January 30, 2018

Ranking Member Walz Statement Following State Of The Union Address

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) released the following statement following President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress:

“Since President Trump has taken office, he has not been the champion for veterans he promised to be,” said Rep. Walz, the highest ranking enlisted servicemember ever to serve in Congress. 
 
“During the 2016 presidential election, President Trump made service to veterans a central pillar of his campaign, a promise he reiterated during his speech to a joint session of Congress in March of last year, as well as tonight. At the time of Trump’s speech to the joint session, I believed the devil would be in the details, because then, like tonight, President Trump failed to convey even a single specific detail as to how he would improve VA or the lives of our nation’s 22 million veterans and their families in the future.”
 
“The legacy of President Trump’s first year in office will be marked by his attempt to move critical VA services into the private sector, merge VA and TRICARE behind closed doors, and put forth a budget that put our nation’s most vulnerable veterans at risk, all while he and his colleagues in Congress put tax breaks for the wealthy and cuts to Medicaid before the needs of millions of our nation’s veterans, their families, and their caregivers.”
 
“And while President Trump and I may disagree on policy, it was my sincere hope at the beginning of 2017 that we at least shared the core belief that each and every servicemember, veteran, and military family is owed nothing less than total respect and admiration. Sadly, I was mistaken. Time and again, I have found myself terribly disappointed in how President Trump has treated those who have served or are currently serving. From President Trump’s use of a racial slur to describe Senator Elizabeth Warren while he was supposed to be honoring the legendary service of the Navajo Code Talkers, to publicly humiliating a Gold Star widow, to announcing over Twitter a shameful ban on transgender individuals serving in our military, it has been made clear over and over that President Trump is not the Commander-in-Chief that our citizens, especially our servicemembers and veterans, deserve.”
 
“In spite of this, over the past year, Democrats and Republicans on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs showed Washington what it truly means to be bipartisan, as our members have frequently set aside their differences, worked together, and gotten things done to improve the lives of veterans and their families. I am confident Democrats and Republicans on the VA Committees in Congress will continue this trend, and I stand ready to work with Secretary Shulkin whenever and wherever possible to find bipartisan solutions to the problems impacting the men and women who have bravely served in uniform.”

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