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Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSEN. Mr. President, my State of Nevada is unique. We are big in physical size, but relatively small in population. We are independent people, but have a strong allegiance to our Nation. After all, we are the Battle Born State, born during the Civil War. And while we don't like Washington telling us what to do, Nevadans depend on Federal resources to help our communities.

Now, it is simple. By coming together to form our Union and paying taxes, Nevadans deserve to receive our fair share of funding from the Federal Government. It is hard not to be affected by what goes on in Washington when more than 80 percent of your State--of our land--is owned by the Federal Government, more than any other State. Think about that. Eighty percent of Nevada is owned by the Federal Government. That is why I take my responsibility as representative of the people of Nevada incredibly seriously. It is why I rise today to speak on behalf of the reckless, cruel, and illegal action that President Trump took to freeze virtually all Federal grants and loans.

While this administration has now rescinded the memo from the Office of Management and Budget that announced the freeze, they have been clear that the funding freeze continues, adding to the chaos and confusion. Lack of clarity as to which programs will be affected and which ones would not be has been having devastating effects in States like my own and so many others. In fact, more than 30 percent of the Governor's budget for the next 2 years relies on Federal funding, which is why this issue is critical for our State.

Since President Trump's administration issued the guidance on Monday night, my office has received hundreds of calls and emails from Nevadans who are rightfully concerned just about what this would mean for them, for their families, for their jobs. We also received additional emails and calls from nonprofits, from service providers, from community stakeholders who depend on this funding and support Nevadans.

One of the messages my office received was from the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth. This partnership helps get young people, kids--kids--off the streets. And while many in this Chamber disagree about a lot of things, I think all of us agree that helping homeless kids is important work.

So I want to read part of their letter because I think it encapsulates what a lot of organizations that provide critical services--well, just what they have been feeling. They said this:

This decision will have an immediate and severe impact on organizations like ours, as well as countless others in Nevada and across the country.

Much of this funding has already been allocated and committed through contracts, and the sudden halt creates chaos and uncertainty for agencies that provide critical services.

Many organizations in our community simply do not have the financial reserves to operate for more than a few months without these funds.

It is not just the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth that we heard from. My office also heard from Northern Nevada HOPES, a community health center based in Reno, NV. Northern Nevada HOPES provides affordable, high-quality healthcare services to people in our community, those who need it the most. In fact, 56 percent of their patients live at or below the Federal poverty level, and 10 percent experience homelessness.

This is what Northern Nevada HOPES told my office. I am going to quote again:

At Northern Nevada HOPES, this pause has significant implications for the services we provide to over 17,000 patients . . . many of whom are children and families.

As we assess the situation, we have been forced to take immediate actions, including implementing a hiring freeze and preparing to limit care for patients who rely on our sliding fee scale, including those who are uninsured or underinsured.

Think about that. Think about these children. Think about these families. President Trump's chaos and reckless actions have put the health of Nevada's families in jeopardy. That that means kids who need to go see a doctor, women who need to get a cancer screening--take a point off the script here. My mom passed away from cancer. No one should miss their cancer screenings.

It is impacting older people who need lifesaving medication, and all of them could be affected by this terrible, terrible action.

Many seniors also rely on other vital programs like Meals on Wheels to access the nutrition they need to live independently and with dignity. I have seen this critical work up close.

A few years ago, I joined an organization to deliver meals to seniors in Boulder City, NV. Seeing the joy on the faces of the seniors we visited is something I won't forget. They know the folks who come on their route to deliver to them. It is not just a meal for them, Meals on Wheels. It is a lifeline. They don't just provide nutritious foods for seniors who might be housebound, isolated, or living on a fixed income. These people become their friends, their lifeline.

For thousands of seniors in Nevada, this program is also their primary source of nutrition. In 1 year alone, Federal funding allowed Meals on Wheels to serve more than 2.5 million meals to seniors across Nevada.

In Nevada--I am sure in your State, too, Mr. President--we take care of our seniors. President Trump's proposed freeze on Federal funding threatens them all--threatens them all. Pausing the funding to this critical program means denying our seniors, our elderly, their access to something so essential, so comforting, a meal--a meal.

And the possibility of an interruption to this service, even temporarily, means seniors in Nevada and across the country lose the certainty of knowing where their next meal will come from and the comfort of the visit of the person who brings it to them and oftentimes sits with them, listens to them, and gives them that comfort care that is so important to all of us.

I just want everyone to think about that. Is this who we are, taking meals away from seniors--Meals on Wheels? I hope not.

Another essential service under threat of this Trump funding freeze is public safety, something everybody worries about. And this action will make our communities less safe and stop critically needed Federal funding from reaching law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders who look out for our communities each and every day. These heroic men and women depend on the funding from Federal programs to do their jobs safely and to protect our communities effectively.

And here are just a few examples of how this freeze will impact them.

Nevada, unfortunately, is no stranger to the horrific impact of wildfires and fires in general. Whether it is raging wildfires or the standard fire emergencies that happen in communities, well, they happen every day across our State. And the men and the women who make up our fire departments, they rely in part on Federal grants to purchase that equipment needed to do their job safely and effectively--equipment like emergency vehicles they travel in, the protective suits they put on, the helmets they wear, the oxygen tanks they carry so they can breathe fresh air while they save someone's life, and the tools that they wield to stop those fires from destroying people's lives, homes, and livelihoods. Each and every part of this gear is critical for our firefighters and for their safety.

Our firefighters also rely on Federal funding in order to make sure they have the staffing levels they need. Firefighting, like much of the work of our first responders, goes 24/7, 365 days a year. You never know when the next emergency will happen; it just will. You must always be ready. You must always be prepared. You don't know when it is going to happen. But our firefighters, our first responders stand ready, at a moment's notice, to run in to save the rest of us.

Let me tell you, when there is a fire in our State, our firefighters aren't clocking in at 9 o'clock and clocking out at 5 o'clock. They keep working around the clock until the fire is out and the job is done, until everyone is safe and the emergency is passed. And when we don't have the proper staffing levels, when our communities don't have the numbers of firefighters they need, well, our State suffers, our community suffers, families suffer. The damage is real, like I said, not just lives--lives, livelihood, and communities. It is devastating.

Thankfully, there is Federal funding through the SAFER Program to address this issue, to increase and maintain a number of trained firefighters who are serving on the frontlines and are available to respond in our communities when an emergency happens.

The bad news--not just bad; the sad news, the cruel news--is that this kind of funding is the kind that President Trump's order could freeze. This doesn't make us safer. It doesn't save us money. It just puts us and our families and those we love and our communities in greater danger.

Like I said, it is not just firefighters who feel the effects of this freeze. Our law enforcement officers in Nevada could also be affected, and that is going to have a direct impact on public safety.

So make no mistake, like all 50 States, my State relies on funding from the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, also known as the COPS program. At a time when we are facing a national police shortage, this program allows Nevada to hire more officers who serve in our communities and take part in community policing efforts, building trust, engaging with Nevadans, combating crime.

Who would oppose that?

Well, due to the President's Federal freeze, this money could now be in jeopardy.

As Nevada and the rest of the Nation continue to deal with the deadly impact of the fentanyl crisis, this freeze could rob us of critical tools to combat this dangerous and deadly drug. Over the last few years, fentanyl has fueled a crisis in Nevada. Families across our State have seen loved ones face addiction and overdose. Hundreds of Nevadans are losing their lives each and every year from fentanyl.

This isn't a red State problem or a blue State problem. It is a national problem, and it is a crisis in Nevada. The State's opioid response programs, which do depend on Federal grant funding, are critical to reducing harm and preventing overdoses in our communities.

I have spoken with law enforcement officers in Nevada. I have spoken with parents and family members and friends who lost loved ones to fentanyl. It is clear that we need to be doing more to tackle this issue. And this freeze--this cruel freeze--does nothing to help; it is quite the contrary. If this funding were impacted, again, it would hurt our communities. It would hurt our families, our friends, our neighbors, those we love.

As long as we are talking about programs that are vital to community safety and well-being, we can't forget about the potential impact on our veterans. In Nevada, our veterans have always been top priority. I can tell you, I am so worried about how this funding freeze would jeopardize programs that support veterans' transition back to civilian life, provide them critical services, preserving the legacy of those who served, and so much more.

Take for example, if you will, a program called the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program, which provided $17 million to Nevada to help homeless women veterans and veterans with children find secure and stable housing and employment. The Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program is helping women veterans. For many of these veterans, this program provides them with the resources that they need to rebuild their lives.

These men and women signed on the dotted line, and they fought to protect our freedom. And the very least we can do is make sure they have the resources and support when they return home.

There is also the Veterans Legacy Grant Program, which provided more than $2 million to Nevada to help preserve the history of our men and women in uniform so that we can honor their service and show them how grateful and thankful we are to them and to their families.

A pause in funding for something as critical as the Veterans Legacy Grants Program would threaten a key resource for educating future generations about the legacy and sacrifice of our veterans. The history of our veterans matters, and a pause in this money would be a slap in the face to those who literally, like I said, put their lives on the line to protect all of us--you, me, all of us--every single day.

The Trump administration has said that their pause won't impact programs for the VA, that all of the Agencies' programs pass their so- called review. But the administration also said it was rescinding the memo that started the pause. Then, not an hour later, they sowed confusion and uncertainty by saying the funding freeze is back on. So what is it? How can we believe them? It is one thing until it is not. It is another thing until it is not. It is chaos. Why would we trust them now with critical funding for our veterans? Why would we risk that?

I can keep going on and on about all of the ways that President Trump's freeze would hurt my State of Nevada. I could talk about how this freeze led to a disruption on the Medicaid website, which was down for hours, affecting Nevadans who rely on this critical program to literally stay alive in many cases, and this is precisely--precisely-- the problem. The chaos and the disruption that this reckless action has caused is just unnecessary, and it is harmful. It is helping no one.

So I want to ask everyone at home--I want to ask you at home--to think about this: How is any of this actually helping you? Is it helping you at the grocery store? Is it helping you at the gas pump? Is it helping you get an affordable home?

It is not.

That is why I call on President Trump to fully and permanently rescind this harmful Executive order to freeze Federal funds now. Nevada families are watching. Nevada families are waiting to see if President Trump thinks that they really matter.

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