    [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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