Recognizing Ukraine

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to welcome to Washington the deputy chief of staff to President Poroshenko of the Ukraine, General Andriy Taranov, who has joined us today in this hall in our gallery, and is accompanied by the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly.

Ambassador Chaly was with me in Los Angeles last weekend where he was there for the commemoration in remembrance of the catastrophic Holodomor disaster and atrocity of 1932-1933, in which Stalin killed millions of Ukrainians. But Stalin failed in his ultimate goal. An independent Ukraine today stands in resistance to aggregation from Moscow.

I would also like to recognize in our gallery, a Ukrainian-American innovator, Igor Pasternak. His company, Aeros, is the first American firm to provide the Ukrainian Government with the military equipment necessary to defend its sovereignty.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues and the administration to redouble their efforts to help Ukraine protect its sovereignty by providing Ukraine with the necessary assistance to protect her freedom.

The United States stands with the people and government of Ukraine as they resist aggression once again now in the 21st century.

If you free Ukraine and it maintains its territorial integrity, it is in America's interest. It is, therefore, imperative that Ukraine has a strong and secure border.

That is why I am pleased to be joined by our guests here today and look forward to working with the Ukrainian Government to preserve Ukrainian freedom and am proud that it is a company from Los Angeles that is the first and, unfortunately, as of yet, the only company to provide the Ukrainian Government with the military equipment it needs.

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