CNN Newsroom: Interview With Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX)

Interview

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Jim, I can absolutely understand why the president says this was a tough decision. This is a decision that I, for one, had hoped he would not have to make. But here's the reality. The reality is that for the most part, Congress -- I don't speak for all of my colleagues, but the majority of members of Congress want to make sure that we provide Ukraine everything it needs to win this war.

Russia has been engaging in the most brutal -- of this war, and we have been able to rally our allies and provide Ukraine with the support that they need. But the truth of the matter is right now we have a choice between a bad option and a worse option. The bad option is what the president faced with these -- you know, the cluster munitions versus the possibility that there could be a gap in the artillery that Ukraine needs.

And we want to make sure that Ukraine wins. I am grateful to the president for having spoken to our allies, for getting assurances from Ukraine. I think there are a lot more conversations we need to have as we return to Capitol Hill next week, especially those of us on the Armed Services Committee. But there are not a whole lot of great options for the president or for allies at this point.

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It's absolutely a legitimate concern. And we have seen the impact on civilians in the past, which is why, from a humanitarian perspective, we all should be worried about this. But it's my understanding that Ukraine has made certain commitments to the White House and to the administration about the way that they will use this, and we can't forget that it is in Ukraine's best interest to protect their civilians and fellow Ukrainians.

And, you know, again, a really tough decision, you can understand why the president grappled with this. I am grateful that he's been transparent about it, that he and his administration have spoken to the American people through the media about this. But this is a tough war, Jim, as we all know.

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Jim, I've had the privilege of sitting with my constituents during some of the testimony that the survivors gave, their first-hand accounts during one of the days of the process this week, and to say it was gut-wrenching would be a massive understatement. There are innumerable El Pasoans victims, survivors, loved ones who still live with profound pain. Both emotional pain and literal physical pain.

There are still constituents of mine who have to undergo surgeries years later, constituents of mine who still live with significant PTSD. Young people who will never forget what they witnessed in front of them. And so this week has been tough. It's -- there were a lot of tears in that courtroom. A lot afterwards as folks exited.

And this is only one part of the process because we still have a state trial ahead. And many of these same survivors, victims, loved ones, will have to relive their trauma once again through the state trial process until they can finally try to achieve or begin to move towards some closure. But I think what's really important for me, Jim, is that the country recognize that mass shootings like the one that occurred in my community and all of the pain -- and my neighbors are living through, it is a policy choice by this country, by legislators who refuse to ban assault style weapons, and by legislators who continue to fuel hatred and xenophobia.

Both of those, the hatred, the white supremacy, and the easy access to assault style weapons, both of those things impacted the tragedy in my community and we have to do better as a country especially in Congress.

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I think it's really important for Americans to understand just how dangerous, reckless, and deadly the governor's decision is. When the Trump administration had to make the choice, their Department of Homeland Security had to make a choice about whether or not to use this same strategy, the Trump administration decided not to. The Trump administration lest me forget was an administration that had no problems separating families and engaging in other, very cruel anti- humanitarian tactics.

And so it was a policy decision that the Trump administration walked away from is one being used and embraced by Governor Greg Abbott. It is shameful. We are going to see more drownings. We know that deterrence and tactics like this don't stop desperate people who are running for their safety. It only causes more death.

And in fact, not just the death of migrants, but I am very concerned also about the impact it will have on Border Patrol agents and other Department of Homeland Security personnel whose job it is to help provide rescue operations for migrants, and what this will do to their ability to do their job.

But we know that Governor Abbott doesn't care about federal personnel or the personnel on the border anyway because through his Operation Lone Star we've seen yet another death of a Texas National Guardsman along a long series of deaths -- by this governor. It really is shameful.

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