Source: United States House of Representatives – Julia Brownley (D-CA)
Washington, DC — Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) issued the following statement in response to Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address:
“For nearly two hours, Donald Trump delivered divisive rhetoric, empty platitudes, and blatant falsehoods. Instead of addressing the true state of our union, he deflected from the chaos and cruelty of his administration and peddled distortions to distract from his failure to deliver for the American people.
“But the American people are not easily fooled. They see how Donald Trump has turned our country into a blank checkbook for his family and their billionaire donors. The so-called ‘party of fiscal responsibility’ has ballooned the national debt to hand massive tax breaks to the wealthy, while families across the country struggle to make ends meet.
“Donald Trump claimed he will ‘always protect Social Security and Medicare.’ What he did not say is that he gutted Medicaid, weakened the Affordable Care Act, and put Medicare at risk. Twenty-two million Americans are seeing their health insurance costs skyrocket, and 10 million more are losing coverage altogether. Trump continued to lie about implementing ‘no tax on Social Security’ while actively pushing efforts to privatize the program and jeopardize seniors’ hard-earned benefits.
“His distortion of reality did not stop there. When he boasted about lifting millions of Americans off of food assistance, he was relying on figures that include the hundreds of thousands of Americans he denied benefits to when he weaponized hunger during his government shutdown. And in the wake of Trump’s One Big Ugly Law, millions more are bracing for the loss of critical food assistance as grocery prices climb because of his illegal tariffs — tariffs paid for by American families, not foreign countries.
“And while he declared America the ‘hottest’ country on Earth, he failed to mention that his administration has rolled back more than a decade of climate safeguards, weakened emissions standards, and stripped protections from our air, water, and public lands. He has chosen polluters over people and profits over the health of our planet.
“And as his assault on our climate, economy, and health care infrastructure continues to escalate, his militarization of immigration enforcement continues to appall the conscience of our nation. We have witnessed children, veterans, law-abiding immigrants, and more than 170 U.S. citizens get caught in the crosshairs of a reckless, untrained, and unaccountable militia. Under the guise of enforcement, Trump has abandoned due process, endorsed brutality, and jeopardized public safety, all while diverting significant resources from agencies that actually ensure our homeland’s security.
“At home and abroad, Trump has embroiled the United States in constant conflict, frequently deploying our troops preemptively and unlawfully weaponizing our military against the American people. Despite being responsible for this brazen lawlessness, Trump doubled down on the myth of rampant noncitizen voting, while omitting how his billion-dollar bailouts to foreign countries and pardons of convicted drug traffickers have done nothing to prioritize American citizens.
“And he could not even bring himself to acknowledge the Epstein survivors in the chamber, including my guest, Lara Blume McGee, who has bravely come forward to call for transparency and accountability. Survivors have yet to receive an apology from this administration, let alone the justice they deserve.
“In what is now the longest State of the Union address on record, Donald Trump once again fell short and delivered confusion instead of clarity and excuses instead of accountability. Instead of solutions, Trump resorted to a barrage of lies that insults the lived realities of hardworking Americans. We are not in the ‘Golden Age of America.’ We are confronting the consequences of a self-serving agenda enabled by Republicans in Congress who have chosen loyalty to one man over their oath to the Constitution.
“I boycotted my last State of the Union because I could not give credence to a man who has so little respect for the pillars and values upon which our nation was founded. And I will continue to take a stand against this administration’s abuses and keep fighting to make the American Dream a tangible reality for the people I was elected to serve.”
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Issues: 119th Congress