WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees, issued the following statement upon returning from a bipartisan Congressional delegation (CODEL) to Belgium and Ukraine.

“Long before coming to Congress, at the close of the Cold War, I served as a project engineer in the USAF focused on ballistic missile defense,” said Houlahan. “The vernacular of my time in service was filled with buzzwords and acronyms of that age: Sphere of Influence (SOI), Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), etc. It was the language of my generation. My travels this week to Brussels and Ukraine have made one thing clear: this generation might need to dust off Cold War era language in the face of Russian aggression and destabilization.”

In Brussels, the delegation met with members of the European Parliament, NATO Allies, and the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, among others.

“Our transatlantic partners are essential relationships and alliances that we must continue to strengthen as we coordinate and encourage unity on sanctions against Russia as well as other possible deterrent responses,” added Houlahan.

“In Kyiv, we met and spoke with senior Ukrainian leadership, including President Zelensky. The Ukrainian people are resilient, but Moscow’s dire threat to destabilize Europe through possible further invasion or other destabilizing actions cannot be tolerated.”

“The bipartisan CODEL reaffirmed our broad commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty. While we hope Russia will pursue diplomacy and dialogue as a path to peace, we were there to reassure Ukraine that we will go to great lengths to diplomatically deter and punish the aggressive path Moscow is pursuing. We will push for stronger sanctions and additional security assistance. We also want to reassure our NATO Allies in the east that our commitment to their security is ironclad.”

“I want to thank Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-NY) for his steadfast leadership throughout the CODEL and all of my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, for forming a united front on behalf of the U.S. Congress.”

The bipartisan delegation included Chairman Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), David Cicilline (D-RI), Ami Bera (D-CA), Colin Allred (D-TX), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Mark Green (R-TN), August Pfluger (R-TX), Mikie Sherill (D-NJ), and Victoria Spartz (R-IN).