I know that this instance is nominally in Finland, but as far as I know this is the most active Ukrainian-news on Lemmy. I’m expecting that a fair number of US Citizens are here.

Now is the time for action

On Friday of this week, Congress will enter recess as currently planned. If Ukrainian aid fails, USA’s aid will not be ready until January at the earliest, and maybe later (February??).

Congress is scheduled in waves of discussion, where Representatives sit in Congress to discuss… as well as fly back home to hold town halls or other such activities. Recess periods are important (its not “just a vactation”, Representatives tend to work hard even during a recess to meet with their constituents), but it does mean that no new funding will be approved during the recess.

Political summary

A bill must pass:

  1. The House of Representatives (Republicans)
  2. The Senate (Slim control by the Democrats)
  3. The President’s signature (Joe Biden, a Democrat)

Before a bill becomes law. We need a new bill that provides new funding for Ukraine, or else we will no longer be legally allowed to give aid to Ukraine. This would be devastating for the Ukrainian cause.

Democrats are unified in their support. Joe Biden is the President and has huge support for Ukraine. The Senate is a 50-50 split, but the Vice President gets the tie-breaker vote.

The issue is the House. Republican Mike Johnson is the Speaker of the House, and Republicans control the House. Mike Johnson has tied Ukrainian aid to Border / Immigration stuff, meaning he will not discuss any Ukrainian-aid bill unless it provides substantial pro-Republican side border/immigration changes.

Find your Representative/Senator and contact them.

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

Use these webpages here. Find your Representative, and start emailing them, or maybe contact them through other social media to pressure them into providing Ukrainian support. Tell everyone you know: now is the time. We need to push this through. We cannot afford to have this Ukrainian aid get dropped. Not only this, but Ukrainian aid MUST pass before the recess, otherwise Ukrainian aid shipments will be halted.

Furthermore: they can delay the recess. Give your representatives options. If this can’t be fixed by Thursday, then at least delay the recess, stay in Washington DC until the Ukrainian aid bill is passed.

I’m confident that all of our Representatives care enough to “eventually” support Ukraine. But that’s not good enough. An interruption of aid over the next month would be incredibly harmful to the Ukrainians. We need to immediately call to action everyone politically. Contact your Representatives (and Senator for good measure) TODAY. We absolutely cannot let them go home for recess before Ukrainian aid is authorized.

If you aren’t American, please help by spreading the word. Make sure all Americans you know recognize how important this week is for Ukrainian aid.

EDIT: I think here is a good start. Where else should we send this notice to? I’m not so keen on [email protected] vs [email protected]. I think yall might have a better idea of who our big pro-Ukrainian lemmy-instances / communities are. Please discuss about where else we need to spread the word to.