Statements at the Bergman(less) Town Hall, JS, VT, SG

Statements shared from the Houghton Bergman(less) Town Hall on March 18th. Send me yours if you'd like to share (anonymously, if you prefer.)

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Jenn S.
Representative Bergman: My name is Jennifer Slack. I am a constituent.

I have called your office, talked with your aides, and received several letters back from you. I thank you for that. However, the contents of the letters, in response to my questions and concerns, are deeply disturbing.
 
One of those letters was in response to a question I asked, and will ask again, DO YOU BELIEVE THAT RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE? I asked your aide specifically for a yes or no answer. You responded with this:
 
“I contend that President Zelenskyy, and other leaders must earnestly engage in peace negotiations and demonstrate transparency in how foreign aid is utilized.”
 
So, instead of an answer, you chose to challenge Zelenskyy’s integrity? It doesn’t matter that Russia invaded Ukraine? Or are you afraid to speak the simple truth because Donald Trump doesn’t want you to? I remind you, you represent US, you answer to US, not Donald Trump.
 
So why does your non-answer matter? Because Ukraine is not, as you say in the letter, “taking us for granted.” Ukrainians remember the dark days under the terror of the Soviet Union. Ukraine is fighting valiantly to hold back Russian aggression against the free world: against Eastern Europe, against Europe, even against US! Why wouldn’t we support that unless we have decided to join Putin and Russia to destroy the free world?
 
So, I ask again, did Russia invade Ukraine?
You sent another letter in response to my concerns about Elon Musk and DOGE illegally firing government employees, eliminating life-saving programs and agencies, dismantling the VA, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. 
 
Remember, according to Article I of the Constitution, it is YOUR responsibility, as a member of the People’s House, along with the Senate, to make these decisions, not to turn these crucial decisions over to the president and his unelected, unvetted, out of control Elon Musk with his adolescent computer hackers, where decisions are made in secrecy without debate and transparency.  
 
The separation of powers specified in the Constitution is clear. That separation is crucial to prevent a president from becoming a dictator or a king, from taking over our government and violating our constitutional rights.
 
Your response was this:
 “I will continue to work with President Trump and all of his appointees.”  But you are supposed to work FOR US, not Donald TRUMP, not his “appointees.” You work FOR US, the PEOPLE, from the PEOPLE’s HOUSE. Simply put, you are not doing your job.
 
I can only conclude that you are complicit with Trump and Musk’s actions to destroy our democracy. In doing so you are violating your oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and you must resign. With that, I call for your resignation.

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Valorie:
Mr. Bergman,
My name is Valorie and I live in Dollar Bay.
 
I originally planned to speak about Social Security. And, although that is of great importance to me, there is a far greater threat to our democracy that is playing out as I speak. For weeks, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have taken actions to dismantle our federal government. They have claimed the power to overturn laws and budgets passed by Congress. They have fired thousands of federal workers. They have shuttered agencies. Courageous attorneys have filed close to 100 lawsuits in federal court to temporarily or permanently enjoin these actions with near 100% success. The question that has loomed over these past weeks, however, is whether or not the Trump administration would obey court orders. Until last week, the DOJ took a variety of actions to skirt or delay compliance – appeals, coming to court unprepared to get more time, claiming ignorance, etc. But we had so far avoided the constitutional crisis that would be posed by the President refusing outright to obey court orders.
 
All that changed over this past weekend. The President invoked the Alien Enemies Act and then detained and deported hundreds of alleged Venezuelan gang members to a concentration camp in El Salvador. Sometime during that process, a federal judge issued a TRO to stop the deportations and ordered the return of the planes to the United States. In defiance of the court order, Trump made a decision for the planes to keep going.
 
The administration is portraying those who oppose the deportation of people without due process and in violation of court orders as support for illegal immigrants. Mr. Bergman, this is not an immigration issue. This is a question about whether the United States is a nation governed by laws or by an autocrat. Those who have spoken throughout our history about the fragility of democracy understood that democracy is entirely dependent on the willingness of the governed and the governing to abide by the rule of law. When that stops, democracy is in crisis. That is where we are today.
 
Donald Trump is claiming that he has the right to defy court orders. The courts right now are our only guardrail against his tyranny. If the President of the United States does not have to obey court orders, then the entire rule of law becomes meaningless. Think about the implications. Why should anyone anywhere ever obey a court order again that they don’t like? Why should someone pay court-ordered child support, for example? Where does it end? And, if courts cannot enforce orders holding violators in contempt, then what is to prevent our complete descent into anarchy? This is where we are headed.
 
Mr. Bergman, it is up to you, as a member of Congress and the President’s own party, to speak up and tell him to obey the law.

Sarah:
The United States of America is the richest country in the history of the world.
Our wealth was produced through the hard work and ingenuity of millions of Americans: natives, immigrants, and those, like me, whose ancestors immigrated to this land of liberty.
All of us have benefited from the visible and invisible hands of a government that makes our freedom possible. And, until today, that government has been the envy of the world.
Just to mention a few elements:

• Universal free education.
• Clean water and air, safe food, and access to nature maintained for us all.
• Support for neighbors in need.
• A robust universal retirement program.
• Federally funded research that has given us improved cancer treatments, amazing energy technologies, the internet, and so much more.
• And which supports innumerable private enterprises.

Finally, and critically,

• Intolerance of corruption and adherence to the rule of law, without which government and business is impossible

We are the richest nation on Earth.
Don't you dare tell us that our collective wealth should be diverted to billionaires instead of sustaining the systems that make our freedom possible.