'A Betrayal Of The American Promise': Lateefah Simon Laces Into Trump Admin Over VA Layoffs

10 hours ago

During a House Oversight Committee hearing prior to the congressional recess, Rep. Lateefah Simon (D-CA) spoke about the Trump Administration's cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. Dodaro, thank you for joining us. Thank you for your decades of service.

00:07Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Ranking Member. I appreciate your testimony today,

00:21sir, and thank you. As an MPA master's student a few years ago, I spent an awful lot of time

00:29reading your reports, and I really, really appreciate the level of professionalism that

00:35you've led, and thank you for your service.

00:38My colleague, Mr. Frost, you talked a bit about veterans, sir, and I appreciate that.

00:46My mother served the Veteran Administration for over 35 years. If you call 415-221-4810

00:54or in Phoenix, 602-277-5511, or in Texas, 713-791-1441, we know now when veterans, mothers

01:10of veterans, partners of veterans, when they're calling, there's only three of many VAs in

01:16the country, folks are not going to answer the phone.

01:19On February 14th, this administration fired over 1,000 VA workers. 1,000 VA workers.

01:31So when you cut staff, you cut services, and when you cut services, these are more than

01:38just budget decisions. It's a betrayal of the American promise. Our servicemen and women

01:45deserve better. They fought in the line of fire with an understanding that when they

01:50came home, they would have efficacious health benefits, social services, mental health services.

02:00That was our promise, and it's not just in this administration that we've broken our

02:04promise. I will say that we've not done what we should have in the past and currently in

02:10the present, but to annihilate critical staff supporting critical lives of folks who dedicated

02:20their lifespan to this country, it's a betrayal of a lexicon of America first that I am hearing

02:28every single day.

02:30You know, sir, I don't have a question for you. Again, I'm thanking you, but last week

02:34I visited an NIH-funded clinic, and I know we are not talking so much about NIH in your

02:40report. A Nobel Prize-winning scientist and physician-scientist on her team and young

02:48American students have dedicated their professional careers to ending genetic diseases like sickle

02:56cell. They're there. They have a cure. The trials have gone really, really well. They're

03:02looking at moving forward treatment for ALS and for folks who have suffered from ALS and

03:07have buried your uncles and your mothers and your fathers and your cousins and your

03:10nieces. You know the devastation of that disease.

03:14For folks who are struggling themselves with dementia, you know the devastation and the

03:19whirlwind financially that your families have had to go through. This lab in Berkeley, California,

03:25has the best and the brightest scientists, and they are facing because, again, of this

03:31effort to move efficiency, a $37 million cut that will all but halt the research and

03:38send those students home. That is not fear-mongering. That is fact.

03:43So for all of the patients, those who are in the operating rooms, sitting outside waiting

03:48for your folks to come out, those folks who are care workers, sitting at home trying to

03:52figure out how you're going to make ends meet because you can't work because your father

03:57has devastating dementia, I want us to understand what is at play. I'm not blaming anyone. What

04:06I'm saying is we're making bad decisions. Yes, we need a more efficacious government,

04:11but when you attack the sick, when you attack literally the scientists who are going to

04:16cure Americans, cure Americans, relying to the people here, those young people, I met

04:27one young man who has dedicated his life to curing cancer. He is in that lab. He doesn't

04:32know if he's going to be able to continue. America First looks something very different

04:38than what we're purporting here today about creating an efficacious government. The last

04:42thing I will say, and I, again, appreciate knowing a lot about your organization, and

04:47while you don't provide direction necessarily to government departments when they've done

04:54staff reductions, what your agency has done is guide directors to make those reductions

05:02using a process, a process that is concurrent with evaluations, concurrent with making sure

05:11that there's deep communication, making sure that those employees have an exit plan that

05:16will not exacerbate homelessness in our communities. Thousands of workers have been laid off with

05:23no evaluation. We have not stayed true to our union contracts. We need to create a government

05:32that is efficacious and efficient, but this ain't it. Thank you so much. I yield my time.

05:39The Chair recognizes Mr. Fallon from Texas.

'A Betrayal Of The American Promise': Lateefah Simon Laces Into Trump Admin Over VA Layoffs

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