Griffin: "Vladimir Putin is a Menace to Freedom'

Press Release

Congressman Tim Griffin (AR-02) issued the following statement after the House passed a bill that would add Ukraine to the list of countries eligible to receive loan guarantee assistance through the State Department's Economic Support Fund (ESF) (H.R. 4152):

"Russia's Vladimir Putin is a menace to freedom. America must do all it can diplomatically and economically to prevent Russia from violating the sovereignty of its neighbors and encroaching on the freedom of people who declared independence from the former Soviet Union. I hope Senate Democrats will vote on the House's bill very soon, and that President Obama will take immediate action and order his Energy Department to approve the stalled applications for American oil and natural gas projects so that we can export more energy, help Ukraine and weaken Putin's sway over the region."

Speaker John Boehner said yesterday: "What gives [Vladimir Putin] leverage over Eastern Europe and Europe? It's the fact that they [Russia] export a lot of their oil and gas to those countries, who are dependent on them. Over the last three years, we've permitted six -- just six -- liquefied natural gas facilities around our country. There are 24 applications sitting down at the Department of Energy. If the president wanted to strengthen his hand, and help protect our allies in the region, he'd pick up his phone and use his pen and have the Energy Department approve the applications for these LNG exports."

H.R. 4152 would allow existing State Department funds to be used to offer roughly $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine.

According to the State Department, the Economic Support Fund (ESF) "promotes the economic and political foreign policy interests of the United States by providing assistance to allies and countries in transition to democracy, supporting the Middle East peace negotiations, and financing economic stabilization programs, frequently in a multi-donor context."

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