{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mcbride.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-mcbride-honors-veterans-condemns-budget-attacks-va-services-ahead-memorial", "Rep. McBride Honors Veterans, Condemns Budget Attacks on VA Services Ahead of Memorial Day", "2025-05-21", "2025", "2025-05", "Democrat", "House", "DE", "Sarah McBride", "M001238", "mcbride.house.gov", "mcbride", "https://mcbride.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Congresswoman Sarah McBride (D-DE) delivered a floor speech ahead of Memorial Day, condemning ongoing Republican proposals to slash funding for veterans\u2019 services and break America\u2019s sacred promise to those who served. She warned that the Trump Administration\u2019s mass layoffs and the House Republican budget would inflict real harm on veterans.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t support veterans by handing them a folded flag with one hand and cutting their lifelines with the other,\u201d said Rep. McBride. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just bad budgeting. It\u2019s a betrayal.\u201d\n\nMcBride recently joined veterans, families, and care providers in Delaware to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Wilmington VA Medical Center, which provided over 338,000 appointments last year alone. She praised the center\u2019s record of care as a model of the promise the federal government must fulfill every day.\n\n\u201cEvery single one of those visits is fulfilling a sacred promise that the government has made to show up for those who have sacrificed for all of us,\u201d McBride said.\n\nMcBride cited new efforts by the Trump Administration to fire nearly 6,000 VA workers, with proposals under consideration to lay off up to 80,000 more employees\u2014including the very staff who process veterans' benefits and deliver life-saving care.\n\nShe also highlighted that more than 1.6 million veterans rely on Medicaid, and that cuts to VA services, Medicaid, and SNAP would fall hardest on disabled, aging, and rural veterans.\n\n\u201cVeterans who fought for our country should not be forced to fight for the coverage and assistance they earned long ago,\u201d said McBride. \u201cDelaware\u2019s veterans\u2014and veterans across this country\u2014don\u2019t need slogans. They need support.\u201d\n\nMcBride called on Congress to reject proposals that would undermine veterans\u2019 care and dignity and urged her colleagues to heed President Lincoln\u2019s charge: \u201cAny nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.\u201d\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t come to Congress to sanction cruelty,\u201d McBride concluded. \u201cI came to keep our word.\u201d\n\nWatch the full floor speech here. Read the full transcript below.\n\n\u201cMr. Speaker,\n\n\u201cEarlier this month, I joined veterans, families, and care providers to celebrate 75 years of service at the Wilmington VA Medical Center \u2014 a facility that provided three hundred thirty-eight thousand appointments last year alone.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s visits to a primary care doctor, a dentist, drug and alcohol counseling. Every single one of those visits is fulfilling a sacred promise that the government has made to show up for those who have sacrificed for all of us.\n\n\u201cAs we head into Memorial Day Weekend, we must recognize the responsibility that we have, as elected officials \u2014 not just on Monday but every day of the year \u2014 to honor those who have given their last full measure of devotion by fulfilling our commitment to all who have served this country.\n\n\u201cOur country has long recognized the value of service by promising our veterans that, no matter who sits in the Oval Office or behind this dais, they will be cared for and protected.\n\n\u201cBut today, that promise is in jeopardy.\n\n\u201cNearly 6,000 veterans have already been summarily fired by the Trump administration. And now, they\u2019re pushing a plan to lay off 80,000 of the very workers who process benefits and facilitate life-saving care through the VA.\n\n\u201cAnd if that weren\u2019t enough, as I speak, Congressional Republicans are continuing to advance a budget that would slash support for veterans even further \u2014 undermining health care, housing assistance, and food support.\n\n\u201cLet me be clear: you don\u2019t support veterans by handing them a folded flag with one hand and cutting their lifelines with the other.\n\n\u201cMore than 1.6 million veterans rely on Medicaid for their health coverage. If House Republicans succeed in their slash and burn proposal it will mean real harm for veterans and their families.\n\n\u201cMy constituents are warning me \u2014 and they\u2019re right \u2014 that cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and VA services will fall hardest on hurt disabled and aging veterans, especially in rural areas and communities of color.\n\n\u201cHouse Republicans have chosen to unilaterally pursue a budget that puts tax cuts for billionaires ahead of care for the people who wore the uniform.\n\n\u201cThis is not just bad budgeting. It\u2019s a betrayal.\n\n\u201cDelaware\u2019s veterans \u2014 and veterans across this country \u2014 don\u2019t need slogans. They need support. They need stable housing. They need accessible health care. They need us to keep our promise to them.\n\n\u201cVeterans who fought for our country should not be forced to fight for the coverage and assistance they earned long ago.\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t come to Congress to sanction cruelty. I came to keep our word. To ensure that the veterans I met at the Wilmington VA \u2014 and the tens of thousands more across our state \u2014 are treated not as political props but as patriots deserving dignity.\n\n\u201cThis Memorial Day, I urge my colleagues to follow the famous charge of President Lincoln: \u201cAny nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.\u201d No mission is more important or righteous.\n\n\u201cThank you. I yield back.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T00:49:36Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mcbride.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-mcbride-honors-veterans-condemns-budget-attacks-va-services-ahead-memorial"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.820654073730111, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}