[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5999]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   INITIATIVES UNDERTAKEN BY THE CUBAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY TO AID THE 
  CHILDREN OF UKRAINE ON THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHERNOBYL TRAGEDY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 25, 2006

  Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida. Mr. Speaker, last December I had 
the honor to lead a Congressional delegation to Ukraine. The focus of 
the visit was to identify humanitarian initiatives that the Cuban-
American community, that I am honored to represent, could undertake to 
help the ``Orange Revolution'' as it moved forward to address the most 
pressing needs of the Ukrainian people.
  In the fall of 2005, Undersecretary of State Paula Dobbriansky was 
kind enough to arrange a meeting with the First Lady of Ukraine, 
Katerina Yushchenko. During that meeting the First Lady made clear that 
one of President Viktor Yushchenko's priorities is to improve the 
healthcare system in Ukraine, and that she had established a 
foundation, known as Ukraine 3000, for the purpose of aiding hospitals 
in Ukraine by securing much needed medical equipment and medicines.
  The delegation I led to Kiev in early December included Dr. Stephen 
Lipshultz, professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at 
the University of Miami School of Medicine, Dianne M. Kube, Chief 
Administrative Officer of the Community Oncology Alliance, Sylvia 
Iriondo, a respected Cuban-American leader and President of Mothers and 
Women Against Repression, and Dr. Zenon Matkiwsky, President and 
Chairman of the Children of Chernobyl Relief and Development Fund and 
Nadia Matkiwsky, a member of the Board of Directors. These two 
Ukrainian-Americans have spent the last 13 years tirelessly dedicated 
to helping the people of Ukraine.
  As a result of our visits to various pediatric hospitals in Kiev and 
meetings with Ukrainian government officials, including President 
Viktor Yushchenko, and also Mrs. Yushchenko, we identified three 
initiatives that would be the focus of our work during the course of 
2006, the 20th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Tragedy. First, 
establishing a physician exchange program with the University of 
Miami's School of Medicine so that physicians in Ukraine could come to 
the United States to meet with their counterparts and establish links 
of communication on the latest medical techniques, procedures and 
medicines. This past January the first step was taken toward creating 
this exchange program; six of Ukraine's leading pediatric physicians 
attend a national pediatric conference in Miami hosted by the 
University of Miami's School of Medicine. Second, helping the Children 
of Chernobyl Relief and Development Fund, a highly respected 
humanitarian organization led by Dr. Zenon Matkiwsky and Nadia 
Matkiwsky, to secure medical equipment and medicines for the 20th 
Anniversary Airlift that the U.S. State Department is coordinating. 
Children of Chernobyl have an impressive reputation in working to 
obtain medical equipment and medicines for the neediest hospitals in 
Ukraine. And another initiative identified by the group, is to bring 
children from Ukraine who are ill to vacation at Walt Disney World in 
Orlando, Florida. The first Ukrainian child, thanks to the generosity 
of Mrs. Sylvia Iriondo, already spent five days visiting the ``Magic 
Kingdom''.
  I commend the Children of Chernobyl Relief and Development Fund for 
their dedication over the years on behalf of the people of Ukraine, 
especially Dr. and Mrs. Matkiwsky who are the heart and soul of the 
organization. I am also truly optimistic regarding the relationship 
that has been forged between physicians at the University of Miami's 
School of Medicine and physicians from Ukraine, and I commend Dr. 
Stephen Lipshultz for spearheading this worthy endeavor. I also thank 
Dianne Kube for her sound guidance and the countless hours she has 
dedicated to work on these initiatives, and Sylvia Iriondo for her 
generosity and constant leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, as we pass this resolution commemorating the 20th 
Anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy, I am honored to say that the 
community I represent is committed to doing all it can to help the 
noble people of Ukraine as they move forward on their new democratic 
course.

                          ____________________