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“A Voting Force to be Reckoned With: The Political Maturation of the Ukrainian-American Community” REMARKS OF TARAS A. BAZYLUK TO THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL WOMEN’S LEAGUE OF AMERICA Philadelphia, May 24, 1996 observations about how we as individuals and as a community have become effective in American politics — and how we can become even more so. Thank you, Iryna, for that meticulous and kind intro duction. I’ve written many speeches but delivered few —so I appreciate your bearing with me through any nerves. And even more appreciated, Anna, is your invi tation to step out briefly from behind the scenes. I accepted it in a heartbeat because I think you’ve arranged a most fitting program tonight — and because I’m convinced that “Soyuz Ukrainok Ameryky” deserves the recognition and support of every Ukrainian-Ame- rican. That includes those of us in government. And it emphatically includes men. Indeed, I’m tickled to be the de facto representative of my gender on this podium. As a feminist, perhaps I can even demonstrate that not all Ukrainian men are... the same. I thought I might contribute most to your program by focussing on four main matters: What I do; how I came to do it; what advice might I give others with sim ilar aspirations; and lastly, overarching everything, some What I do is easier to name than describe. My busi ness card says, Taras A. Bazyluk, Speechwriter and Aide to the Director, with the address, U.S. Arms Con trol and Disarmament Agency (for short, “ACDA”). My boss, Director John Holum, is himself a former speech writer, and as such is both keenly attuned to the policy making possibilities of the speechwriter’s role, and very open to that role’s enlargement — since just such an evolution has helped trace the arc of his own career. He is a supportive and masterful mentor and an impressive man — and one aptly described to me by Ambassador Shcherbak as “sympatichna osoba.” Does all that mean Ukraine gets a free pass on arms control issues? Hell no. I don’t wield that kind of influ ence — and it would be a scandal if I did. Besides, the agreements defining Ukraine’s main arms control obli gations, including the Lisbon Protocol and the Trilateral Accords, were largely negotiated before Director Holum or I came to ACDA, with other departments in the lead. That said, has arms control on balance harmed or helped Ukraine? The second answer has sterling support. When Presi dent Clinton was in Kyiv last year, he conspicuously congratulated Ukraine for her arms control record and help in making possible the permanent extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — a major triumph for international security which had taken place just hours earlier at the UN in New York. My boss was with the President that day. So I know with moral certainty that by honoring her arms control obligations, Ukraine helped cement her standing as a country that can follow through on even the most difficult and courageous decisions. Such a reputation is priceless, far transcending arms control. Indeed, Adrian Karatnycky cited Ukraine’s arms control compliance record in an op-ed in the Washing ton Times this February, as one of the key features enhancing Ukraine’s status, in America’s eyes, as an indispensable and trusted bulwark and linchpin for the irreversible changes we are seeking in the new Europe.
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