The Estonian American National Council (EANC) and Joint Baltic American National Committee (JBANC) have several new initiatives in Congress this spring and would welcome the help of our readers throughout the U.S. in making contact with Members of Congress (MoCs).
The Senate introduced a resolution last week congratulating the Baltic nations on their centennial celebrations this year. On March 12, Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Christopher Murphy (DCT) introduced S.Res.432, which currently has 16 bipartisan cosponsors and will likely go to the floor for a vote in early April after the Easter recess. The resolution’s status is available at www.congress.gov under resolution number S.Res.432 for the 115th Congress. Please check the list of cosponsors and call your Senator if you don’t see his or her name. EANC recommends asking your Senators to cosponsor the resolution and/or vote yes when the time comes. The House will likely introduce a companion resolution in April; EANC will provide updates once more information is available.
There will be a major Baltic advocacy event on May 3rd, organized by the American Latvian Association and supported by EANC and JBANC. The event will consist of a morning briefing and training session for new advocates followed by constituent meetings with MoCs. The afternoon will end with expert panel discussions on topics relevant to Baltic security, including disinformation and U.S. sanctions against Russia. No experience is necessary – all information and training will be provided at the start of the event. Please contact [email protected] by April 13th if you’d like to attend.
Finally, Estonian Americans are always invited to ask their MoCs to join the House Baltic Caucus (HBC) and the Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus (SBFC). By joining the Baltic caucuses, MoCs show their support for advancing Baltic freedoms, maintaining robust relationships with the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian governments, and promoting healthy democra cies and economies in the region. They prioritize issues important to the Baltic nations, such as maintaining a strong NATO presence there, combating Russian aggression and disinformation, and protecting the sovereignty of and human rights in all independent states. Membership lists for both caucuses are maintained at
www.jbanc.org/house-balticcaucus. If your MoCs aren’t listed, please consider calling their offices.
EANC will continue to facilitate grassroots advocacy and provide information for our constituents to make effective, educated contact with their MoCs. Please follow this space to stay up-to-date on the latest news from DC and subscribe to the EANC blog at eancdc.wordpress.com by clicking the page’s Follow button. We appreciate your support.
Karin Shuey
Washington, DC
Director Estonian American National Council
