colonel vindman begins his opening statement with some basic biographical information. he says, "i have dedicated my entire professional life to the united states of america. for more than two decades, it has been my honor to serve as an officer in the united states army. as an infantry officer, i served multiple overseas tours, including south korea and germany, and a deployment to iraq for combat operations in iraq. i was wounded in an ied attack and awarded a purple heart. since 2008, i have been a foreign area officer, specializing in eurasia. in this role, i have served in the united states' embassies in kiev, ukraine, and moscow, russia. in july 2018, i was asked to serve at the national security council. i sit here as a lieutenant colonel in the united states army, an immigrant. my family fled the soviet union when i was 3 1/2 years old. upon arriving in new york city in 1979, my father worked multiple jobs to support us, all the while learning english at night. he stressed to us the importance of fully integrating into our adopted country. i have a deep appreciation for american values and ideals and the power of freedom.