Opening Statement of Marie L. Yovanovitch to the House of
Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Committee on
Foreign Affairs,and Committee on Oversight and Reform
October 11,2019
'Thank you for the opportunity to start with this statement
today. For the last 33 years,it has been my great honor to serve the American people
as a Foreign Service Officer, over six Administrations—four Republican,and two
Democratic. I have served in seven different countries,five of them hardship
posts, and was appointed to serve as an ambassador three times—twice by a
Republican President,and once by a Democrat.Throughout my career, I have stayed
true to the oath that Foreign Service Officers take and observe every day:
“that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against
all enemies, foreign and domestic;” and “that I will bear true faith and
allegiance to the same.” Like all foreign service officers with whom I
have been privileged to serve,I have understood that oath as a commitment to serve on
a strictly nonpartisan basis, to advance the foreign policy determined by the
incumbent President, and to work at all times to strengthen our national
security and promote our national interests.
My Background
I come by these beliefs honestly and through personal
experience. My parents fled Communist and Nazi regimes. Having seen, first
hand, the war, poverty and displacement common to totalitarian regimes, they
valued the freedom and democracy the U.S. represents. And they raised me to
cherish these values as well. Their sacrifices allowed me to attend Princeton
University, where I focused my studies on the Soviet Union. Given my
upbringing, it
has been the honor of a lifetime to help to foster those
principles as a career Foreign Service Officer. From August 2016 until May
2019, I served as the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine. Our policy, fully embraced by
Democrats and Republicans alike, was to help Ukraine become a stable and
independent democratic state, with a market economy integrated into Europe.'
Continue reading here: https://www.lawfareblog.com/former-ambassador-marie-yovanovitchs-opening-statement-congress?fbclid=IwAR3-CtncwRqPOAUfhBwriqTc3zzCmO-MhcyHgF5HmHDshEcLGhtZFeAQbzA
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