EMBASSY HOSTS VIDEO CONFERENCE BETWEEN U.S. CONGRESS AND THE VERKHOVNA RADA

The U.S. Embassy hosted a Digital Video Conference today between members of the U.S. Congress and Members of the Verkhovna Rada. The video conference, which was requested by U.S. Representative Marcy Kaptur, gave the participants the opportunity to discuss agricultural issues, with a focus on land reform and alternative energy sources. This was especially timely because Parliamentarians Ivan Bokiy and Ivan Kyrylenko traveled to the United States in the fall of 2006 as part of a delegation of the Rada Agricultural Committee to see ethanol production in the Midwest.

This video conference re-initiated discussions between Congress and the Rada via video-teleconference, which have been on hiatus for almost three years. Regular video conferences between the two legislative bodies will continue.

In his opening remarks, U.S. Ambassador William B. Taylor underscored the importance of sharing ideas and experiences between the Rada and the U.S. Congress, stating that the relationship and level of cooperation between these two bodies has been historically strong and will continue to grow. He cited the legislation that Representative Kaptur recently introduced to promote staff exchanges between Congress and the Rada. As part of this initiative, a delegation from the U.S. House of Representatives will visit Kyiv this April, and later this year a delegation of Rada MPs and staffers will travel to the United States for two weeks to participate in meetings in Washington and elsewhere.

Participants in the video conference were Ivan Kyrylenko (BYuT), Ivan Bokiy (SPU), Serhiy Ryzhuk (Regions) from the Verkhovna Rada and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), and Colin Peterson (D-MN) from the U.S. House of Representatives. U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor and Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oleh Shamshur were also present.