.
It was a rare moment when a moral principle and a strategic goal aligned. Approximately 1.9 million Soviet Jews and their relatives emigrated.
Emigres fleeing the "workers' paradise" en masse did a lot to undermine Soviet power and win the Cold War.
Authored by Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson and Congressman Charles Vanik, the amendment is not a catch-all tool for every human rights issue. It was a targeted policy with precise demands and sanctions.
Today, we live in a different world that requires updated tools to protect America. We cannot let sentimentality inadvertently hurt America’s national interests.
After the Soviet collapse, Jackson-Vanik endured, and post-Soviet states were grandfathered in. Slowly, states, including Russia, were removed from the Jackson-Vanik list.
The Amendment endures as a relic, applied to a diverse set of countries that includes Belarus, Cuba, and North Korea — who richly deserve it — and a host of Central Asian states that permit emigration, have market economies, and look to the West to ward off Russia and China.
This defies common sense. While some states receive annual waivers, having policy contingent upon a myopic Congress kicking the can down the road year after year is self-defeating. Keeping Jackson Vanik active for Central
Asian states makes things easier for Chinese and Russian influence to grow at our expense.
I can think of no better example of Jackson Vanik’s obsolescence than Kazakhstan. The demographic data tells the story.
In 1989, 6.2 million Russians lived in Kazakhstan. By 2025, only 2.9 million remained.
Kazakhstan’s German population, which numbered over 900,000 in 1989, declined to roughly 200,000. These people left voluntarily.
That is precisely what Jackson-Vanik was meant to achieve.
In 2024, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) mistakenly argued that Kazakhstan and Central Asia do not deserve graduation from Jackson Vanik because of concerns about religious registration requirements and restrictions on minority groups.
These issues merit attention, but they fall outside of Jackson–Vanik.
We have other tools to address broader religious freedom issues.
It’s also just factually wrong. Kazakhstan is a secular state.
In an ironic twist of fate for a country subject to a law originally inspired by the plight of Jews, Kazakhstan is now a destination for pilgrimage for some Jews to visit the grave of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson of the Chabad movement.
On Feb. 5, 2025, the U.S.-Kazakhstan Trade Modernization Act (H.R. 1024) was introduced in Congress. This bipartisan act would permanently lift Jackson-Vanik restrictions for Kazakhstan.
Former skeptics are turning too.
This March, Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., who had previously voiced skepticism about Kazakhstan, visited Astana and Almaty. Her thoughtful reevaluation of the facts is something we would be lucky to have more widely emulated.
The act is joined by a collective call from former U.S. Ambassadors, the American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan, and major U.S. Jewish organizations.
Mark B. Levin, CEO of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NCSEJ), praised the bipartisan initiative.
For an organization that once fought to free Soviet Jews, that endorsement carries moral weight.
U.S. interests in Kazakhstan are deep: it produces over 43% of the world’s uranium, making it indispensable to global nuclear energy and nonproliferation efforts. It is a WTO member and the region’s top U.S. partner, accounting for nearly 90% of American investment.
PNTR would anchor this leadership, strengthen investor confidence, and send a powerful signal of U.S. commitment. Kazakhstan also hosts major Western oil companies and has a legal system that engages with international arbitration.
It is also host to a range of critical minerals that the Trump administration seeks from Ukraine and elsewhere.
If we treat Kazakhstan and Central Asia with apathy, we will push them into the arms of Russia and China. China already relies heavily on Kazakh uranium for its civilian nuclear sector, which enables Beijing to reserve more of
its domestic uranium for expanding its nuclear weapons stockpile.
The broader lesson of Jackson-Vanik is that leverage works when it is credible. If we apply it arbitrarily or refuse to lift it once its goals are met, we lose both our influence and our integrity. Kazakhstan is not the only example of policy failures with Jackson-Vanik, but it is the most obvious.
Opponents often claim graduation would "reward bad behavior."
Jackson-Vanik isn’t a punishment — it’s a contract. Kazakhstan and the region kept their end of the deal. Now it’s our turn.
"In matters of national security," Sen. Scoop Jackson famously said, "the best politics is no politics."
The fight to free Soviet Jewry brought together Americans of all faiths.
We need that spirit again.
Robert Zapesochny is a researcher and writer. His work focuses on foreign affairs, national security, and presidential history. He's been published in numerous outlets, including The American Spectator, The Washington Times, and The American Conservative. When he's not writing, Robert works for a medical research company in New York. Read Robert Zapesochny's Reports — More Here.
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