[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              PROTECTING VETERANS IS NOT GOVERNMENT WASTE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Puerto Rico (Mr. Hernandez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HERNANDEZ. Mr. Speaker, during the past weeks, the Federal 
Government has been cruel to its workforce. It has offered deferred 
resignations. It has laid off employees. It has sent employees 
confusing information.
  As Jorge Santiago-Rivera, a labor leader from the Department of 
Veterans Affairs on the island, has said: The truth is that, yes, we 
live under fear. We live under uncertainty.
  I worry about the well-being of our Federal workers. I worry, in 
particular, about the well-being of the 13,000 Federal employees who 
reside in Puerto Rico, but I also worry about the thousands of veterans 
who rely on the VA for their healthcare needs in Puerto Rico. Why? 
Because the lack of structure and logic behind these cuts directly 
affects them.
  As Mr. Santiago asks: If you lose 10 emergency workers from the ER, 
who helps the patients?
  Unsurprisingly, the VA is now scrambling to deny deferred resignation 
requests. In the past, it has had to rehire workers that it laid off.
  The VA is not the only Federal agency on the island affected by this 
chaotic, irresponsible, negligent program of Federal cuts. The IRS 
reportedly laid off around 200 workers. The National Park Service, the 
USDA, and the national Forest Service are also laying off employees.
  Brenda Reyes Tomassini, a labor leader from the EPA, another agency 
affected, described it best: It is devastating, truly, a brutal level 
of anxiety.
  What makes this even worse is the process. Some of these employees 
have worked for the Federal Government for 15 or 20 years. They 
transferred to new positions, so they appeared as if they were on 
probation and have been terminated. That is unacceptable.
  Members of this Congress have not received accurate information about 
what is happening. I will be the first one to acknowledge that 
government waste exists. It exists at the Federal level, the State 
level, and the municipal level, but protecting our veterans is not 
government waste. Protecting our national parks and protecting our 
national forests, like El Yunque, is not government waste. Protecting 
the employees who work hard to ensure that millionaires and 
billionaires don't cheat on their taxes is not government waste. It is 
what government is for.
  In the coming days, my office will be taking action. We will share 
resources for Federal employees so that they know their rights. We will 
host a tele-townhall to hear directly from affected workers. We will 
demand transparency from the agencies responsible for these layoffs.
  I also urge the Government of Puerto Rico to step up to provide these 
workers the assistance that the government of Puerto Rico usually 
provides to workers who are laid off in the tourism or manufacturing 
sectors.
  To the workers affected, I send a clear message: I know that being 
laid off is painful. It hurts your finances. It hurts your stability. 
It can even hurt your sense of self-worth, but let's be clear: You are 
not the problem. Your government is the problem. I see you, hear you, 
and will fight for you.

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