WA Rep. Newhouse says US must 'do all it can' to avert global crisis in Ukraine

Members of Washington state's Congressional delegation are calling for a severe, response against Russia. But what does that really mean?

The United States and its allies have already imposed a number of sanctions on the country after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military forces into Ukraine.

Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse, who represents Washington's 4th Congressional District, joined calls last week for swift action.

Now, Newhouse says the invasion may not be going as Putin planned; no major Ukrainian city has fallen to Russia. So, he says, it's time to make Putin feel the pain of his decision. Newhouse is joining such calls for action when some members of his political party ⁠— perhaps most notably, former President Donald Trump ⁠— have not.

He spoke with KUOW's Angela King about why he thinks the U.S. must act.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Rep. Dan Newhouse: Well, my concern is certainly the threat to democracy in Eastern Europe. Where does this stop? Oh, my gosh, [Putin] has already made threats of potentially utilizing this nuclear arsenal, which is very concerning. This truly is a crisis in Eastern Europe, and one that will impact everybody in the world. So, we as the United States of America, I think, need to do all we can to avert what could be the most dangerous situation we've faced in 80 years.

Angela King: Well, how do you see this crisis, specifically, affecting us as a region?

It absolutely will, and I think that, certainly, we're seeing already negative changes in the economy around the world.

But I think the thing that resonates most with me, and something that I think we still can move toward, is this notion of energy independence. We have put ourselves in a dependent position, weakening our strategic position, by being dependent on other countries for sources of energy, Russia included.

SIDENOTE: ENERGY INDEPENDENCE

What does Newhouse mean when he says the U.S. has "put ourselves in a dependent position" in terms of energy?

Newhouse says President Joe Biden has "decimated our domestic oil and gas production," which he says are key to our energy independence. Specifically, he and other Republicans point to the canceled Keystone XL Pipeline and a moratorium on all oil and gas production on federal land.

On his first days in office, Biden took steps to address climate change. He revoked the federal permit for the Keystone Pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast. And he ordered a pause on federal oil and gas lease sales. That latter drew criticism from Republicans and the oil industry, as well as from Democrats and environmental advocates who wanted the pause to be made permanent.

Biden's administration later released a report that recommended changes many officials said ended overly favorable terms for the oil industry. However, those changes stopped short of an outright ban.

WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?

King: Do you think "severe and punishing sanctions" will be enough? What's the solution?

Newhouse: I am not under any illusion. I think he's a determined dictator. He's made it clear that he is willing to sacrifice human life and risk, seriously, risk World War III. We're starting to see signs that this is not going as he had intended, that this is not as easy as he thought it would be. And I think if we continue down the road of strengthening our position, and also reasserting our energy independence, which it's not too late to do — I think we need to take those actions as soon as possible.

Former President Donald Trump, who is still considered the leader of the Republican Party, has praised President Putin for his actions and others in the past. What do you think of his rhetoric about Russia and how it's affecting the current situation?

So, if the president is saying that some of the actions that we have taken to weaken our strategic positions as it relates to energy and minerals and other things, if he's been critical of that, I would have to agree.

But I have no admiration for a dictator like Putin. I think he's ruthless. I think he's not only ignoring a sovereign nation, he's ignoring human rights and recklessly bringing us toward the precipice of a third world war.

But do you condemn the former president's statements?

I would not agree with him.

Do you feel your party, despite what the former president is saying, is united on Russia and the threat Putin is posing toward the free world?

We are a nation now with a world crisis on our hands. And this is the time for us to come together to respond as Americans. I think we should waste no time.

You were one of 10 Republican representatives who voted to impeach the former president during the second [impeachment] proceeding, not the first. And your argument against the first impeachment proceeding was more about process rather than the issue: the former president threatening to withhold support from Ukraine unless President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came up with dirt on his then-political opponent, Joe Biden. But some wonder, by not condemning that issue more outright at the time, some say that just let the problem fester and gave Putin the green light to continue on the path that we find ourselves on right now.

Your response?

Well, it's easy to Monday morning quarterback. Hindsight is always 20-20.

At the time, I don't think we had the information we needed to move forward on an impeachment. So I think it's easy now, several years later, to say we could have done something different and the outcome would have been completely different, we wouldn't be faced with this situation.

I'm looking forward and looking at how we can respond to the situation we have in front of us right now, instead of wringing my hands about what we could or should or would have done several years ago.

We need to be in a much stronger position strategically. We, in large part, put ourselves in this position. And that's unfortunate. But it's not too late to reverse that course. We need to take strong actions as soon as possible.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.