{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-travels-to-support-allies-in-lithuania-ukraine-jordan", "Inhofe travels to support allies in Lithuania, Ukraine, Jordan", "2014-10-30", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "OK", "James Inhofe", "I000024", "www.inhofe.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Inhofe travels to support allies in Lithuania, Ukraine, Jordan\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, October 30, 2014\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), today returned from a national security trip to Eastern Europe and the Middle East where he met with leaders of Lithuania, Ukraine and Jordan.\r\nIn Lithuania,\u00a0President\u00a0Dalia Grybauskaite\u00a0hosted Inhofe on Monday for the inauguration ceremony of Lithuania\u2019s first liquefied natural gas import facility, which will allow the country to lessen the region\u2019s demand for energy from Russia. While in country, Inhofe also met with Prime Minister Algirdas\u00a0Butkevicius\u00a0of Lithuania, Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma of Latvia, and\u00a0Minister of Foreign Trade and Entrepreneurship Anne Sulling\u00a0of Estonia. Inhofe ended his time in Lithuania by visiting\u00a0U.S. soldiers currently stationed in the region supporting NATO allies.\u00a0\r\nWhile in Lithuania, Inhofe sent a letter to President Obama highlighting\u00a0the steps Lithuania is taking to free\u00a0itself from energy\u00a0dependence on Russia and\u00a0increase its market for U.S.\u00a0natural gas, which can be read by\u00a0clicking here.\u00a0\r\nIn Ukraine, Inhofe met\u00a0Tuesday\u00a0with President Petro Poroshenko,\u00a0Prime Minister Areseniy Yatsenyuk, and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak\u00a0where they discussed the ongoing Russian aggression, the status of U.S. military assistance, and Ukraine\u2019s recent elections. Inhofe was the first U.S.\u00a0government official to congratulate the\u00a0leaders\u00a0for Ukraine\u2019s successful parliamentary elections that took place on Oct. 26.\u00a0\r\n\u201cUkraine\u2019s recent election is an opportunity for reform and an overwhelming mandate from the people of Ukraine to move\u00a0closer to the West and away from the agenda of Putin,\u201d\u00a0said Inhofe about his trip. \"President Putin continues to support pro-Russian\u00a0separatist\u00a0in Ukraine leading to violence and instability. The U.S. must stand strong next to Ukraine and President Poroshenko. While President Obama has provided our ally with sleeping bags and night-vision goggles, the country is asking for military equipment that will actually deter further aggression from Russia. During my visit,\u00a0I told the government leaders that\u00a0I and many of my colleagues in Congress support their request and are working to get them the needed support.\u201d\u00a0\r\nIn the meeting with Ukraine\u2019s\u00a0Prime Minister, Yatsenyuk shared with Inhofe the importance for the United States to increase natural gas exports to the international community as it would help to depoliticize the energy resource by creating a real natural gas market in Europe that is non-existent\u00a0due to too few viable providers.\u00a0\r\nOn\u00a0Wednesday,\u00a0Inhofe visited the Jordan-Syria border and was hosted by Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman.\u00a0In the meeting,\u00a0the king asserted that the morale of his troops\u00a0fighting extremists\u00a0is high and stressed that while they need American support, he wants and is working to ensure regional partners carry the burden of the fight.\u00a0\r\nInhofe also spoke with Maj. Gen.\u00a0Michael Nagata, commander of U.S. Central Command Special Operations Command (SOCCENT), and was briefed on the Syria Train and Equip program, a two-month mission funded by Congress in the September\u00a0continuing resolution. Maj. Gen. Nagata shared with Inhofe about the vetting process of the moderate opposition, which included: recommendations by regional partners; evaluation of and augmentation of those recommendations by U.S.\u00a0intelligence; Human Rights screening; and close scrutiny and monitoring during intensive training programs by U.S.\u00a0personnel. Maj. Gen. Nagata also briefed Inhofe on the mechanisms to mitigate the risk of trained fighters joining extremist organizations.\u00a0\r\n\u201cJordan has\u00a0taken in an overwhelming number\u00a0of Syrian\u00a0refugees who traveled to their borders to escape the\u00a0violence and terror in\u00a0their country over the past several years. King Abdullah and the country of Jordan have carried a heavy burden and remained a strong ally of the United States,\u201d\u00a0said Inhofe.\u00a0\"Earlier\u00a0this year Congress approved\u00a0a program to\u00a0train the moderate Syrian opposition, and\u00a0I visited Jordan in order to see and hear first hand how our troops are doing and the current progress of the mission. After my meetings,\u00a0I remain confident in our military leaders who are tasked with carrying out this mission and the vetting process that they have put into place. King Abdullah II has been a tremendous partner to the U.S. as we work together to help defeat the threat of ISIS and work to\u00a0irradiate radical Islam.\"\r\n\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-travels-to-support-allies-in-lithuania-ukraine-jordan"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8939448744058609, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}