There is no such thing as a good
shutdown. So I just wanted to come to the floor today and be very, very blunt. On behalf of anybody in Virginia and in this country who is afraid of
how a government shutdown could impact them or their communities; on
behalf of troops, veterans, military families, and members of our
Department of Defense who keep us safe every day; on behalf of veterans
who fought for this country and who need the Federal Government to cut
the backlog on disability claims or medical appointments at the VA; on
behalf of every senior citizen or disabled person who has a case
awaiting resolution by Social Security or Medicare or CMS; on behalf of
170,000 Federal employees living in Virginia and the people and
communities they serve; on behalf of cities and counties around
Virginia that rely on Federal support for infrastructure projects,
economic development assistance, opioid prevention efforts, export
promotion, and so many other critical programs; on behalf of Virginians
struggling with disease and illness who pray for lifesaving cures
developed through federally funded medical research; on behalf of our
dynamic businesses and all of their workers, who need certainty from
Washington in order to create jobs and expand the economy; on behalf of
Virginia students and families who rely on Head Start Programs or rely
on federally funded work study programs so they can work their way
through college; on behalf of all Virginians and all Americans who
deserve to have clean water, breathable air, beautiful open space, safe
food and drugs, violence-free communities, a functional immigration
system, and protection from cyber threats; and on behalf of the
reputation of this Nation and the values that we proudly claim as
American values, I will do anything and everything in my power as a
U.S. Senator to stop any Trump shutdown, to stop any good shutdown of
the government of the greatest Nation on this Earth, either now or
during September or during the remainder of his term. I call on all of
my colleagues to take a similar pledge.
Keywords matched
immigration