Political Quotes

“I thank Representative Kaptur for all she does for Ukraine. Mr. Speaker, I stand here not only as the co-chair of Ukraine Caucus, but also the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment, and Cyber; and a commission on the Helsinki Commission, having previously served and lived in Ukraine, in Kiev, standing side by side with the Ukranian people, and growing to love them for their heart, their passion, their desire for independence, their desire for closer ties to the West, and their craving for freedom, something that they are striving for more and more every single day. With all of those things in context, Mr. Speaker, this moment before us, unfortunately, has not come as a surprise. Over the last 8 years, the amazing people of Ukraine have endured Russia's illegal and violent occupation. To date, some 14,000 innocent Ukrainians have perished, many of whom were civilians with more than a million displaced. The autocratic regime of Vladimir Putin has engaged in countless humanitarian violations and challenged international norms of sovereignty over the last 30 years, and it is imperative that the United States and our NATO allies meet this moment with deterrence and diplomacy and strength in unity. America must, as we have in the past, stand up against Russian authoritarianism. The people of Ukraine share our Western values and deserve freedom from Russian oppression.…”