D.C. Memo: Ukrainian-Americans from Minnesota to lobby Congress on aid to war-torn nation

WASHINGTON — Congress was still on its spring break this week, but there was a lot of commotion behind the scenes focused on what to do about Ukraine.

A group of Ukrainian-Americans from Minnesota plan to travel to Washington, D.C., next week to press for new aid to Ukraine as lawmakers continue a debate on whether the United States should continue to help that nation in its war against Russia.

Maria Doan, policy and outreach director for Stand With Ukraine MN, said she is crestfallen that Congress has failed to approve a Ukraine aid bill since  a delegation from Minnesota and hundreds of other Ukrainian-Americans were in Washington on a lobbying mission in October.

“Definitely we are very upset and heartbroken,” Doan said.

She said the Ukraine Action Summit, held April 12-16, will once again bring hundreds of advocates for Ukraine to Capitol Hill.

The U.S. Senate approved a $95.3 billion bill for foreign aid in February, including $60 billion to support Ukraine in its war effort.

But the U.S. House has not taken up the measure because some Republicans firmly oppose any additional aid to Ukraine.

While House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Fox News last weekend that the House would move forward with Ukraine assistance “right away,” a vote on any bill — if there is one — isn’t expected for at least a couple of weeks. Johnson needs that time to try to blunt opposition from GOP hardliners.

Those  GOP lawmakers say the money President Joe Biden wants to send to Ukraine could be better spent on immigration and other domestic concerns.

One such hardliner, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., warned Johnson that she will push to remove him from his leadership position if he tries to send more assistance to the war-torn country. Greene has already drafted a resolution that, under House rules, would force a vote on whether to keep Johnson in his position.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pleading for more U.S. help as stepped-up Russian missile strikes hit Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure and shortages of ammunition leave his front-line forces dramatically outgunned.

Doan said she “honestly” didn’t know if a Ukraine funding bill would pass the House.

“I am trying to be cautiously optimistic, but when I hear certain reports, I don’t know how to stay positive,” she said.

Doan said 202 congressional districts will be represented at the Ukraine Action Summit, including six in Minnesota. Only Rep. Pete Stauber’s District 8 and Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s District 7 will not be represented.

“But we are going to talk to them anyway,” Doan said.

Minnesota’s Democratic lawmakers have been supportive of additional  Ukraine aid, and so has Rep. Tom Emmer, R-6^th District.

But Republicans Stauber, Fischbach and Rep. Brad Finstad of the 1st District have voted for failed amendments that would have cut or eliminated funds for Ukraine in the last bill that sent military aid to the nation.

Doan said the group planned to lobby Emmer, too, even though he has consistently voted for Ukraine funding.

“More support from him would be wonderful,” she said.

The Ukrainian-Americans who travel to Washington next week will have plenty of sympathy from European nations who are perplexed and frustrated at U.S. inaction.

“If Ukraine falls, the repercussions would be terrible for the United States,” Doan said.

Voting laws rated ‘average’

Minnesota’s voting age population grew slightly, by nearly 14,000 people, from 2022 to 2023, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week.

The bureau said the number of voting age Minnesotans — those 18 years old and older — grew from 4,423,022 to 4,436,981.

Most of those voting age Minnesotans are expected to register to vote as the state has a great turnout record. According to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office, the turnout of registered voters in the 2022 midterm election, which usually draws far fewer voters than a general election, was 60.4%.

Another boost to voter registration comes from a new state law giving 55,000 Minnesotans the right to cast a vote after they serve their time but before they finish their parole or probation. 

Yet despite the state’s high voter registration and voter turnout rate, a nonprofit called the Movement Advancement Project, a nonpartisan think tank, rated Minnesota “average” when it comes to democracy and election laws and policies.

Why?

The organization says Minnesota lacks several key voting laws and policies. Those include the lack of countywide voting centers, the allowance of guns in polling places and the lack of a state-level voting rights law.

Minnesota received high marks, however, on its policies regarding election security.  

Your questions and comments

A reader commented on a story this week about rising income inequality in the nation and, perhaps to a lesser extent, in Minnesota.

“Adding more young minority citizens creates weight at the bottom of the income range,” the reader said. “Those in the high range continue to absorb most of the prosperity. What we cannot see the effect of yet is DFL efforts to strengthen the safety net for families with young children. When many red states are shredding their safety nets and forcing single moms to raise children in poverty by banning abortion, Minnesota is taking the opposite approach — trying to make Minnesota the best state to raise a child.”

 The reader also lauded the decision of Minnesota lawmakers to forgo making Social Security benefits exempt from state income tax in favor of strengthening programs that fight child poverty.

“Taking children out of poverty at the expense of the most blessed? Hard to see why doing that is not a good thing,” the reader wrote.

Please keep your comments, and any questions, coming. I’ll try my best to respond. Please contact me at aradelat@minnpost.com.