Marcy Kaptur: “I wanted to use the opportunity to speak about the lack of repayment by Ukraine of various debts that are owed to…”

“I wanted to use the opportunity to speak about the lack of repayment by Ukraine of various debts that are owed to companies in our country and also to speak about U.S. policy toward Russia and Ukraine, particularly as it relates to a sector critical to long-term stability in those nations, agriculture and sustainable food production. Mr. Chairman, sadly and incredibly, U.S. policy toward Russia and Ukraine have ignored agriculture and those nations governments are not inclined to pursue a path toward reform without prodding. U.S. policies have not only failed to elevate agriculture's importance as a key economic and social transformation mechanism; but our actions have generally supported the old order, rather than the new, and have been seriously deficient in meeting the basic needs of villagers and small holders who are raising the majority of food in both nations. It is my intent to be very brief; however, I want to state for the record that students of history will attest, the economic and social systems of the former Soviet state were premised on the production of collective farms and the distribution of their earnings to social welfare concerns within those countries, everything from schools to hospitals.”