Monday, March 3 — U.S. Rep. Donald Beyer whose 8th District of Northern Virginia includes the City of Falls Church, told constituents on a telephone town hall this afternoon that he will not be present when President Trump addresses a joint session of Congress tomorrow night.
“The State of the Union message is a hallowed tradition, but this president has shown a contempt for Congress, treating it like it doesn’t exist while thousands of lives are being destroyed. He says things that are simply not true, that are fabricated, he’s lied 10s of thousands of times, while firing people who are curing diseases, preventing natural disasters, fighting hunger and homelessness and who are our neighbors. Hundreds of thousands are dying of starvation in the third world, cases of Ebola are rising, children born with AIDS are receiving none of the care that would be available, and polio and malaria cases are on the rise. This is unacceptable. I will not listen to that garbage. I would be disappointed watching Republicans stand up and cheer him,” Beyer intoned.
Beyer also left open the question of whether he will vote for a continuing resolution to keep the government operating after March 24, noting that Trump has illegally impounded funds that Congress has authorized.
“I have never known anyone who has less empathy, less love, for other human beings than this man,” Beyer said, also warning of the national security threat of “having a Russian puppet in the White House.” He said there are reports that a half-million tons of food are now idled in U.S. ports and farmers are “raiding holy hell” because they are not getting paid to provide the food required to feed starving millions.
But Beyer focused on ways to address the crisis, noting that over 100 lawsuits have been filed against what Trump and Elon Musk have been doing, with some significant wins against some funding freezes, access to personal information, the stripping of rights and more.
He said there will be an event at Wakefield High School in Arlington this Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. sponsored by all the local governments of this region that will everything from legal advice to food assistance with participation by many of the over 100 non-profits in the 8th Congressional District alone.
There is also an important election in Virginia this year, including for governor and all state representatives, he said. He urged people to tell their stories, noting that there is now a place to do that on his website.
Beyer said he will do everything he can to get Robert F. Kennedy fired from his Health and Human Services position, noting that he is one of the world’s foremost anti-vaxxers, and that he continues to spout debunked theories while ignoring well-established practices that are leaving the nation vulnerable to outbreaks of measles, the bird flu and many other diseases, making the nation unhealthier.
“Social security and Medicare are not an entitlements,” he added. “They are programs that Americans have paid into their entire adult lives. “Medicaid is an essential program to help the less fortunate,” and Virginia alone is at risk now of having over 650,000 kicked off Medicaid.
Beyer assailed the attacks on transgender Americans, including the cutting off of services in Iowa this week. “The only requirement a person has to answer two is the question of whether or not they can do the job, nothing else,” he said.
Beyer said he is producing a new newsletter and is urging constituents to go on his website, or to YouTube or Blue Sky, and tell their stories of why their work is vital to humanity and democracy.
