As the sun rose in America following the overnight invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, Louisiana's politicians have issued statements on the development.
U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) released the following statement regarding sanctions this afternoon:
“Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has made us all stand with the Ukrainians. And if you’re freedom-loving, you are asking what should we do in response. In addition, we should not send troops. I don’t think that’s the right decision. But we should strengthen our U.S. forces in NATO countries that we’ve made commitments to. We should also do more than the sanctions that the president has laid out. What I proposed is to do is what happened during the Ronald Reagan administration. The Saudi Arabians flooded the world with cheap oil that destroyed the USSR’s economy, because they made their money selling oil. They could not support their war machine. The USSR fell apart," Cassidy said.
“Now substitute the [Saudi Arabians for the United States], we can do that now. Developing North American resources in a safe, environmentally-healthy way. Taking our natural gas, shipping it around the world, lowering prices for us, by the way creating jobs in the United States of America, but denying the Russians the income they would otherwise receive. That will drive a stake in the heart of their economy. That will destroy their war machine. That is what we should be doing. We’re stronger. They’re weaker," he said.
Earlier today, he issued this statement in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
"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," said Dr. Cassidy.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) released the following statement upon Russia's waging war against Ukraine:
"Putin is invading and waging war on a sovereign nation and its people. There's no room for weakness in response. President Biden should impose swift, comprehensive, crippling sanctions on Russia. The only path to peace is through unwavering strength."
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) released the following statement on Russia's invasion into Ukraine:
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine's sovereign territory 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 that 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 these actions has passed, we must act decisively.
"America's prayers remain with the Ukrainian people."
U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, (R-La.) is in the Persian Gulf this week. On February 19, he posted this on his Facebook page:
"I WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS TO MY CELL/EMAIL/TEXT 21Feb-26Feb. So, for those of you who know that when you contact me, you can generally expect me to respond pretty quick, I apologize that I’ll be out of commo for a few days. Overseas on mission. I’ll explain after I’ve returned," he wrote.
Higgins did post a Facebook live on his Congressional page yesterday, talking about his visit to the area to try to help American families get home.
