Ukrainian-Americans have been advocating for Ukraine in Washington for a long time, beginning 100 years ago with the proclamation of a “Ukrainian Day” by President Woodrow Wilson based on a joint congressional resolution. Our community’s work, especially with the U.S. Congress, has continued with greater or lesser degrees of intensity throughout the last century.
Efforts in support of Ukraine continue to this day. In some respects, the task has become easier as, since its independence, Ukraine has developed an impressive array of friends and supporters in Washington. We also have official Ukrainian government representation through the Embassy of Ukraine and through numerous visits and other interactions between Ukrainian officials and their U.S. counterparts.
In other respects, the task has become more challenging as there are so many issues that require attention in what is a very dynamic and multifaceted U.S.-Ukraine relationship, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2014.
Therefore, the role of the Ukrainian American community remains as important now as it has ever been, notwithstanding the more favorable landscape of strong U.S. support for Ukraine.
Ukrainian American advocacy has been manifested in many ways throughout the decades. Beginning in the 1950s through the 1980s, the Ukrainian American community was a lone voice lobbying for the human and national rights of the Ukrainian people, given the fact that Ukraine was a captive nation, repressed and isolated by Moscow. Because it was not independent, Ukraine was a relative terra-incognita on the Washington policy map, as well as for the public at large. Ukrainian Americans did much to increase consciousness about the plight of the Ukrainian nation, and even found fertile ground working with the U.S. Congress, which was very supportive prior to independence and has continued to be a strong friend of Ukraine ever since.
The Ukrainian American community’s efforts became much more pronounced in the late 1970s and the 1980s. They were focused on the defense of human and national rights in Ukraine, notably on Helsinki monitors and other political prisoners who were harshly repressed by the Soviet regime, on behalf of the banned Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, and on informing the U.S. government about the Holodomor. The early 1990s saw a major push for U.S. recognition of Ukraine’s independence.
Among the more active groups that were either based in or often came to Washington were the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and its Washington office, the Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS), the Ukrainian National Association (UNA), Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU), Smoloskyp, the Philadelphia-based Ukrainian Human Rights Committee and later Ukraine 2000 and the Committee to Aid Ukraine, as well as several local groups of activists.
While not an advocacy organization per se, The Washington Group of Ukrainian American professionals also played a key role holding yearly conferences and many other events which brought together Ukrainian Americans and Washington policymakers, as well as Ukrainians from Ukraine as Mikhail Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika took hold.
And, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ukainian World Congress this year, I especially wish to underscore the vital role during the 1980s and early 1990s played by its Human Rights Commission and specifically its director at the time, Christina Isajiw, who did much to bring to official Washington’s attention Soviet human rights violations in Ukraine.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with many of these advocacy groups, initially as an activist in my student days, then later from the other side, if you will, while working for the U.S. government at the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (aka the Helsinki Commission). I saw first-hand the tenacity and dedication of many of these activists, who often volunteered considerable time, energy and resources for the cause of a free Ukraine. And I can assure you that their voice, even prior to independence, was heard in Congress and even the executive branch.
These Ukrainian American volunteer efforts continue to this day. They have been especially pronounced since the 2013-2014 Maidan Revolution of Dignity and played a key role in helping to secure many pieces of legislation that support Ukraine. For many decades, the bulk of this advocacy was done principally by the earlier waves of Ukrainian immigrants, particularly the highly politicized post-World War II generation and their children. Since the Maidan, the newest wave of immigrants has become increasingly engaged – a significant factor in helping to re-invigorate community advocacy.
While volunteer efforts have always been necessary, having a professional presence in Washington has been vital. Volunteer efforts, no matter how valuable, can only go so far. The UNA’s Washington office, which existed during the critically important time of 1988-1995, employed three paid staffers and was able to accomplish much. UNIS has been a mainstay now for 40 years, playing an essential role in consistently advocating Ukrainian American community concerns on the Hill and with the executive branch. Its periodic Ukrainian Days, when community activists from around the country gather in Washington to meet with their elected representatives, is among its most worthwhile endeavors. The next one is scheduled for October 11. For much of its existence, UNIS has only had one paid employee, and, as I have suggested to my friends in the UCCA, would be well-served in having more than one paid position in Washington.
An essential presence on the Washington Ukrainian scene for the last 25 years has been the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF), part of whose mission is dedicated to strengthening U.S.-Ukraine relations. In contrast to the UCCA, it does not represent the Ukrainian American community, although it enjoys the support of many Ukrainian Americans, as well as other friends of Ukraine. (Full disclosure: I recently joined the USUF board of directors.)
Earlier this year, the foundation initiated a Friends of Ukraine Network (FOUN), which includes a number of former ambassadors and other former officials from the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, Defense Department and Congress, as well as experts from think-tanks and representatives of key NGOs involved with Ukraine. Separate task forces came up with policy recommendations for U.S. assistance to Ukraine in four areas: national security, economy and energy, humanitarian issues, and democracy and civil society.
About a dozen Ukrainian-American organizations have endorsed these serious, substantive recommendations, including the Ukrainian World Congress and the UCCA. With the probability of cuts in the U.S. budget for foreign assistance, it is incumbent upon the Ukrainian American community to advocate for maintaining, and even increasing, U.S. assistance to Ukraine. Please take a look at these recommendations and view a recent Friends of Ukraine Network Capitol Hill briefing with the participation of House Ukraine Caucus co-chairs and task force representatives by going to the USUF website: www.usukraine.org.
These recommendations can serve as an invaluable aid for both community organizations and individual contacts with members of Congress in the coming weeks as the budget for the next year is discussed. Contact your senators and congressman, thank them for their past support, and ask that they continue to provide adequate assistance to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression in Ukraine, help the victims of Vladimir Putin’s war, and support Ukraine’s continued economic, democratic and rule-of-law efforts to integrate with the European and trans-Atlantic community.
Let’s continue the longstanding tradition of advocacy at an especially crucial time.