NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In a July 16th address to the Ukrainian-American community here at St. Michael’s Church, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) praised the extraordinary work of U.S. military hospitals and unveiled an initiative to help severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers. “Hospital staff have performed remarkable feats rebuilding bodies and human lives,” he said. “I have introduced a provision into the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act to bring [these] bravest soldiers to the United States to obtain the best treatment that our military hospitals can provide.”
Before a room full of television cameras and local journalists, Sen. Blumenthal expressed his steadfast support for Ukraine. While openly calling for arming Ukraine’s military with lethal defensive weapons, the senior Sen. from Connecticut focused attention on the need to help the thousands of severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers injured while defending Ukraine’s borders and its people from Russian aggression.
“There is much talk about pushback to Putin’s Russian aggression, be it in Ukraine, Europe, Syria, or influencing the U.S. election. But only in Ukraine are soldiers putting their lives on the line,” he noted.
Birth of a legislative provision
Legislation can start at the grass-roots level and evolve, often through a long and arduous process. It starts with an interest group and a sponsor.
Since the forced annexation of Crimea in March 2014, Sen. Blumenthal has worked to support Ukraine and has cooperated closely with New Haven-based activists Myron Melnyk, Halia Lodynsky and Carl Harvey. At that time he presented to the New Haven community his ideas to punish Russia’s unlawful aggression. Through his position on the Senate Armed Services Committee and work with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he pressed early on for Russian sanctions and for the cancellation of France’s deal to provide Russia with advanced Mistral aircraft carriers. Why should this “thug,” to use the Sen.’s description of President Vladimir Putin, receive the latest carrier technology and worse yet, from a NATO member? “We should be weakening Putin’s capabilities, not strengthening them,” he said. The deal was ultimately suspended.
Sen. Blumenthal has also been active in his support of humanitarian initiatives. With the support of Ukrainian communities in New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford, and with the assistance of local doctors Dr. Alla Vash and Dr. Lesia Kushnir, in 2015 and 2016 four Ukrainian soldiers have been treated in Connecticut hospitals. A critical role has also been played by Iryna Vashchuk and the non-profit organization Revived Soldiers Ukraine (http://www.rsukraine.org/our-work), which to date has helped 30 soldiers receive treatment in medical facilities throughout the United States.
On February 19, after a Sen.ial post-election briefing in New Haven on congressional activities regarding Ukraine, members of the community and Connecticut post commanders of the Ukrainian American Veterans (UAV) met with the Sen. to discuss the next steps. Representing the UAV were Connecticut Commander Ihor Rudko, New Haven Post 33 Commander Carl Harvey, and this write, Post 33 welfare officer, who led the discussion. Sen. Blumenthal expressed great interest in further helping wounded soldiers and instructed his staff in Washington and Hartford to explore further possibilities.
National Defense Authorization Act
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a huge federal law specifying the worldwide budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The federal budget process occurs in two stages: authorization and appropriation. The NDAA is an authorization bill that directs how federal funds should or should not be used. It does not set overall spending limits, which are the subject of appropriations bills that, per the origination clause of the Constitution, must originate in the House of Representatives.
This spring, the Ukrainian American community was very encouraged to learn that Sen. Blumenthal was considering adding a separate provision into the 2018 Senate version of the NDAA, specifically calling for medical treatment of wounded Ukrainian soldiers in U.S. military hospitals. The Senate’s NDAA is drafted by the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on which Mr. Blumenthal serves. In consultation with Katherine Bradbury, the Sen.’s legislative assistant in Washington, personal meetings in Washington were arranged to pursue his initiative.
Because of its experience in coordinating medical treatment of severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers at military hospitals in the United States, the Embassy of Ukraine in the U.S. was engaged in the initiative from the outset.
Between April and June of this year, a series of meetings were held with Sen. Blumenthal’s staff and with staffers of the SASC, who are responsible for drafting the comprehensive NDAA legislation. Participants included Lt. Col. Michael Hrycak, New Jersey UAV commander who also serves as judge advocate on the National UAV Board; Mr. Rudko, Connecticut UAV Commander; Mr. Melnyk of New Haven Post 33; and Col. Serhij Panchenko, air liaison to the Ukrainian Embassy.
With Col. Panchenko’s assistance, wounded Ukrainian soldiers currently undergoing treatment in the area played an active role in the meetings, and added a sobering and bracing tone to the discussions. Particularly impactful was an emotional meeting with SASC staff on June 19 with Vadym Svyrydenko during President Petro Poroshenko’s visit to Washington. Mr. Svyrydenko, who lost both arms and legs in the battle of Debaltseve and who underwent treatment at Walter Reed to have all limbs completely reconstructed, is now the commissioner of the president of Ukraine for the rehabilitation of ATO (anti-terrorist operation) participants. He spoke movingly of his life-changing treatment at Walter Reed Hospital.
Mr. Svyrydenko and his assistant Natalia Zaretska expressed complete support for our initiative and offered to collaborate closely in its implementation. Working closely with Ms. Zaretska, who is actively organizing rehabilitation training efforts for soldiers in Ukraine, we were later successful in modifying the original provision to include rehabilitation training as well.
On August 30 President Poroshenko officially backed these efforts in Kyiv with an appeal to a visiting U.S. House of Representatives delegation led by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.).
In early September, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) added his amendments to further bolster the Ukraine section of the NDAA and became a co-sponsor of the Blumenthal provision, lending it greater bipartisan support.
The specific provision as amended on September 13 to also include rehabilitation training reads:
“Section 1250(b) of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (Public Law 114–92; 126 Stat. 1068), as amended by section 1237(b) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 130 Stat. 2495), is further amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(12) Treatment of wounded Ukraine soldiers in the United States in medical treatment facilities through the Secretarial Designee Program, including transportation, lodging, meals and other appropriate non-medical support in connection with such treatment, as well as education and training for Ukrainian healthcare specialists such that they can provide continuing care and rehabilitation services for wounded Ukraine soldiers.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee chaired by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) unanimously passed the NDAA, with the Ukraine medical and training assistance provision. On September 18 the Senate passed the legislation 89-8.
A critical lobbying effort
The focus today is on the House of Representatives, which passed its own NDAA version just prior to the summer recess. However, that version did not include a provision for medical assistance for Ukraine’s soldiers. The goal now is to include the Senate’s provision into a jointly reconciled NDAA version to be voted upon and adopted again by both houses. This reconciliation will be accomplished by a conference of appointees from both the SASC and the HASC. They were named on October 13 and were to start deliberations the week of October 16.
In Connecticut, the birthplace of this project, meetings have been held with the entire congressional delegation to gain endorsement. Especially noteworthy is the collaboration with Reps. Rosa DeLauro and Joe Courtney, both Democrats. Congresswoman DeLauro is a member of the Democratic House leadership and is working with Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), co-chair of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, as well as with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Rep. Courtney, whose support was obtained through the efforts of Mr. Harvey, UAV Post 33 commander, is the chairman of the influential Subcommittee on Sea Power and Expeditionary Forces and will serve on the conference committee.
Since the launch of this initiative, the Ukrainian American Veterans have been driving the lobbying effort. Through the efforts of UAV Board members Messrs. Hrycak and Rudko, the entire UAV board under the leadership of National Commander Peter Bencak has been mobilized. Each UAV post throughout the country is now actively engaged in lobbying its congressional representatives to support this legislation. (See www.uavets.org.) On October 17 the UAV Executive Board initiated a letter-writing and phone campaign targeting the newly appointed conferees. Meetings are being scheduled in Congress the week of October 23 and will include Ukrainian soldiers arriving for the October 22 Marine Marathon in Arlington, Va.
The UAV has partnered with Ukrainian National Information Service (UNIS) in Washington. The expertise of UNIS and the active engagement of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus will be especially crucial in the coming weeks, as changes are incorporated into the final NDAA legislation to be presented to the president.
In a welcome development, acclaimed singer Hanna Cheberenchyk (Anychka) from Lviv, who has performed many concerts in recent years and has raised more than $100,000 for Revived Soldiers Ukraine, has engaged her many friends and contacts – gained from extensive performances and travels throughout the U.S. – in this initiative.
We are hopeful that with a widespread UAV and community lobbying push this legislation will be adopted. We look forward to working with Congress, the U.S. Defense Department, the State Department, Ukraine’s ATO Rehabilitation Office, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Ukraine’s U.S. Embassy, and the Ukrainian-American community to help Ukraine’s soldiers by successfully implementing its provisions.
Myron Melnyk is a community activist in New Haven, Conn., and Ukrainian American Veterans lead on the Ukraine Wounded Warriors Project.