With “President” Trump scheduled to deliver a supposedly “major” announcement today (don’t hold your breath!), see below for video of Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine meeting Thursday with federal employees who are furloughed or working without pay during the Trump/GOP government shutdown — now in Day #28. First, here are quotes by Senators Warner and Kaine from their Facebook pages.
Sen. Mark Warner – “A lot of the federal workers who are furloughed or working without pay serve in positions that help keep Americans safe. I’m here with Tim Kaine and air traffic controllers, TSA agents, and other federal workers from Virginia. It’s time to reopen the government and let these people focus on their important work.”
Sen. Tim Kaine – “Senator Mark Warner and I are meeting with members of NATCA, members of AFGE, and federal employees focused on safety to discuss the harmful impacts of President Trump’s government shutdown. By punishing federal employees who work to keep our country safe, President Trump is hurting the security of the American people. It’s time for the President to end this shutdown now.”
Now, here’s the video. The bottom line is that no matter what you think about immigration and/or “the wall,” there’s absolutely ZERO excuse for shutting down the government “over a policy discussion,” as Sen. Warner put it. Not only is this Trump/GOP shutdown hurting lots of hard-working, dedicated people, like the ones in this forum, but it’s also hurting the important WORK these people do every day for our country, as well as the tens of millions of Americans who depend on (and whose tax dollars fund) that work. So, fine, disagree over the types of border security measures that would be beneficial – and note that Democrats have voted many times for large expenditures on border security, as well as bipartisan/comprehensive immigration reform legislation – but the government needs to be fully reopened immediately. End of story. This is absolutely inexcusable.
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
