Protect America's Workforce Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. TOKUDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today outraged at the ongoing assault on the rights and protections of the Federal workers who serve our Nation, over 48,000 of them in Hawaii alone.

Just yesterday, this House passed the NDAA, meant to strengthen our national defense. However, the NDAA means nothing if we cut down, take away rights, and fail to protect the very workforce that makes national defense possible.

Earlier this year, President Trump issued an executive order dismantling collective bargaining agreements for more than 1 million Federal employees.

Let's be clear: The healthcare we fight to make affordable and accessible, the services we promise our veterans, the readiness we demand of our agencies, none of it is real if we undermine the employees who deliver these services on the front lines. Without them, these are just empty promises, just words.

Collective bargaining, grievance procedures, and whistleblower protections are the foundation of the strong civilian workforce that our national security, veterans, and communities across this country rely on.

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Ms. TOKUDA. Our Hawaii Government Employees Association calls the President's action a direct attack on working Americans. That is why I stand firmly with our union ``ohana'' ``family'' across the country in rejecting these union-busting efforts and urging passage of the Protect America's Workforce Act.

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