[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H556]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SECRETARY OF STATE POMPEO'S COMMENTS ABOUT UKRAINE

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, Secretary of State Mike 
Pompeo cast doubt over American support for our Ukrainian allies when 
he asked veteran NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly if she thought 
Americans care about Ukraine and if she could even find it on a map. 
How insulting.
  Pompeo's outburst came after Mary Louise Kelly questioned him about 
the administration's shameful treatment of our Ambassador to Ukraine, 
Marie Yovanovitch.
  As co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Ukraine Caucus and 
representative of a large Ukrainian American population, I am deeply 
concerned about what Pompeo was insinuating with his comments to NPR 
that the administration can do whatever it pleases because the American 
public doesn't care about Ukraine. I couldn't disagree with him more.
  Ukraine is the scrimmage line for liberty in Europe. Liberty lovers 
across the world care about Ukraine because its people are facing down 
Russian aggression.
  Unfortunately, Pompeo's comments reflect a larger pattern of the 
Trump administration advancing pro-Russian causes.
  On Secretary Pompeo's upcoming trip to Ukraine, I would urge him to 
support liberty in Europe. America and the world paid a heavy price for 
that.

                          ____________________