Stand with Ukraine

I remember exactly where I was when I first learned of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. Eric and I had just finished putting our kids to bed when the news hit, and we watched, late into the night, as the horror unfolded in real time on our phone screens.

The war in Ukraine may not receive the non-stop coverage that it received in February of 2022, but it is never far from my thoughts, and the tragedy that continues to unfold there deserves serious and sustained policy solutions from Congress.

Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine was unjustifiable when it began in 2014, unjustifiable when it went full-scale in February of 2022, and it remains unjustifiable today. Nearly 56,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed or wounded. Nearly six million Ukrainians are refugees. Another 3.7 million are displaced inside their own country, and close to 11 million need humanitarian assistance to survive this year. Military losses on both sides run into the hundreds of thousands.

The stakes are too high for the United States and Europe to allow Ukraine to fall to Russia. We must continue to support Ukraineʼs defense and provide relief to the civilians that Russia is bombing.

I also support the hard, unglamorous diplomacy required to end this war on terms that ensure the freedom of Ukraine and its people. Ukraineʼs freedom from Russia began alongside a global consensus that we must seek nuclear disarmament. Now that this consensus has collapsed, it is more important than ever that we recommit ourselves to the idea that the only way to guarantee security for people around the world is to work towards peace and an end to war.

I look forward to standing with Ukraine in Congress, as I will stand for peace and freedom around the world.