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Opening Statement of Vindman to House Committees on Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight Whistleblower Complaint on Ukraine (Kelly Smith, comp.) 1 (10/29/2019)

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        Opening Statement  of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman

   Before the House Permanent  Select Committee on Intelligence, the House
   Committee  on Foreign Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and
                                   Reform

                              October 29, 2019

Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member,  thank you for the opportunity to address the
Committees  concerning the activities relating to Ukraine and my role in the events
under investigation.

Background

I have dedicated my entire professional life to the United States of America. For
more  than two decades, it has been my honor to serve as an officer in the United
States Army.  As an infantry officer, I served multiple overseas tours, including
South Korea and Germany,  and a deployment  to Iraq for combat operations. In
Iraq, I was wounded in an IED attack and awarded a Purple Heart.

Since 2008, I have been a Foreign Area Officer specializing in Eurasia. In this role, I
have served in the United States' embassies in Kiev, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia.
In Washington,  D.C., I was a politico-military affairs officer for Russia for the
Chairman  of the Joint Chiefs where I authored the principle strategy for managing
competition with Russia. In July 2018, I was asked to serve at the National Security
Council.

The privilege of serving my country is not only rooted in my military service, but
also in my personal history. I sit here, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States
Army, an immigrant. My  family fled the Soviet Union when I was three and a half
years old. Upon arriving in New York City in 1979, my father worked multiple jobs
to support us, all the while learning English at night. He stressed to us the
importance of fully integrating into our adopted country. For many years, life was
quite difficult. In spite of our challenging beginnings, my family worked to build its
own  American dream.  I have a deep appreciation for American values and ideals
and the power of freedom.  I am a patriot, and it is my sacred duty and honor to
advance and defend OUR  country, irrespective of party or politics.


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