TheWall Street Journal reports that former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and former Rep. Jack Kemp (R-NY) sent a letter to President Bush requesting that he raise with Russian President Vladimir Putin the Russian proposal to curb foreign nonprofit organizations. The draft legislation would effectively bar foreign nongovernmental organizations from maintaining representative offices in Russia. If passed, it would affect the country's entire international nonprofit sector, ranging from think tanks such as the Carnegie Moscow Center to civil-liberties groups such as Human Rights Watch. Supporters of the bill say bill would prevent foreign terror organizations from gaining a foothold in Russia and to stamp out extremism. However, according to Chris Cavanaugh, head of the Moscow office of IREX, an international nonprofit, "This could be the first step toward closing down all foreign NGOs in Russia. It's a huge step backward for civil society here." See the the WSJ article for more information.