Dennis Hertel: “I really do want to thank the staff of this association for all they have done. Linda Reed has done yeoman's work. There…”

“I really do want to thank the staff of this association for all they have done. Linda Reed has done yeoman's work. There are so many things they can accomplish with so very few people and limited dollars. And Walt Raymond, who, as staff always do, has assisted me in preparing this report on our Ukrainian program. It is our broadest program. The association has been supporting a parliamentary democracy program for the past 3 years in the Ukraine. The Ukraine was selected for its vital importance to the region. A free and independent Ukraine favorably changes the political situation in the region and enhances European security. Our program of support of the Ukrainian Parliament was initiated in March 1994. Cliff Downen, a former senior staffer, has been our field representative. In his first year, he focused primarily as an adviser on basic parliamentary practices, including rules of procedure, committee processes, how to draft a bill, transparency, and related subjects. Several former Members and Bill Brown, our former Parliamentarian, also visited Kiev to help the Ukrainians in the first phase. Now we have moved on to provide key staff to their parliament and key research papers to their various committees, including the chairmen that are working on reforms there. These activities were the heart of our program in the second year. We brought in 35 Ukrainian interns who were competitively selected to represent a broad geographic cross-section of the country.”