Testimony Before Thehouse Ofrepresentativescommittee on Foreign Affairs, Permanentselect Committee on Intelligence, and Committee on Oversight
Testimony before theHouse ofRepresentativesCommittee on Foreign Affairs, PermanentSelect Committee on Intelligence, and Committee on Oversight Amb . Kurt Volker Former U . S. SpecialRepresentative for UkraineNegotiations October 3, 2019 Thank you very much for theopportunityto provide this testimony today. Allow meto begin by stressing that you and the American people can bereassured andproud thatthe DepartmentofState andthe DepartmentofDefense, andthe professionalsworking there civil and foreign serviceandmilitary have conducted themselveswith thehighest degree ofprofessionalism , integrity, anddedicationto thenationalinterest. That is a testamentto the strength ofour people, our institutions, andour country. As a formermemberof theSeniorForeign Service, andin conductingmyrole as U .S . Special Representativefor UkraineNegotiations, I have similarly acted solely to advance U . S . national interests, which included supportingdemocracy and reform in Ukraine; helpingUkrainebetter defend itself and deter Russian aggression; and leading U . S . negotiatingefforts to endthewar andrestoreUkraine' s territorialintegrity. Throughoutmy career, whether as a career diplomat, U . S. Ambassador to NATO , or in my other capacities, have tried to be courageous, energetic, clear-eyed and plain -spoken - always acting with integrity, to advance core American values and interests. Myefforts as U . S. Special Representativefor UkraineNegotiationswere no different. In carrying outthis role, at somestage foundmyself faced with a choice: to be aware of a problem and to ignore it, or rather to accept that itwasmyresponsibility to try to fix it. I wouldnothavebeen true to myself,my duties, ormy commitmentto the people of the UnitedStatesor Ukraine, if I did notdive in and try to fix problemsas best could. There are five keypoints I would like to stress in this testimony , and I would like to submit a longer version and timeline of events for the record .
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