Senate Update: Thankful

As we prepare to gather around the country for Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a few thoughts with you. 

More than at any other moment in my lifetime, the future of our country looks uncertain. But we know a few things for sure:

First, with Donald Trump preparing to take office, we face crucial tests about the character of our country and who we are as a people. Second, you have my word that I will defend our values, our principles, and our Constitution. And third, even in these turbulent times, we still have much to be thankful for.

I’m thankful for family and friends.

I’m thankful to represent the great state of Maryland in the Senate.

I’m thankful for the generations of Americans in uniform who sacrificed for our country.

I’m thankful for my Senate team and for all of federal Team Maryland. I salute our outgoing members—Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, David Trone, and especially my partner in the Senate, Ben Cardin. And I am looking forward to welcoming our newly-elected colleagues—Angela Alsobrooks, April McClain-Delaney, Sarah Elfreth, and Johnny Olszewski—as they are sworn in on January 3rd. They each glowed as a bright spot on Election Day, and I trust that each will work hard every day to serve our constituents. 

I’m thankful for the chance to support community projects all over our state, from renovating the Y in Druid Hill to extending the runway at Salisbury Airport. Just last week, I joined the staff and volunteers at Nourishing Bethesda as they provided Thanksgiving meals for the community. Whenever I visit these places, I leave inspired by the Marylanders working every day to make our state a better place. Going forward, I’m determined to maintain our momentum on some of Maryland’s highest priorities: rebuilding the Key Bridge, protecting the Chesapeake Bay, and investing in our schools, healthcare, and economic opportunity and justice for all. 

I’m thankful for all we have achieved in the past four years: helping the country out of a pandemic, modernizing our infrastructure, confronting the climate crisis, reviving American manufacturing, supporting our veterans, lowering the cost of prescription drugs, and much more. Going forward, I’m working to protect every inch of our hard-won progress.

I will fight for an economy that isn’t rigged by the super rich and very powerful, where the middle class and working people can afford housing, healthcare, childcare, educational opportunities, and groceries. Donald Trump reportedly wants to slash Medicaid and food support (SNAP) for low-income families to pay for a billionaire tax giveaway—we can’t let that happen. 

I will stand up for a woman’s right to reproductive freedom.

I will defend our merit-based civil servants from being replaced by political cronies.

I will defend every Marylander who fears for the future: from people with disabilities in danger of losing life-sustaining healthcare to DREAMers who are just getting started with their lives.

I believe in human rights, and I will fight to uphold them at home and abroad.

I will work with anyone who strives to support these values and am prepared to battle those who seek to undermine them. I am very thankful to know that so many Marylanders are committed to upholding these principles and priorities.

Thanksgiving as we celebrate it today began in the fall of 1863, in the middle of the Civil War. That’s when Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that the last Thursday in November would become a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise.” Despite all the hardship and suffering of war, Lincoln asked us to be thankful. For 161 years since, we have answered his call.

Even in our darkest hours, we Americans find endless reserves of gratitude and determination. I am so thankful for what we have accomplished together, and I am hopeful that one day future generations will be thankful for what we do now.

That’s because we are, at our core and in our hearts, an optimistic nation. Happy Thanksgiving to you, your loved ones, and all of our neighbors. No matter how you celebrate, I hope that the holiday gives you a chance for reflection and rejuvenation. We have a big job ahead. Onwards!

Senator Chris Van Hollen