The time is still ripe for constituent action on legislation to support Ukraine and Baltic security. Several developments have occurred since the Estonian American National Council’s last call to action for the region.
The Senate is working on a new bipartisan bill to provide military support to Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia for its aggression toward Ukraine. This new compromise bill is intended to reconcile partisan differences in two earlier bills that did not move forward in the legislative process. The House has also been working on a comprehensive Ukraine assistance bill, which would parallel efforts in the Senate. These bills would provide a critical tool in giving substance to U.S. diplomacy.
On the Baltic front, readers are invited to contact their Senators and Representatives regarding the Baltic Security Initiative. This new category of defense funding for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania was introduced last summer by House Baltic Caucus co-chairs Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Don Bacon (R-NE) to provide robust U.S. military assistance and cooperation to deter Russia and protect U.S. and NATO national security interests. The amount they requested was $175 million, which was reduced to $150 million during the defense authorization process. Friends of the Baltic nations in Congress are now advocating to restore the original level of funding in light of the current security situation as the defense appropriations bill remains under consideration. It is worth noting that Estonia, along with Latvia and Lithuania, is sending military supplies to Ukraine that were purchased with its own security in mind. Now that Estonia’s stocks are going to support Ukraine’s urgent need, Estonia will need to replenish its inventory. The deployment of six U.S. F-15 fighter jets to Ämari Air Base is a positive sign and provides momentum for further deterrence measures.
Finally, Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus co-chairs Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced on February 1 a bipartisan resolution celebrating the centennial of U.S.-Baltic diplomatic relations. According to the press release at grassley.senate.gov/news, “The resolution also reaffirms the United States’ commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) amid increasing Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.” Original co-sponsors were Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Chris Murphy (D-CT) John Boozman (R-AR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Mike Braun (R-IN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), John Barrasso (R-WY), Thom Tillis (R-NC),Ted Cruz (R-TX), Chris Coons (D-DE), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). A big thank you is in order to all of them.
Constituent calls to Members of Congress asking support for these topics are welcome and would go a long way toward reinforcing the importance of bolstering security in the region. EANC, as part of the Central and East European Coalition, has taken part in ten calls with Senate offices just in the last two weeks, including the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Majority and Minority staff. Even so, nothing holds more power with lawmakers than hearing directly from their voters about issues that are important to them. Please consider contacting your Senators and Representative, and if you do, please send an email to EANC’s Washington, DC Director, Karin Shuey, at [email protected] so she can follow up with those offices.
Karin Shuey
Washington, DC Director
Estonian American National Council
www.estosite.org
