Condemning Vladimir Putin

Floor Speech

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Mr. LaHOOD. Madam Speaker, I rise today in the strongest possible terms to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ongoing war crimes against the people of Ukraine.

In the last month, the world has witnessed Putin's brutality and capacity for evil against the innocent people of Ukraine.

In the lead-up to the invasion of a sovereign, democratic Ukraine, Putin lied to the world, asserting that he did not want war, that he did not want to invade Ukraine, and that the troops amassed on the Ukrainian border were only conducting training exercises.

Putin claims that any effort to expand NATO is a mission aimed only to destabilize Russia; however, it is exactly the opposite. NATO is solely a defensive alliance that has never sought to destabilize or challenge Russia but, rather, to support the maintenance and respect for sovereignty and peace.

At no time during the lead-up to Russia's criminal invasion did Ukraine or NATO provoke Vladimir Putin to act. Despite this, Putin launched a full-scale, illegal, and unjustified invasion of Ukraine under the false pretense of ethnic solidarity and denazification.

The bottom line is: Putin is a liar and cannot be trusted.

The world has witnessed Putin's indiscriminate bombing of residential areas and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. Putin's authoritarian brutality has included the horrific bombing and destruction of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, where he murdered women and children. He also ordered the bombing of a community theater where hundreds of innocent civilians were sheltering.

Fears remain that Russian forces, at the sole discretion of Putin, will use chemical weapons against innocent Ukrainians, as they did in Syria in 2015.

In the face of Putin's criminal war, the Ukrainian people and their President, President Zelenskyy, have shown immense courage, resilience, and determination as they defend their country. The world stands united with them.

As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I believe it is vital that the United States continue to maximize available intelligence-sharing with our Ukrainian and international allies and also maintain robust military and humanitarian assistance.

The United States must also work to declassify intelligence that reveals evidence of Vladimir Putin's malign intentions and actions, including war crimes committed.

Putin is a thug, a dictator, and an authoritarian war criminal whose crimes--past, present, and future--should be known and exposed across the world. Pulling back the veil on his actions will ensure that we hold Putin accountable and prosecute him for the war criminal he is.

America and its people will continue to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

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