U.S. Rep Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, isn’t one to jump into war – he briskly opposed President George W. Bush‘s invasion into Iraq, and although he supported going into Afghanistan, he also openly opposed President Barack Obama‘s surge of troops into the country. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is different, Doggett told the Chronicle, in part because the outcome of the conflict could touch his district in a real way. “We have a very different set of concerns for Central Texas families than we did two weeks ago. … It looks like a battle far, far away from us, and while people generally react to the horror of this invasion, there’s not as much of an awareness of how it impacts us. It may not be an immediate impact, but if [Putin] is successful here, it eventually impairs the security of every Texas family.”
The longtime member of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus caught up with grim reality of Russian attacks on March 5, in an hourlong call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other members of the Ukraine Caucus. One of Doggett’s greatest takeaways: More Ukrainian civilians than soldiers have been killed so far, and some have been tortured.
Doggett said Zelensky’s most urgent request of the U.S. was to help block Russia from total superiority in Ukrainian airspace. Zelensky also needs weapons to continue flowing in. Next, cutting off Russia’s economic power is key, leading Doggett and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., to file an updated version of their Russia trade cutoff legislation March 7. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives in a 414 – 17 vote Wednesday, March 9, would deny Russia and Belarus preferential trade treatment and seek Russia’s removal from the World Trade Organization. It also proposed an import ban on Russian energy ahead of President Biden’s March 8 announcement that his administration would block Russian energy imports. Doggett recognizes that economic hits to Russia will hurt Central Texans’ wallets, especially at the gas pump, but he said it’s a small sacrifice. “We’re willing to pay a price in energy cost if that’s what it takes to defend freedom.”
* Editor’s note Thursday 3-10 10:34am: This story has been updated since publication to add that the Suspending Energy Imports from Russia Act passed the House of Representatives Wednesday, March 9.
This article appears in Guide to SXSW 2022.
