One of the many issues I addressed in the State of the Sixth was America’s standing in the world as the Trump Administration embraces our adversaries and turns away from our long-time allies. In fact, each time I mentioned Ukraine, the audience loudly cheered and applauded — the strength of support for our ally Ukraine is not diminishing in our district, that much was very clear. So, I’m going to give you a bit more information about my attendance at the Munich Security Conference last week.

The meetings in Munich were held in part to discuss the illegal war against Ukraine and, more broadly, against democracy at large. The meetings’ objectives were upended on the first day by a needlessly provocative and incredibly misguided speech delivered by Vice President Vance. Instead of addressing an end to the war Russia started, Vice President Vance chastised the whole of the European Union for a lack of election integrity, free speech, and free press. He did this while the Trump Administration has freed January 6 offenders, continues to deny the results of the 2020 election in the U.S., and has not only kicked the Associated Press out of the Pentagon, the Oval Office, and Air Force One but has now taken on total management of the press pool itself.
 
The audience listening to Vice President Vance was stunned into silence. Later, German diplomat and chair of the conference, Christoph Heusgen, broke down in tears in his farewell address to the body, articulating what much of Europe felt as a result of the speech: that “[our shared European and American] common value base is not that common anymore.”

Just as I landed back on U.S. soil after meeting with President Zelenskyy myself and attending the conference, I turned my phone back on and saw the absolutely stunning post in which President Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator.”  Trump went on to declare that Zelenskyy does not want peace but rather to continue the “gravy train” of U.S. funding and declared that he and Putin alone would negotiate any peace settlement without Ukraine or EU input.

Wrong and Dangerous

The endless series of posts since, from President Trump and members of his Cabinet, calling Zelenskyy a dictator and saying Ukraine started the war isn’t just dangerous, but it’s wrong.

It is wrong to hector our allies about values when the Trump Administration is in the process of “deleting” funding to feed hungry children, research and treat cancer, and care for our veterans.

It is wrong to threaten our allies with trade wars while demanding they do more and spend more on our common defense.
 
It is wrong to favor Putin over our allies while the Administration is decimating our own international aid programs, essentially inviting Russia, China and other bad actors in to fill the gaps we’re deliberately creating. Which they are.
 
The fragile peace we’ve enjoyed over the last 80 years is largely due to the most significant security alliance in history, NATO. President Trump is correct when he says that the defense spending of our NATO allies is neither adequate nor commensurate with the threat facing its members. Solving this is a question of political will, both within NATO and in the U.S. NATO members have made notable progress over the past decade, but what’s also true is that two percent of GDP spent on defense is now no longer high enough. President Trump is right to tell the Europeans that they need to find the will and the way to defend the collective defense of the NATO alliance.

But destabilizing that alliance at the moment when the naked aggression of imperial expansion has re-emerged threatens the very existence of liberal democracy globally — including our own. With President Trump, getting some of these things right doesn’t count if you’re getting most of it dangerously wrong.

Meanwhile, Here in the U.S.

Weakening our alliances, extorting our allies and cozying up to actual dictators is dangerous and wrong. And the Trump administration is wreaking havoc here at home as well.

Firing the people who manage our nuclear arsenal is dangerously wrong.

Firing the people responsible for detecting and managing avian flu is dangerously wrong.

Firing the people who scan the skies for inbound missiles and disrupt terrorist attacks on our soil is dangerously wrong.

Having Musk’s hackers rooting around in federal payment systems and having access to our most private and personal information is scary and dangerously wrong.  

And ignoring, abusing, and intentionally eroding our Constitution is dangerously wrong.

It’s a Lot

When government is working, it works reasonably well. It is, by its very nature, designed to be a slow struggle of give and take and compromise within the Legislative branch. When government doesn’t work — either because parties can’t or won’t govern or because, like now, it’s being undermined from within — it’s dangerous for us all.

I recognize that some folks in our district believe in and like what the Administration is doing. I happen to agree that federal agencies should be more efficient, that we need to get our fiscal house in order, and I agree wholeheartedly that any waste, fraud, and abuse should be eliminated. I think most of the people here in our district would say the same.

But what’s happening right now is not good governing. As I told the audience on Monday, I will not give up and I will not stand by silently. I hope you won’t either. Whatever your political beliefs, I believe that all of us here are patriots and love our country and the Constitution upon which it was founded.

Your voice is so important right now. Please use it to call on our elected officials to protect our nation, to resist the most dangerous and lawless impulses of the Trump Administration. Use your voice to share your story – help us and those around you understand how the recent actions are impacting you. And please use your voice for good, to shore up our communities, to give solace to the scared and to help calm the confused and angry.

My Next Town Hall

I’m joining my colleagues, Representatives Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), and Joe Neguse (CO-02), a member of the Democrat’s leadership team in the House, next week for a telephone town hall. Join us March 5 from 6-7pm. We’re going to focus on litigation currently underway to stop the most egregious and dangerous actions of the Trump Administration. We’ll be joined by Constitutional scholar and Georgetown Law professor David Vladeck. RSVP here.

Serving as our community's representative is the honor of my lifetime, and I hope to hear from you soon about any issue that concerns you. 

As always, please contact my office if you need assistance.

Be well, and see you soon!

Chrissy Houlahan

U.S. Member of Congress

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