Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition activists meet to define strategy (03/05/06)

Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition activists meet to define strategy

by Natalka Gawdiak

WASHINGTON - Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition representatives met on February 28 on Capitol Hill with members of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus to work out a definitive strategy to achieve the goal of their campaign to graduate Ukraine from the restrictions of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.

The three co-chairs of the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, Reps. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), Marcy Kaptur (R-Ohio), and Sander Levin (D-Mich.) were joined by Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), and Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) to work out how the graduation issue should be approached.

Rep. Gerlach's bill, HR 1053, urges the House to remove Ukraine from the restrictions of the 1974 Jackson-Vanik Amendment and grant normal trade relations treatment to the products of Ukraine. Currently, the bill is in the Ways and Means Committee, and has 44 co-sponsors.

All of the congressmen concurred with Rep. Weldon's statement that "the graduation of Ukraine from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment has gone beyond rhetoric. It is crucial to pass legislation in the House prior to the upcoming March 26 elections."

Also present at the February 28 meeting were former Rep. Charles Dougherty and a number of congressional staffers, representing the offices of Reps. Robert Wexler (D- Fla.), and Tim Holden (D-Pa.).

Among those representing the Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition were Ambassador William Green Miller, co-chair of the coalition; Nadia McConnell, president of the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation; Mark Levin, executive director of NCSJ; Ihor Gawdiak of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council; Michael Bleyzer and Morgan Williams of SigmaBleyzer; and Dr. Zenia Chernyk and Vera Andryczyk of the Ukrainian Federation of America.

Representatives of the Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition expressed their great frustration at the failure of the House to take action on the bill, in particular since the Senate had passed such a bill in November 2005.

Although there were varied opinions on the tone that should be adopted in removing the anachronistic restrictions, the members of Congress and JVGC representatives agreed that the amendment is irrelevant today, and that Ukraine has met all requirements for its graduation.

Mr. Bleyzer, president and CEO of SigmaBleyzer, and a political emigrant from Soviet-era Kharkiv, noted that he had benefitted from the original Jackson-Vanik Amendment, but emphatically stated that it is wholely inappropriate today and should be lifted.

All present agreed on the urgency for passage of the bill before the March 26 parliamentary elections in Ukraine and rejected the idea that Ukraine's graduation should be tied to Russia's. If graduation is not achieved before the upcoming Rada elections, Ukrainian voters may take this as a sign of failure on the part of the democratic forces in Ukraine, observers noted.

The Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition, co-chaired by Ambassador Steven Pifer and Ambassador Miller, comprises more than 250 businesses, and Ukrainian American, Jewish American, and other non-governmental organizations. (For related news, see page 11.)

For more information about the Jackson-Vanik Graduation Coalition, readers may log on to http://www.usukraine.org/jvgc.shtml or e-mail martam@usukraine.org or ukrdc@aol.com.

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