By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Friday to "name and shame" Russian human rights violators as part of a broader bill to drop Cold War-era trade restrictions, brushing off warnings from Moscow that the move would damage relations.

The House voted 365-43 to approve the legislation, which takes a jab at the policies of Russian President Vladimir Putin while ensuring U.S. companies get the full benefits of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization on August 22.

"Since Vladimir Putin was re-elected president in May 2012, his government has taken a harsh and confrontational approach to ongoing protests, cracking down on the Russian people's growing discontent with corruption and creeping authoritarianism," said Representative Jim McGovern, a Democrat.

The bill, which still needs Senate approval, would establish "permanent normal trade relations," or PNTR, with Russia.

In a provision that infuriates Moscow, the bill would direct President Barack Obama to publish the names of Russians believed involved in the abuse and death of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian anti-corruption lawyer who died in a Russian jail in 2009.

It also would require the United States to deny visas and freeze the assets of any individual on the list, as well as other human rights violators in Russia on an ongoing basis.

Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was in Washington to witness the vote, which came on the third anniversary of Magnitsky's death.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, said in statement that Nemtsov told her that Putin had made stopping the legislation his utmost priority because it threatened to ensnare those closest to the Russian leader.

Without PNTR, Russia could deny U.S. exporters some of the market-opening benefits others will enjoy due to Russia's WTO entry. The United States also could not use the WTO dispute-settlement system to challenge Russian actions without PNTR.

U.S. business groups believe PNTR could help them double or triple exports to the world's ninth-largest economy.

"With our high unemployment, we cannot afford to pass up any opportunity to increase our exports and create jobs," said House Ways and Committee Chairman Dave Camp, a Republican.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk called the vote an important step toward making sure U.S. companies receive all the benefits of Russia's WTO membership and are not left at a competitive disadvantage to other suppliers.

"We look forward to action from the Senate that will send a bill to the president," Kirk said.

Obama is expected to sign the bill if it reaches his desk, even though the White House initially pressed for PNTR legislation without the human rights sanctions provisions.

'PROVOCATIVE INSULT'

The Russian Foreign Ministry called House approval of the legislation "an aggressively unfriendly, provocative insult" and said "measures in response will certainly follow.

It urged Obama not to sign the bill, saying: "We hope the American executive authorities understand the pernicious consequences to which the legislative actions of ill-wishers and opponents of our bilateral interaction may lead." Continued...