November 08, 2016 at 01:17PM

On Thursday, November 3rd, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) and U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) met with representatives of Ohio’s Nationalities communities. The meeting which was attended by representatives of the Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Czech, Slovenian, Serbian, German, Slovak, Romanian, Italian, Macedonian and Lebanese communities was organized and chaired by UCCA President - Andriy Futey. The Senators reaffirmed the necessity of a strong U.S. foreign policy and a strong NATO alliance in face of Russian aggression in Ukraine and the global threat posed by Russian actions around the world. They have sponsored and have pushed through legislation in the U.S. Senate designed to provide Ukraine with defensive military weapons – the Ukraine Defense Act – and have strongly advocated for NATO to protect its allies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania against Russian threats and aggression in those countries. Both Senators recognize that Russia is spending over a billion dollars on a propaganda and disinformation campaign in the United States. Senator Rob Portman along with Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) have introduced legislation to help American allies counter foreign government propaganda from Russia and other countries. Specifically, the bill will improve the ability of the U.S. to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation. Both, Senator Portman and Senator Barrasso have visited Ukraine on several occasions and continue to beactively engaged with ongoing political, economic and military developments in Ukraine. Senator Portman isco-founder and co-chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus and on October 19th received the distinguished UCCA Shevchenko Freedom Award. Senator Barrasso is a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Senate Committee on Energy.In addition to UCCA President – Andriy Futey, the Ukrainian community was represented by Marta Liscynesky Kelleher - President of the United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio (UZO), Mr. Taras Szmagala, Sr., Mr. Vasyl Liscynesky and Mrs. Vira Ivanytska
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