НАШ ЦЕНТР - НАШ ДІМ
Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center
Writing to your Congressman and Senator about Ukraine
If you have not called or written to your Senators and your congressman yet about the situation in Ukraine. Please do so now.
Attached are 4 sample letters that you can choose from when communicating your concerns. All the letters say pretty much the same thing, but have slightly different emphases. One of them invites you to provide information about where you have settled in the US and when you came to the US.
Please do this it is truly very easy. I have tried to make it as easy as possible.
When you get to the part about inserting your message, just cut and paste the text of one of the attached letters.
You can also call. Phone numbers are below.
HERE ARE LINKS to the web sites and telephone numbers.
Gerlach: 202.225.4315 tel
http://gerlach.house.gov/contact/emailjim.htm
Fitzpatrick: (202) 225-4276
https://fitzpatrick.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Schwartz: (202) 225-6111
http://schwartz.house.gov/serving-you/email-me
Toomey: (202) 224-4254
http://www.toomey.senate.gov/?p=contact
Casey: (202) 224-6324
http://www.casey.senate.gov/contact
Each of the congressional links will verify whether you are contacting the right representative by asking for your zip code.
If you live outside of the immediate area of the UECC are probably represented by another congress person. You can locate your congressperson by using this link:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ . All you need to do is enter your zip code.
Forward this e-mail to your friends and also by any mailing list to which you have access.
More links - (some may be duplicated)
Congressional Districts and email links to comment page
Member of Congress
District
Email comment page URL
Robert A. "Bob" Brady
PA 1
https://brady.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Chaka Fattah
PA 2
https://fattahforms.house.gov/contact-rep-fattah
James "Jim" Gerlach
PA 6
http://gerlach.house.gov/contact/emailjim.htm
Patrick Leo "Pat" Meehan
PA 7
https://meehan.house.gov/email-me
Michael G. "Mike" Fitzpatrick
PA 8
https://fitzpatrick.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Allyson Schwartz
PA 13
http://schwartz.house.gov/serving-you/email-me
Charles W. "Charlie" Dent
PA 15
https://dent.house.gov/?p=ContactForm
Jon Daniel Runyan
NJ 3
https://runyan.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Vacant
NJ 1
Rush Dew Holt, Jr.
NJ 12
https://holt.house.gov/email-me
John Charles Carney, Jr.
Delaware
https://forms.house.gov/carney/webforms/email-me.shtml
Senator
State
Email comment page URL
Robert P. Casey Jr
PA
http://www.casey.senate.gov/contact
Pat Toomey
PA
http://www.toomey.senate.gov/?p=contact
Cory Booker
NJ
http://www.booker.senate.gov/?p=contact
Robert Menendez
NJ
http://www.menendez.senate.gov/contact/?i=FOR
Tom Carper
DE
http://www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-senator-carper
Christopher Coons
DE
http://www.coons.senate.gov/contact/
Barack Obama
President
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments
To find your congressional representatives go to:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
To find your Senators go to:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Sample letters
Letter 1 - Expedited path to NATO for Ukraine
Dear_____________:
I am writing to you about the urgent state of affairs in Ukraine. To put it bluntly, Ukraine has been invaded by its supposedly fraternal brother country Russia. That this could happen in 21st Century Europe would have been thought inconceivable only a few weeks ago. But here we are.
Crimea has effectively fallen, but Mr. Putin has made clear that his ambition is not to recapture Crimea. It is to reintegrate Ukraine into his Eurasian Community of Vassal Nations. The Ukrainian People have made clear that they have absolutely no desire to be a part of this arrangement. They stood for months in the cold and snow in Kyiv to make this very point. Ukraine wants a path to the West, to a future free of oppression and corruption and linked to the economies of the European Union.
Today, the West must recognize that it has a responsibility to Ukraine. In 1994, Great Britain, Russia and the United States entered into the Budapest Accords; a solemn agreement under which they agreed to protect the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Here we are less than 20 years later and that agreement lies in tatters.
The credibility of the United States is at stake. What are we to do?
We must make clear that Putin’s aggression will not be tolerated. I urge you to support the strongest possible sanctions against Russia. These sanctions must punish the Russian elite that either expressly supports or has been cowed into not opposing this aggression. Travel bans, asset freezes and financing bans all need to be implemented. In addition, we must make clear that the will help to rebuild Ukraine’s military with equipment and training and that Ukraine will be placed on an expedited path to NATO and EU membership. Only by making clear that costs of aggression now can we hope to avoid far greater costs down the road.
I trust I can count on your support for these efforts.
Sincerely,
Letter 2 - Honor All Commitments to Ukraine - Put All Options on the Table
Dear ____________________________:
I write today to express my deep concern about the situation in Ukraine. Preserving a free and independent Ukraine in the face of an invasion from Russia is the most important challenge to American leadership of the last 20 years. The United States made solemn commitments to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine when in 1994 we joined with other nations in the Budapest Accords under which Ukraine agreed to surrender its nuclear weapons in return for security guarantees from the United States and Great Britain. Today our credibility as a nation is at stake. We cannot walk away and do nothing in the face of actions that make a mockery of those 1994 commitments.
The United States needs to enact comprehensive and painful sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Crimea. Bans on visas for travel to the West by members of the Russian political and economic elite and their families, freezes on their bank accounts and most importantly, denial of access to Western financial resources for Russian companies all need to be implemented. Putin’s elite must understand that it will pay a heavy economic price for this misguided adventure. However, I fear that these actions alone may not be sufficient.
No one wants war in Ukraine, least of all the Ukrainian people. However, we will temper Mr. Putin's ambitions only if we make clear that, as with Iran, ALL OPTIONS ARE ON THE TABLE. Historical analogies may seem facile, but we have seen before – with Hitler and with others that a failure to forcefully draw a line, merely emboldens the aggressor. If we do not act now, when will we act? And what will be the price of shrinking from the challenge today?
Sincerely,
Letter 3 - from an immigrant writer about Ukraine
Dear Congressman ______________:
I write today as a naturalized American citizen, and a native of Ukraine to express my deep concern about the situation in Ukraine. Preserving a free and independent Ukraine in the face of an invasion from Russia is the most important challenge to American leadership of the last 20 years. The United States made a solemn commitment to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine when in 1994 we joined with other nations in an agreement under which Ukraine agreed to surrender its nuclear weapons. Today our credibility as a nation is at stake and you, as a member of Congress have a special voice in addressing this challenge.
I settled in this country after emigrating in ______ and I am proud to call __________________, Pennsylvania my home. I have learned to love the freedoms that living in America has provided to me. Today, Ukraine has the opportunity to become a truly free country like ours. It can be a country free of the stealing, corruption and political oppression that has been the product of the last 20 years of rule by corrupt oligarchs. But Ukraine can achieve this freedom only if the United States, my adopted homeland, honors its commitments to Ukraine. If we do not act now, when will we act? And what will be the price of shrinking from the challenge today?
As the leader of the free world we must demand that Russia honor its international treaty obligations in Crimea and that Russian troops return to Russia leaving only the soldiers legitimately present at Russia's leased bases in Crimea. We have many tools at our disposal to pressure Mr. Putin and his clique. Economic sanctions, starting with bans on travel to the West, freezes of Western bank accounts, and ultimately a freeze on loans from Western banks will put a huge amount of pressure on the Russians. We also need to begin training and supplying the Ukrainian military with the weapons its will need for its self defense. Hopefully this will suffice to convince Putin to back down.
Our actions today will reverberate for generations into the future. History is calling America. We must answer the call – one again!
Sincerely,
Letter 4 - a variation - from a natural born citizen of the U.S. about Ukraine
Dear Congressman _______________:
The situation in Ukraine has me deeply concerned. The Russian invasion in Crimea creates an unprecedented crisis in Europe and the bullying that it reflects threatens the future of all Western European democracies.
We have an obligation to address this outrage because we have promised to defend Ukraine when we signed the 1994 Budapest Accords. When Ukraine agreed in 1994 to give up its nuclear weapons, we agreed in return to guarantee the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The current situation in Ukraine is a seminal challenge to American leadership. Today our credibility as a nation is at stake. We cannot simply walk away and leave Ukraine in the hands of Russia less than 20 years later. What will other nations think of our commitments if we do?
Mr. Putin must leave Ukraine free to pursue its own domestic and foreign policies without heavy-handed threats and without military intervention. We must make clear to Mr. Putin that if Russia insists on pursuing its military intervention, ALL OPTIONS REMAIN ON THE TABLE. This is the language we have used in dealing with Iran and this language and the implied threat it conveys, combined with the strongest possible sanctions has had an effect in Iran. It can do likewise with Russia.
However tired we are as a nation of our leadership burdens, we must be prepared to step up one more time to ensure that the world we created after winning the Cold War survives in the face of a resurgent Russia and its ambitious evil leader.
Please do not fail our country.
Sincerely,