BRAMA, July 2, 2009, 9:00 AM ET
Press release
First meeting of the Ethnic Committee since the inauguration of Barack Obama and Joe Biden
Report by NDECC Ukrainian-American representatives
Julian Kulas and Andrew Fedynsky
© Brama.com FILE:
Andrew Fedynsky
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illinoissoccer.org FILE:
Julian Kulas
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The National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee (NDECC) met on May 29, 2009 in Washington, DC to discuss organizational issues following the election of Democratic president Barack Obama. Representing the Ukrainian-American community were Julian Kulas and Andrew
Fedynsky. Over the course of the full day, a morning meeting was held at Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters with Party leaders, and an afternoon meeting at the White House with various administration officials. NDECC members as well as former Ethnic Outreach coordinators from the Carter and Clinton administrations attended the meetings.
At the DNC morning meeting, discussion focused on election of leadership and
acceptance of new groups into the NDECC, specifically Sikhs and other
Asian-American heritage groups, as well as African heritage groups who consider
themselves immigrants like the Irish, Ukrainians, Poles, etc., and do not
readily relate to traditional African-American groups that trace their heritage
to the colonial slave trade.
The following actions were taken:
(a) resolution to re-cast the bylaws to reflect changes in self-definition,
membership and the size and structure of the Board and Executive Committee of
the NDECC. In order to pursue this, a Bylaw-redrafting Committee was formed.
(b) A resolution was adopted to expand the Board in compliance with the
recommendations on restructuring, add new members, and invite new groups to
join the NDECC. To facilitate both of these objectives, a Nominations and
Membership Committee was formed.
(c) New NDECC representatives to the Democratic National Committee were elected
for the 2009-2012 term: Marilyn Piurek (Polish) and Ilir Zherka (Albanian).
Following the conclusion of procedural NDECC business, NDECC representatives
heard presentations from the DNC and the Obama White House. It was made clear
that the two organizations work closely together but separately. The Obama
Campaign has evolved into "Organizing for America"
(www.barackobama.com). Presentation topics included state coordination
and NDECC staffing. With respect to the latter, NDECC members emphasized to
DNC leadership the necessity of having a staff person whose principle
responsibility and outreach would be to the ethnic constituency, focused on
respective critical issues. Tom Albert, who was also in attendance, had held
that position during the Clinton Administration. In a cost-cutting effort, the
DNC eliminated this position and others, and has yet to reinstate it.
During the afternoon, NDECC members went to the Eisenhower Executive Office
Building for presentations organized by Ethnic Outreach Coordinator, Joe
Kennedy. Much of the time was devoted to promoting the Supreme Court nominee Sonia
Sotomayor. Although off the record, other presentations of special interest to
Ukrainians were made by members of the National Security Council (NSC). The critical
point that was underscored was that even though the Obama-Biden administration
is attempting to engage countries like Russia and Iran, it is not being done at
the expense of America's positive relations with Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, or
the Baltic States. Furthermore, NSC personnel stressed recent statements with respect to
Ukraine by the State Department, and on America's foreign policy in general made during
President Obama's speech in Prague earlier in his administration.
The meeting also included presentations regarding healthcare and volunteerism, using
the "Organizing for America" umbrella, with a strong pitch that those who
worked on the Obama-Biden campaign engage their efforts in that. Replacing
James Zogby, NDECC representatives voted to add Jim Rosapepe and Christine
Stanek-MacDonald as interim co-conveners until the election of new leadership
in September of 2009.
About the NDECC
The National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee (NDECC) was formed in
1995 during the Clinton administration by the Democratic National Party (Party)
as an umbrella organization for Party leaders of European- and Arab-American
heritage. The Chairperson of the NDECC, along with one additional NDECC
member, are members of Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Party's board
which oversees all of the Party's principal activities.
Since the NDECC's inception, James Zogby, a prominent academic and political
consultant and activist of Lebanese ancestry, has chaired the organization.
Since the NDECC's formation, Andriy Fedynsky from Cleveland and Julian Kulas
from Chicago have been the Ukrainian-American representatives. Both have
extensive experience in Democractic political activities at both the national
level and in their respective states.
The purpose of the NDECC has been and continues to be to engage Democractic
ethnic American communities on relevant issues, and to facilitate communication
with the national organization. In particular, during the past twelve years,
the various ethnic American groups of the NDECC have worked with the
Democractic presidential campaigns of Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, and
Barack Obama.
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