Dear Editor:
The importance of the UCCA’s Ukrainian Day advocacy event, reported in The Ukrainian Weekly of August 2, cannot be overstated. Such actions are an effective way to press the case for more robust U.S.-Ukraine relations, including economic and security assistance.
I participated in this event, which began with an excellent briefing session attended by about 30 individuals. Most of those attending were younger people, many from Ukraine, who came to get instructions on how to talk to congressmen and senators on issues relevant to Ukraine.
I was struck, however, by the absence of middle-aged and older Ukrainian professionals living in the Washington metropolitan area, a diaspora that numbers in the thousands. Their presence would have strengthened the ranks of the young, for some of whom English was a second language.
After the coaching session, the participants formed into small groups and dispersed to meetings with selected members of Congress. Kudos to Michael Sawkiw for setting up these meetings. I joined a group from New Jersey who went to see Sen. Robert Menendez, a big supporter of Ukraine. Tamara Gallo Olexy, president of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, summarized our concerns, and the senator was clearly sympathetic to our cause. Mark Romaniv noted that the administration, in the person of National Security Advisor Susan Rice, had been holding up the issuance of export licenses for equipment that Ukraine had been promised and needs urgently.
Sen. Menendez said that he would gladly help, but regrettably Ms. Rice is deliberately kept isolated from many members of Congress. She answers only to President Barack Obama, whose interest in supporting Ukraine, despite overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, has always been and continues to be lukewarm at best.
Washington