On September 26, 2024, Representatives Jason Crow (D-CO-6) and David Valadao (R-CA-22) led a letter to the U.S. Department of State and USAID, along with 38 of their colleagues, requesting that humanitarian demining be included as one of the most pressing needs for reconstruction in Ukraine.
The REPO for Ukrainians Act, included in the Ukraine supplemental signed into law on April 24, 2024, outlines that resources in a newly established Ukraine Support Fund will be available to the Secretary of State and USAID, to provide assistance to Ukraine. Before funding can be distributed, the Secretary of State and the USAID Administrator are required to submit to Congress an assessment of the most pressing needs of Ukraine for reconstruction, rebuilding, and humanitarian aid.
Ukraine is now the one of the most landmine-contaminated countries, preventing recovery in areas liberated from Russian control. Explosives hazards strewn throughout the country must be addressed for families to return to their livelihoods, for farmers to utilize their farmland, and for reconstruction to take place. Recognizing this, the letter calls for the administration to include humanitarian demining as one of those pressing needs.
HALO thanks Representatives Crow and Valadao for their leadership and the 38 other representatives who have made humanitarian demining in Ukraine their priority.
The Representatives who signed includes: Rep. Ami Bera, Rep. Sanford Bishop, Rep. Julia Brownley, Rep. Sean Casten, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Rep. Steve Cohen, Rep. Gerry Connolly, Rep. Jim Costa, Rep. Jason Crow, Rep. Madeleine Dean, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Lois Frankel, Rep. John Garamendi, Rep. Robert Garcia, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, Rep. Sara Jacobs, Rep. Dan Kildee, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Rep. Barbara Lee, Rep. Mike Levin, Rep. Stephen Lynch, Rep. Brian Mast, Rep. Betty McCollum, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Jared Moskowitz, Rep. Kevin Mullin, Del. Eleanor Norton, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Frank Pallone, Rep. Brittany Pettersen, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Rep. Maria Salazar, Rep. Linda Sánchez, Rep. Adam Schiff, Rep. Brad Schneider, Rep. Claudia Tenney, Rep. Dina Titus, Rep. Jill Tokuda, Rep. David Valadao
Read the full letter and see signatures below.
