Ukraine Action Summit
Dear Community,
Last weekend, several hundred supporters of Ukraine from around the United States met in Washington D.C. to lobby our Members of Congress to urgently help Ukraine. This event is known as “Ukraine Action Summit”, organized by the American Coalition for Ukraine.
The Summit is an opportunity for groups and advocates from all over the U.S. to exchange best advocacy practices and to continue educating our elected representatives about why the U.S. must support a Ukrainian victory. This helps our representatives in Congress remember that helping Ukraine defend itself is a moral imperative and in the national interest of the United States.
In the course of two days there were some 200 meetings with staff and Members of Congress from 35 states.
Five members of Ukrainians of Colorado — Roma and Yana Krotov, Stan and Sasha Boretskyi, and Mark Dillen — held meetings with staff members from the offices of most of our elected Colorado representatives on Capitol Hill — specifically, Democratic Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet; Democratic Congressmen DeGette (CO-1), Crow (CO-6) and Petterson (CO-7); and Republicans Buck (CO-4) and Lamborn (CO-5).
Our Colorado advocates were joined by Ukrainians from Wyoming and Utah, which gave us the opportunity to join in meetings with members and staff from those states. Mark also joined in a meeting with the staff of Michigan Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell. Our group was assured by nearly all the Republicans we met with that they would support supplemental funding for Ukraine.
In fact, Rep. Lamborn (Colorado Springs) attended an early morning photo op with all the Coalition delegates and declared, “Thank you for what you are doing! We are standing with you!”
We also got to unravel the biggest Ukrainian flag in the world!!
Ukrainians, and others, advocated for:
• The Biden administration has requested additional appropriations for Ukraine, and Congress must act quickly to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to win. The main priority of advocacy is the full financing of US aid to Ukraine until 2024
• The United States should accelerate Ukrainian F-16 fighter pilot training, deploy longer-range ATACMS with unitary warheads, and expand Ukraine's ability to strike deep into occupied territory. The gradual advance of Ukraine in the counteroffensive is a direct reflection of the gradual provision of US military aid.
• Genocide Resolution H.Res.154/S.Res.72 Most Americans say Russia is trying to commit genocide in Ukraine, and experts around the world agree. Acknowledging this atrocity signals to Russia that it will be held accountable and that Ukrainians will find justice
• Forced deportation of children H.Res.149/S.Res.158 Russia kidnapped tens of thousands of Ukrainian children, holding them in a network of dozens of camps in the occupied territory, Russia and Belarus. Congress must condemn this crime against humanity
• Resolution on the victory of Ukraine H.Res.332/S.Res.172
The Victory for Ukraine resolution is the first piece of legislation to clearly state that the US's goal is to help Ukraine win, and reaffirms the commitment to help Ukraine defend its internationally recognized borders as of 1991
• Law on restoration of economic well-being for Ukrainians (REPO) H.R.4175/S.2003
This bill confirms the existing authority to use frozen Russian state assets in the United States to rebuild Ukraine. The adoption of repos will encourage our global partners to take similar approaches, drawing on more than $300 billion in Russian central bank reserves frozen by allies
The next steps will be meetings in our state of Colorado.
Thank you to our members who travelled and advocated for all Ukrainians. This work must continue, and together, we will bring justice to all that was done.
Together, to victory!
