[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 20 (Tuesday, March 1, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION'S 100TH YEAR

                                 ______


                         HON. ROBERT H. MICHEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 1, 1994

  Mr. MICHEL. Mr. Speaker, the Ukrainian National Association [UNA], 
the oldest and largest Ukrainian-American organization in the United 
States, celebrated its 100th birthday on February 22, 1994. I would 
like to convey my belated but heartfelt congratulations and best wishes 
to UNA on this proud achievement. Immigrants from Ukraine came here to 
work and to provide for their families, but, most of all, for freedom. 
UNA has helped many of them to make the difficult transition and to 
provide needed services for them as citizens of the United States.
  As we witness the twists and turns of political and economic events 
in the former Soviet Union, we often turn our attention to Russia, the 
single largest national State to emerge from the rubble of the 
Communist empire. But Ukraine deserves our attention as well. It is a 
nation as large as France and its people suffered terribly at the hands 
of communism. Now, in the aftermath of the fall of Soviet communism and 
its empire, the nation of Ukraine is undergoing many difficulties as it 
attempts to find its way in the post-cold-war world. Members of UNA 
have never forgotten the people of Ukraine and have always supported a 
free Ukraine, even in those dark moments of history when such an event 
seemed like an impossible dream.
  From providing life insurance to the promotion of social and cultural 
activities, from the creation of the monument in Washington, DC, 
honoring the great Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, to the publication 
of Svoboda, the first Ukrainian newspaper printed in the United States, 
UNA provides services for its members in a variety of ways. Equally 
important, UNA has long supported the idea of free and independent 
Ukraine. Last year I had the honor of visiting that nation. It is 
undergoing a difficult time, but I believe it is in the interest of our 
own Nation and of the world that a free, independent, democratic, 
prosperous Ukraine emerges from the shadows of the past. Our 
congratulations go to UNA for its role in reminding us of the 
contribution of Ukrainian-Americans to our country, and of the need for 
a strong and free nation of Ukraine.

                          ____________________