On the recordApril 9, 2025
I am not aware that in the so-called mandate of President Trump--and, by the way, he got millions of votes less than Joe Biden got 4 years previously. I don't recall that during the campaign, Trump went around the country saying: Hey, elect me, and then I will lay off 83,000 workers at the Veterans' Administration. Yes, we all want the VA to operate more efficiently, but the idea that you can lay off 83,000 employees and make that happen is absurd. The truth is, again, before Trump took office, we had a significant shortage in the number of doctors, nurses, mental health counselors, and other practitioners. So it is disturbing to me that anyone who claims to be supporting veterans in this country and the sacrifices they have made would object to this amendment, this resolution. I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
