NC Democrats speak against federal cuts on the day of Trump's visit to Fort Bragg

Thank you all for taking the time to be here

As you all know Donald Trump is going to be

in Fayetteville later on today and I think that we

felt that he could not go unchecked for the fact

that he's coming here to celebrate veterans and the work

that this administration has done but I think that we

want to highlight what this administration has done to veterans

right now

Doge has already imposed substantial cuts to the Department of

Veterans Affairs leading to hundreds of contracts and cancellations

Throughout North Carolina roughly 2400 layoffs with Donald Trump's administration

suggesting that they will lay off 80,000 more VA employees

and these cuts will have adverse impacts on North Carolina's

veterans in major ways

As of 2022 680,000 veterans called North Carolina home with

an additional 20,000 transitioning out of the military each year

Many of those veterans rely on North Carolina's VA facilities

for their health care including 21% with disabilities

On March 11th the GOP-led House of Representatives passed a

budget that would cut over $20 billion from the toxic

exposure fund eliminating the program that cares for veterans who

have been exposed to burn pits Agent Orange and other

toxic substances through their services to our country

As of May 2024 at least 45,000 of North Carolina's

veterans had approved claims related to toxic exposures and without

the funds there is no guarantee that financial support to

help those veterans with resulting illnesses including cancer will get

the help that they deserve

Cutting the VA violates the sacred promise that we've made

to our veterans a promise to take care

Of those who have sacrificed for us that broken promise

hurts all North Carolinians especially our veterans and the VA

cuts will delay and deny them access to critical care

including for service-connected disabilities

This diminishes access will almost certainly contribute to staggering rates

of veteran homelessness suicide and addiction leaving veterans and their

families to pick up the pieces alone

The VA Secretary Doug Collins has criticized spending on veteran

suicide prevention

In 2021 203 North Carolina veterans died by suicide with

serious mental health conditions afflicting North Carolina veterans at higher

rates than the average population and dotage cuts could leave

them without life-saving care

With the Trump administration suggesting they will lay off over

80,000 more employees veterans can expect longer wait times overworked

providers and

Less access to care

Is this the future that the 5th largest state in

the country for veterans would like to see for the

future of it If not I suggest that the American

people and North Carolina voters today advocate to Congress and

also advocate to this administration that we do not want

to see any cuts any longer in North Carolina and

we'd like to see services restored and better access for

this care across the state of North Carolina

Here to tell you all more today is our second

vice chair of the state party Dr

Kimberly Hardy everybody

Good morning

I'm Doctor Kimberly Hardy 2nd vice chair of the North

Carolina Democratic Party and proud daughter and sister to veterans

of our US military

My father voluntarily enlisted in the United States Marine Corps

to serve two tours in Vietnam

My younger brother was an MP at Marine Corps Base

Quantico and my older brother was stationed right here in

Fayetteville as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division

I have uncles who are veterans friends who have courageously

put on their uniform and served at home and abroad

students in my classes who tell stories of their service

far away from family for months and years at a

time and students in the ROTC program who take their

oaths at commencement every year ready to embark on military

careers

I also know the families of these veterans who rely

on each other and the supportive resources allocated to them

because of their loved one's bravery

Those of us standing here to know today

We know that the whole family serves which means the

whole family deserves the benefits that they were promised and

that help keep their families going

It isn't always material support just SNAP and and Medicaid

but it's also other things like access to mental health

care resources

As a social worker I know how vital it is

that veterans have access to mental health care

The VA employs over 18,000 social workers nationwide making it

the largest employer of social workers in the country

They provide critical life saving

Mental health care to those veterans working to process through

the trauma stress grief and loss issues stemming from their

military service

Trump's proposed budget bill will severely limit access to that

care due in part to the potential for massive layoffs

of these critical personnel many of whom are veterans themselves

Let me put into stark relief when I say when

I mean life saving care

In 2024 the VA estimated that on average 17 veterans

died by suicide

Each day in this country

Across the nation's 172 VA medical centers over 1.7 million

veterans utilize mental health care programs such as peer support

groups individual and group therapy and medication management and over

9.1 million veterans utilize outpatient and telehealth services

There are over 24,000 veterans living in Fayetteville and some

are living in parks just like this one

Some live under bridges and in doorways because they can't

access supportive housing

Substance abuse or mental health programs even with the VA

currently funded at it at its available resources

In January 2024 over 32,000 veterans experienced homelessness on any

given night in this country and 40% of veterans are

currently battling addiction to drugs or alcohol

Trump's plan would needlessly exacerbate those numbers by cutting millions

of dollars from existing programs

His disdain for our military has been evidenced repeatedly over

the years

Most recently From West Point's graduation to the streets of

Los Angeles

How dare he come to Fayetteville North Carolina today to

use the celebration of the Army's 250th birthday as a

photo op while his sycophants in Congress work at his

behest to deprive veterans of their well-deserved care

The sign in front of the VA hospital down the

street from here says the price of freedom is visible

here

Trump has no respect for the men and women who

made our freedom a priority and this bill says that

Veterans are not a priority for him

With that in mind we stand here today because we

refuse to allow Trump to enter our military sphere without

a real recognition of our brave servicemen and women

Thank you all for your service for your unwavering dedication

for all that you have done

Happy birthday to our US Army

Next up I'd like to introduce Sergeant Gerard Falls eighty-second

Airborne combat veteran educational leader and community nonprofit leader

Right

All right thank you Dr

Hardy and welcome everyone

My name is Gerard Falls and I am a combat

veteran

I served in the 82nd Airborne honorably right here defending

liberty at Fort Alvin Bragg living out the Army values

every single day loyalty duty respect selfless service honor

Integrity and personal courage

I'd like to repeat a couple of those honor integrity

and personal courage

In the army I found working people everyday people coming

together from all walks of life for the greater purpose

a greater purpose a commitment to a more just and

perfect union dedicated to life liberty and the pursuit of

happiness

And like so many others that service didn't end when

I got out of the army in 2008

For those of us who are so fortunate to have

come back home after service our commitment to those values

to our community to our nation to our Constitution itself

continues

Our obligations to all of our neighbors continues

I have a serious question for the folks behind me

for example and those who have joined us today

Were any of you paid to be here and I'm

not talking to the reporters Were any of you paid

to be here Were any of you ordered to be

here today That may sound like silly questions but that's

exactly what's going to be happening today on post when

Donald Trump lines up a bunch of soldiers

A man who betrays them and the army values with

every breath that he makes calling them losers and suckers

lines them up in a parade field on post to

serve as a captive audience for his boring and egotistical

musings

The United States military exists to selflessly defend the Constitution

of the United States of America not to assist in

the preservation of one selfish man's ego who had turned

us against each other for his own personal preservation and

enrichment

One final note there's an open secret in military communities

Veterans military families and even active duty service members are

the backbone of organizing for progressive values and working people

at the community level and this work is ongoing and

it will continue

We know the values that we're fighting for and our

efforts have no fatigue

We will keep on organizing and fighting for our values

each and every day

That's what democracy looks like

Thank you and happy 250th anniversary to the United States

Army

And last up today to speak to you all we

have Doctor Vicky Andrews

She serves as our veterans and military caucus chair

Yeah

Uh good morning

Good morning

So you know you can tell I'm old school cause

I'm not doing this on my phone

I'm old school

So today is another tough day in our country's history

The way this administration governs seemingly by executive order at

a dizzying pace is breathtaking

Now active duty military members are being sent to Los

Angeles to protect federal and uh sorry federal personnel and

property

Active duty military members are being sent to Los Angeles

They're they're gonna serve alongside the National Guard presence that

wasn't even requested

It's a stark contrast to the delayed response in deploying

troops during the January 6th attack on our Capitol

And now the idea of arresting a sitting governor no

matter where you stand politically that's something that should make

everybody stop and think

From unidentified federal agents detaining people on the streets you

know the ones with the mask or the face coverings

To mass firing of experienced civil servants to giving virtually

unrestricted access to personal information like Social Security numbers

It's all happening right now

Active duty troops are being used in ways that feels

dangerously close to politicizing I'm sorry to policing our citizens

That's not what they signed up for

On top of that tariffs are driving up costs leaving

everyday people to bear the burden as prices climb

It's disheartening to hear some people cheer this kind of

leadership

The reality is setting in for others especially veterans

I had conversations with veterans across our state including those

who voted for this president

Many regret their decision

They never thought the administration would backtrack on the promises

made to them when they signed up to serve our

country

Now they're generally genuinely worried

They're concerned about whether health care that they were promised

will still be there when they need it

They wonder if the Social Security system they paid into

will still be available to them

And most of all they fear that the freedoms they

fought for so hard to defend are starting to slip

away

Now I say they they are worried

I am worried because I am a veteran also and

honestly we all should be

And my chair

Um any questions from the folks that are here today

I'm hoping we might have covered it

I would like to know some more on the reaction

to President Trump authorizing the deployment of National Guardsmen to

LA to handle those protests as well as um the

US Marines

Doctor would you like to tell it I know you

mentioned some of that but see seeing those seeing the

point of US soldiers on the streets of Los Angeles

So first of all I I would say a couple

of things

That is not that is not what we signed up

for when we signed up

And and to do that without the governor asking for

it because the governor's on the ground um

I have friends that are there right now so I

feel a little bit passionate about this

Uh soldiers are going to do what they're supposed to

do

They follow legal orders

This is a tough one for them because they're conflicted

and they're worried

It looks like when you see it that that's all

of Los Angeles

It really is not

It feels to me like it's a manufactured something to

lead to something else but the ones that I know

are are doing it because they're supposed to follow orders

but they're not happy

I have friends that work there they're not happy either

It's not what they're asking for

And so I think that we we need to pay

attention and call it out because it can

It's just like the first step on a slippery slope

and there's no telling where it will go and none

of this sounds good to me

What do you need to hear from President Trump to

ease any concerns that you may have right now about

cuts federal funding cuts job cuts Is there anything that

you can that you want to hear from President Trump

today when he makes his remarks that could bring some

ease to the concerns that you guys share here today

I'll answer and I'll let someone answer

For me um I don't think it matters what we

hear because I don't believe what he says and I

think he's demonstrated that he's not

Truthful and doesn't have a whole lot of integrity so

I don't think it matters

He can say what he wants to say

I'm not believing that

I'm sorry

just take it away truly um

I think that his actions proved more than his words

and right now we are seeing this administration going in

and single-handedly try to destroy and rip health care away

from millions of people across the state and across this

country trying to take away SAP benefits from 2.9 million

people in North Carolina 1.3 million that are children that

are also impacted veterans' families and I think that right

now we are not seeing an administration that's listening to

the needs of the people on the ground

It's listening to the billionaires and the purse strings in

Washington DC that are controlling him right now

Um could y'all talk a little bit about the parade

plan for this weekend in DC and just kind of

what the North Carolina Democratic Party's take is on that

um how they're viewing use of our armed forces in

that manner

It's politicizing our armed forces in a way that I

don't think we've seen a former president do at least

to this extent and I also believe that it's a

lavish birthday party that he's throwing for himself to the

point that Dr

Andrews made earlier

I don't think he cares about anybody else but himself

in this instance

Doctor Hardy

And right I was going to say like when he's

he's touting this alleged savings of all of this money

from Doge none of which is actually doing anything to

help with fraud waste and abuse because that parade itself

is a clear indication of fraud waste and abuse

He wants to be a dictator

He wants to be a king and so he thinks

that he should get a kingly presidential kingly procession down

the streets of Washington DC

This is costing us millions

This is making us less safe because it's taking active

duty military personnel and machinery and bringing it into DC

So we are and all because he just he wants

to be a king

And so we have to push back against this

The people have already said that this is not what

they want

The the governor to what Dr

Andrews said did not ask for this in LA

This man is singularly focused on building this bizarre weird

legacy and it's coming at the expense of all of

our safety and many of our tax dollars

Um for Gerard just as a veteran and someone who

started the second and Doctor Andrews as well

Um can you guys talk a little bit you used

the phrase captive audience with the soldiers on

today

Can you talk you know from your perspective as a

soldier what it's like when a president or any other

member of the administration comes and talks about a political

agenda What is a soldier's place in that Absolutely

So in Christmas Day of 2006 I was called up

because we were a rapid response unit to a three

month deployment in Iraq

It was called the surge

That turned into an 18 month deployment and when we

returned I was actually exposed to those burn pits that

we talked about earlier during that time

When we returned I was just about to get out

and President Bush wanted to

President Bush wanted to show up and give a speech

on the parade field for all the soldiers and in

2008 let me tell you the soldiers were not feeling

particularly friendly about what they had just been through and

how they were treated

All our weapons were completely disarmed and we sat there

on orders passing out in the field

I can only imagine the conversations that are happening between

soldiers today

While they're standing out there listening to this man just

flex his ego I can only imagine the conversations and

I would encourage them to share those conversations

But you know if you're going to go there today

go speak to some of those soldiers

They may be off the record but us veterans can

tell you exactly what it's like to stand out there

to serve one man's ego when we're in the military

to serve our nation

Thank you all very much for being here

Oh

Thank you all so much

I really appreciate it

Y'all have been so eloquent today

I I wonder if any of y'all are going to

be speaking on Saturday at any rally or we can

we can't get the information

OK

Thank you

We do have a day here