WASHINGTON, DC – On March 1, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) announced Andrij Dobriansky and Mindy Salango as her virtual guests to President Biden’s State of the Union Address. Andrij Dobriansky is the Spokesman for the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and Liturgical Cantor at St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in New York City’s ‘Little Ukraine’. Mindy Salango is a patient advocate with type-1 diabetes who has previously joined Congresswoman Maloney in calling for a cap on out-of-pocket costs for insulin, as well as allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug manufacturers for lower drug prices.

“I am so proud to have Andrij and Mindy as my virtual guests to the State of the Union,” said Representative Maloney. “As the Representative of ‘Little Ukraine’ in New York City, I have been honored to stand with our Ukrainian-American community and leaders like Andrij Dobriansky against Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion. Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, much of the world has been united in imposing heavy costs on Putin and providing humanitarian and military assistance to the people of Ukraine. Mindy Salango became a patient advocate after she was forced to ration insulin due to skyrocketing prices driven up by pharmaceutical greed and pricing practices. As we continue to fight for the President’s bold plan to lower drug prices and cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin, I could think of no one better to highlight the urgent need to pass legislation that would lower everyday costs for Americans.”

“Ukrainians are fighting today in defense of our shared American and Ukrainian democratic ideals,” said Andrij Dobriansky. “If we fail to help them in this fight, this will be a failure for all of us. I am honored by my friend Carolyn Maloney, to invite me to hear the president speak tonight on behalf of not only the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, but our friends at the Polish American Congress, the Belarusian American Association, the American Jewish Committee and the free Russian dissidents of News York who #StandWithUkraine.”

“I am honored to represent the diabetic community as Congresswoman Maloney’s guest to the State of the Union Address,” said Mindy Salango. “For over a decade, the pharmaceutical companies have been price gouging those who are insulin dependent. The results have meant death for many insulin dependent diabetics. No one should die because they are unable to afford their life-saving medication. It is time for our representatives to get past partisan politics and take the first steps forward to making this a reality for the American people.”