FOR THE RECORD

Rep. Steven Rothman's letter to President George W. Bush

Following is the text of a letter sent on January 7 by Rep. Steven R. Rothman (D-N.J.) to President George W. Bush.

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to urge you to promptly invite Ukrainian President-elect Viktor Yushchenko to Washington, D.C., for an official state visit. As you well know, the outcome of the recent Ukrainian elections provides the opportunity for the republic of Ukraine to become more closely integrated in Euro-Atlantic institutions, demonstrate true democratic governance under the rule of law, and operate a genuine free market economy. It is critical that at this time we recognize the importance of the relationship between the United States and the Republic of Ukraine and reach out to President-elect Yushchenko in an effort to enhance these relations.

To your credit, the United States has consistently worked with the Republic of Ukraine to encourage the conduct of free and fair elections in the former Soviet state. We believe that with this recent election, the Republic of Ukraine has indeed demonstrated its commitment to being a true democracy. The first and second rounds of voting on October 31, 2004, and November 21, 2004, respectively, were fraught with corruption and fraud, including reports of government-run media bias, abuse of absentee ballots and voter intimidation. Taking a step which demonstrated Ukraine's elected representatives' true commitment to democracy, the Ukrainian Parliament responded by approving a resolution that called the elections invalid. This action was later reinforced when the Ukrainian Supreme Court invalidated the election and called for a third round of voting on December 26, 2004.

Following weeks of protest and debates, an impressive 77 percent of the population turned out to vote for President-elect Yushchenko on December 26, 2004. We congratulate the Republic of Ukraine on following the democratic processes that ultimately led to the conduct of a free and free election for the Ukrainian presidency.

As a showing of American solidarity with the Ukrainian people and its newly elected leader, and in an effort to further strengthen U.S.-Ukraine relations, we believe it is important that you promptly invite President-elect Yushchenko to the White House for a state visit once he has been sworn in as president. We thank you in advance for your kind attention and ask that you please inform us as to how you intend to proceed on this matter.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 16, 2005, No. 2, Vol. LXXIII

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