Marcy Kaptur has deep interest in Ukraine

SANDUSKY — Everyone in Congress has to pay attention to ongoing impeachment hearings in the U.S. House.But the hearings hold a special interest for U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, who traces her family back to a small Ukrainian village and who is co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus."Ukraine is the scrimmage line for liberty in Europe," she said in a phone interview with the Register. "Ukraine is the pathway to liberty in Russia. I've done everything I can in my lifetime to try to help that along, both personally and then legislatively."Kaptur said she first traveled to the Ukraine in 1973, when it was under Soviet occupation, trying to find the roots of her maternal grandparents. It's "worthy of a book, which I am starting to write, actually," she said."I drove all the way across Europe. I was 27 ... it was the greatest trip of my life," she said. "The people lived in fear. I remember it like it was yesterday. We had to drive through Soviet troops with bayonets and gun turrets."Kaptur is often described as being from a Polish American family, but she also has roots in the Ukraine."Well, the border shifted," she said.Leaving for AmericaThe Ukraine was under Czarist rule when Kaptur's grandparents left at the beginning of the 20th century. Her grandparents come from a small town, Burtyn, which is now in the Ukraine, which Kaptur says has about 1,400 people today. They fled for America."The system at the time was not allowing them to graze their one cow," she said. "They came to America to earn money to go back, and then World War I happened."Kaptur said her family foundation paid for two archivists from the Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Cleveland to travel to the Ukraine and examine records."They went into all of the KGB files. They have brought back thousands of pages of what happened to the people in that region. They were systematically eliminated by Stalin … in the church in which our grandparents were married, 160 people starved to death," Kaptur said.A huge number of people starved to death in the Ukraine during Stalin's regime, Kaptur said."It was just a killing field," she said.According to an online "Revelations from the Russian Archives" exhibit at the Library of Congress, Stalin's policy of forcing Ukrainian farms into collectives resulted in a huge famine in 1932 and 1933."The death toll from the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine has been estimated between 6-7 million," the article on the website states."We met our mother's great uncle when we first went there. He had been sent up to Stalin's gulags for 20 years. His brother died in one of them," Kaptur said."So much of this history was lost because the Nazis and the Communists killed so many people, including those who would have written the history. The records are very sparse, but the KGB records are absolutely voluminous. You would not believe it … everyone's name, their job, their children, the schools they went to … thousands and thousands of pages," she said.Kaptur said the book she is working on includes photos, letters and much other material.Kaptur said she has gone to the Ukraine more than any other member of Congress, living or dead. She knew ambassador William Taylor well before the impeachment hearings began.The Ukraine The Ukraine is where many of the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons were stored. When Ukraine became an independent country in 1991, it gave them up, losing much of its ability to defend itself, Kaptur said, and it has since been invaded by Russia. Almost 14,000 Ukrainians have died and more than 2 million have been displaced, she said.Testimony in Congress has focused on President Donald Trump's alleged pressure on Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, in return for a continuation of U.S. military aid. Trump allegedly was attempting to aid his 2020 political campaign."I've never seen anything like it by a president of the United States," Kaptur said.Asked whether Trump should be impeached, Kaptur said, "I think we don't know that yet. I think that's what this inquiry is all about. But I think we need to carefully identify all of the individuals that have been apparently involved in trying to withhold the military aid to Ukraine."Congress should get to the bottom of whether or not the president withheld duly authorized funds from the U.S. from being released, she said.Since World War II, Democrats and Republicans have cooperated to protect U.S. national security, Kaptur said.When Trump met President Putin and invited Russian officials into the White House, "I was aghast. I don't know any American president who ever did that," Kaptur said."All the dictators are his good friends," Kaptur said, referring to countries such as North Korea.Trump has publicly humiliated European leaders who are American allies while being friendly with Putin and favoring Russia, Kaptur said.U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, right, visiting Ukraine. She's with Joe Biden, left and U.S. Sen. John McCain, center.