Ukrainian president to address joint meeting of U.S. Congress (04/03/05)

Ukrainian president to address joint meeting of U.S. Congress

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine will address a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, April 6, during his official visit to Washington, it was announced on March 30 by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

Rep. Hastert (R-Ill.) and Sen. Frist (R- Tenn.) noted in a media release: "President Yushchenko's election is inspiring the spread of democracy throughout the world, in spite of threats and intimidations. We welcome him to this cathedral of democracy and look forward to hearing from him."

During his official visit to the United States President Yushchenko is to meet with President George W. Bush on Monday, April 4. Mr. Yushchenko is scheduled to meet also with Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Meanwhile, First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko is scheduled to meet with her U.S. counterpart, Laura Bush.

As previously reported in The Ukrainian Weekly, the White House announcement about talks between the two presidents was released on March 11, the second day of Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk's meetings in Washington with senior administration officials and congressional leaders, during a visit that was aimed at laying the groundwork for the presidential visit and focusing on some of the issues that will be discussed.

The White House announcement noted that the two presidents will discuss how the United States and Ukraine "can intensify our work as strategic partners on a broad range of issues, including supporting the advance of freedom and democracy in Eastern Europe and the broader Middle East, and cooperating on non-proliferation."

The Yushchenko visit was a principal topic of meetings in Washington attended by State Secretary Oleksander Zinchenko on March 28-29. Mr. Zinchenko met with White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Stephen Hadley and other administration officials.

During his visit to the United States on April 4-7, the Ukrinform news service reported, President Yushchenko's itinerary also includes stopovers in Chicago, Boston and possibly New York, where the president is to meet with business leaders, representatives of non-governmental organizations, and activists of the Ukrainian and Jewish communities.

The Weekly's Kyiv Press Bureau reports that the Yushchenko administration has also confirmed that the president plans to meet with Mykola Melnychenko, the security officer who made secret recordings of conversations in the office of then President Leonid Kuchma, including talks that appear to implicate Mr. Kuchma in the disappearance of Heorhii Gongadze, the Internet journalist found murdered in September of 2000.

The press service of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told journalists in Kyiv that President Yushchenko's official visit to Washington will cover all aspects of the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the U.S., and will focus on Ukraine's graduation from the provisions of the Jackson-Vanik amendment, recognition of Ukraine as a market economy and Ukraine's accession to the World Trade Organization.

According to the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation and the Action Ukraine Report, there will be a series of public events in Washington, Chicago and Boston at which President Yushchenko will appear.

First on the agenda is a speech in Washington at Georgetown University, Gaston Hall, on April 4, at 4 p.m.

President Yushchenko will address the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, April 4. The event will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Palmer House Hilton.

The next day, Tuesday, April 5, Mr. Yushchenko will receive the JFK Profile in Courage Award, which will be presented by Caroline Kennedy and Sen. Edward Kennedy at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum at 5 p.m.

On Wednesday, April 6, President Yushchenko will attend a wreath-laying ceremony and deliver an address at the Taras Shevchenko monument in Washington. The event begins at noon and is slated to last until 2 p.m.

The Weekly's Kyiv Press Bureau learned that the president will next visit the Holocaust Museum and Arlington National Ceremony, where he will place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. That evening, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute will host the president at a reception. The Ukrainian American community's banquet in honor of President Yushchenko will take place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, with a reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the banquet at 7:30 p.m.

At press time, no information was available about the president's possible stopover in New York. According to the latest information gathered by The Weekly's correspondent in Kyiv, where Mr. Yushchenko held a news conference on March 31, the New York trip was cancelled.

A special visit with Nastia

In addition, the Kyiv Press Bureau reports that President Yushchenko is expected to visit 5-year-old Nastia Ovchar of Ukraine who underwent life-saving surgery at the Shriners Burns Hospital - Boston after she was seriously burned while rescuing her 2-year-old sister from a fire.

Nastia, whose family lives in the village of Vorontsivka in the Kharkiv region, arrived in the United States via a specially equipped medevac aircraft on March 25. She was accompanied by her mother and a team of doctors. That day Nastia underwent a six-hour operation, which increased her survival chances to 75 percent, and was reported in stable condition.

When fire broke out at the Ovchar home on March 15, Nastia and her little sister, Liuda, were alone. Nastia sustained burns on 80 percent of her body; Liuda suffered comparatively minor injuries. When it became clear that the specialized treatment Nastia needed was not available in Kyiv, President and Mrs. Yushchenko became involved, securing both a hospital in the United States to treat her - Shriners hospitals provide care free of charge - and an airplane to fly her to Boston.

Nastia is expected to stay in Boston for several months as she undergoes mutiple skin graft operations. The Embassy of Ukraine in the United States has appealed to Ukrainian Americans to help provide financial assistance for Nastia and her mother while they stay in this country.

A special account has been set up under the auspices of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America to accept donations. Checks should be made out to the UNWLA with the notation "Nastia Ovchar" and sent to UNWLA, 203 Second Ave., New York, NY 10003.

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