Newark City Council passes resolution commending community on fifth anniversary (09/08/96)

Newark City Council passes resolution commending community on fifth anniversary

by Walter Bodnar

NEWARK, N.J. - The independence of Ukraine was commemorated by a resolution of the Newark City Council at its last meeting in August. It commends the Ukrainian American community on the fifth anniversary of the independence of Ukraine, signed by all nine members of the City Council.

The resolution, sponsored by Council-man Ronald L. Rice, was presented to community members Daria Bekesewycz from Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU); Walter Bodnar from UNCHAIN, Ukrainian National Center: History and Transformation Network; Wasyl Yurkivo, St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church; and Roman Samulak, a student from Ukraine who is in the United States to work on his doctoral degree at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Having endured centuries of tyranny and oppression by outside forces, Ukraine continued to suffer 70 years of Soviet-imposed famine, gulags, mismanagement and ecological disasters. With the adoption of a new Constitution on June 28, Ukraine is continuing to make strides in democratization, privatization and market reforms.

Ukrainian American organizations and individuals in the Newark area have helped to sustain a modicum of hope for their kinsmen in Ukraine by sending humanitarian and related aid in order to lift their morale and improve the quality of life. In addition, numerous area visitors have traveled to Ukraine and have accepted relatives and friends into their homes in America to show "how the other half lives."

Mr. Rice also sponsored a resolution in April to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear accident in 1986. In addition, local residents also attended a White House Chornobyl commemoration conducted by Vice-President Al Gore and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Citizens in Ukraine are still paying for the disaster through radiation-related health problems and lowered immune systems to young mothers and the newborn.

The independence of Ukraine resolution expresses America's solidarity with the Ukrainian people and helps Ukraine to become a full-fledged member of the family of free and independent nations of the world.