By Baptist Message staff
KYIV, Ukraine (LBM) – Louisiana’s delegation to Congress has issued statements condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Thursday, Feb. 24.
THE SITUATION
The Associated Press reported that Russia launched a “wide-ranging attack” and hit cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, sending civilians into trains and automobiles. Sirens were heard in Kyiv, the country’s capital, along with other cities. The Ukrainian government said it was seeing a long-anticipated invasion from the east, north and south, and reported more than 40 soldiers had been killed and dozens wounded.
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised those who interfere with his country’s operations face “consequences you have never seen.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on his Twitter account that his country has severed diplomatic relations with Russia and pleaded with those in Russia to protest the war.
“Russia treacherously attacked our state in the morning, as Nazi Germany did in World War II,” he wrote. “As of today, our countries are on different sides of world history. (Russia) has embarked on a path of evil, but (Ukraine) is defending itself and won’t give up its freedom no matter what Moscow thinks.”
United States President Joe Biden pledged new sanctions against Russia.
“The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces,” Biden said in a statement. “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering. Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”
LOUISIANA RESPONSE
“Putin is invading and waging war on a sovereign nation and its people. There’s no room for weakness in response,” Sen. John Kennedy said in a statement. “President Biden should impose swift, comprehensive, crippling sanctions on Russia. The only path to peace is through unwavering strength.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy added: “Russia has just become a pariah nation. Everything short of involving U.S. forces should be done to punish this action. This should be unrelenting.”
Congressman Mike Johnson, a member of First Baptist Church, Bossier City, said the invasion “threatens the greatest destabilization of the world order since WWII and constitutes a national security threat to the entire West.
From impeding American energy production, to greenlighting Russian energy production, to dragging their feet on sanctions, to lobbying against legislation to hold Russia accountable, it is clear the Biden Administration’s appeasement approach towards Russian aggression has failed.
It is past time for a new approach. We should impose debilitating sanctions on Russia’s economic interests. We should return to robust American energy production to provide greater stability and security here and for our European allies. We should exclude Russia from global commerce and international institutions. Even though the best time to take actions has passed, we must act decisively.
America’s prayers remain with the Ukrainian people.”
Congresswoman Julia Letlow also urged prayers for the situation in Ukraine.
“My heart goes out to the people of Ukraine, who now find their country thrust into a war, with countless innocent civilians caught in the crossfire,” Letlow said. “We cannot allow Vladimir Putin to violate the sovereignty of an independent and democratic nation without serious consequences. The United States and our allies must swiftly take action to impose the harshest economic sanctions possible, expel Russian diplomats from the international community, and permanently shut down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. In the coming days, let our prayers be with the people of Ukraine as they continue the noble fight to maintain their independence.”
Republican WHIP Steve Scalise said in a joint statement from six congressmen that the US and its allies must make Putin pay for his actions.
“Congress should compel President Biden to take the tough steps his administration has opposed thus far, we must permanently end Nord Stream 2, implement secondary sanctions on Russian financial institutions, and impose crippling penalties on the industries which the Russian military relies on to make war,” Scalise and the other five congressmen said in their statement. “Moreover, as House Republicans have been saying for a year, President Biden must finally promote U.S. energy development and help the United States become Europe’s energy partner of choice.
“China, Iran and North Korea are watching,” they continued. “They must see us respond firmly to this Russian aggression. We stand in complete solidarity with the innocent Ukrainian people and vow to continue to support them as they defend themselves from Putin’s unprovoked onslaught.”
Congressman Garret Graves believes the situation could cause a surge in gasoline and energy prices.
“It’ll cost all Americans more to drive, heat/cool homes and the cost of making groceries,” Graves said. “We will keep putting pressure on the Biden Administration to stop opposing domestic energy production in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore, opposing the production and processing of critical minerals in the United States, or implementing measures to block access to capital for conventional energy projects. It is in America’s interest to take an entirely different approach.”
