Former Virginia State Senator Richard Black has called on the US Congress to explicitly forbid Ukraine from using funds to silence Americans after a Ukrainian government agency published a blacklist of persons it accuses of promoting "Russian propaganda."
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2022) Former Virginia State Senator Richard Black has called on the US Congress to explicitly forbid Ukraine from using funds to silence Americans after a Ukrainian government agency published a blacklist of persons it accuses of promoting "Russian propaganda."
"It's our position that the Congressional appropriations must explicitly forbid Ukraine from using funds to silence patriotic American voices,"Black said during an event organized by Executive Intelligence Review.
Last month, a group of 16 US citizens, including former politicians and military service-members, sent a letter to Congress asking it to take action to prevent the potential silencing of US citizens. The letter was delivered to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate committees on foreign affairs, intelligence and the judiciary as well as emailed to the office of each committee member. The authors expressed readiness to provide full assistance in investigations by any of the committees.
The Ukrainian blacklist includes 72 individuals from a number of countries, which besides the United States also includes from France, China, Germany and Slovakia.
Black noted that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently attempted to establish a Disinformation Governance board in the United States but was subsequently blocked over its potential to violate the First Amendment right to free speech and press.
The senator pointed out that the DHS did not limit their censorship information efforts to the United States but exported them into Ukraine. The Center for Countering Disinformation in Ukraine is financed by the US government under HR7691, which is called the additional Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022, he said.
"This provides funding for the Ukrainian government and for its Center for Countering Disinformation," Black said.
Participants at Wednesday's event included former UN Chief Weapons Inspector on Iraq Scott Ritter, former veteran CIA analyst Raymond McGovern and Senate candidate Diane Sare, who have been included in the list.
Black pointed out that the persons targeted by Ukraine, including US Senator Rand Paul and former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, are very patriotic US citizens and have very strong foreign policy views.
"It's the intention of Department of Homeland Security and the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation to silence us," Black said.
The DHS announced in August that it was disbanding the controversial Disinformation Governance Board following massive criticism that it would serve as an entity akin to author George Orwel's "Ministry of Truth" in the totalitarian dystopia portrayed in his book "1984."
However, the DHS said it will continue to address threats that undermine the security of the United States while upholding the civil rights and liberties of Americans and promoting transparency.
Blacklisting people who allegedly represent pro-Russian views and interests has been commonplace in Ukraine since 2014. The notorious Myrotvorets website publishes the personal data of journalists, military from the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and others whom its calls "enemies of Ukraine."
People placed on the website are known to have received threats and some of them have been killed after their contact details were published.
