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From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   VETERANS DESERVE MORE THAN PRESIDENT TRUMP'S DISRUPTIVE EXECUTIVE 
                                 ORDERS

  (Ms. McCLELLAN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to the 
detrimental impacts that President Trump's recent flurry of executive 
orders targeting our workforce are already having.
  Despite being in office for less than 3 days, President Trump has 
already caused major disruptions to the Federal workforce in my 
district.
  The first casualty is the healthcare provided to our veterans. The 
Richmond VA Medical Center in my district was forced to rescind 
employment offers to essential hospital staff. Other VA hospitals 
across the country have done the same, including rescinding employment 
offers to nurses at a time when we face a nursing shortage.
  The new VA medical center set to open in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 
now has to contend with hiring freezes and the inability to staff up, 
jeopardizing their opening in February.
  Medical school students have been told they can't go to the VA for 
clinical rotations because of the hiring freeze, impacting the training 
of a critical workforce provider.
  Our veterans deserve much more than this. They put their lives on the 
line for our Nation and should be able to access the healthcare 
services they need, but this hiring freeze is putting that in jeopardy.

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