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For Immediate Release
April, 15 2019, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Rachel Berger 510-561-6614, rberger@nationalnursesunited.org
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Joins Veterans and RNs to Demand Congress Protect Veterans Health Care
Nearly 43,000 Medical Staff Vacancies - A Deliberate Attempt to Deprive the VA of Necessary Resources
WASHINGTON
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will join veterans and registered nurses for an April 17 town hall discussion on protecting the VA health care system from the threat of privatization. Nurses and veterans are calling for an immediate end to the administration's attacks on the VA health care system and demanding the VA be fully staffed and funded so it can continue to provide the highest quality of care to our nation's veterans, National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) announced today.
"As a nurse and a veteran who cares for the injuries to both the minds and bodies of other veterans, I know the specialized care they need, and the importance of their healing together within a community of fellow veterans who understand their struggles and history," said Yesenia Novaton, RN. "We know the VA offers care that is designed to attend to not only the medical needs of veterans but also support them and their families. The VA is a unique and invaluable national asset that must be protected in order to fulfil its sacred duty to veterans."
What: Town Hall Discussion -- Protect Veterans Health Care at the VA
Speakers include:
John Rowan, Vietnam Veterans of America
Kristen Rouse, NYC Veterans Alliance
Johnnie Williams, Help is on the Way
Skip Delano, Save Our VA, Veterans for Peace
Jeremy Butler, Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America
When: Wednesday, April 17, 6 - 8:30 p.m.
Where: P.S. 83, 950 Rhinelander Avenue, Bronx, New York
"The VA ... appears to be sliding too fast down the slippery slope toward privatization," warned John Rowan, the National President of Vietnam Veterans of America, during a Congressional hearing in March. "If [Congress] choose[s] to let the Kochs and their allies have their way, veterans will suffer while private healthcare facilities and doctors will benefit."
Nurses and Veterans are calling for:
Congress to Fully Fund and Secretary Wilkie to Fully Staff the VA.
Currently there are nearly 43,000 vacancies in the VA health care system. Secretary Wilkie has billions of dollars at his disposal, yet he recently testified before Congress that fully staffing the VA is not a priority. However, he has said rolling out access to private sector care is a priority and the proposed 2020 VA budget request calls for 18 percent of the medical funding for the VA to be set aside for private sector care.
Congress and Wilkie to Reject Arbitrary Rules for Access to Private Sector Care.
The VA said this month it intends to start moving veterans out of the VA into the private sector this June under newly proposed rules. Nurses oppose these proposed rules, calling them "arbitrary", as they are based on wait times and driving distances, and they do not demand that private clinicians meet the same exacting standards that VA facilities and clinicians are required to meet, nor do they take in to account the quality of care the veterans will receive.
A Cessation of All Efforts to Privatize Health Care for Veterans.
Nurses charge there is a concerted effort underway by the Koch brothers and others to starve the VA of necessary resources to function at full capacity. Nurses know that as the VA spends money on private health care, which is more expensive and often inferior to VA care, fewer veterans will get care for the same cost. When money is siphoned away from the VA into the private sector, the VA will continue to be chronically short staffed and the VA health care system will erode, leading to the closure of VA facilities. Veterans will then find they have lost the VA health care system as a viable option, and will be forced to get care in the private sector.
PRESS MUST PREREGISTER FOR THIS EVENT.
If you are interested in covering the event, please send a request by 3:00 p.m. EST Monday, April 15.
https://act.nationalnursesunited.org/page/s/va-health-care-media-registration
Doors will open to the press at 5:15 p.m.
Please be advised that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez will NOT be available for one-on-one interviews.
National Nurses United, with close to 185,000 members in every state, is the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in US history.
(240) 235-2000LATEST NEWS
Trump Isn't the First to Be Gifted a Nobel Prize He Didn't Win—Joseph Goebbels Got One Too
In 1943, the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun gave his Nobel Prize for Literature to the infamous Nazi criminal.
Jan 16, 2026
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado's gifting of her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump raised eyebrows around the world Friday—but it wasn't the first time that the winner of the prestigious award gave it away.
Last month, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the peace prize to the 58-year-old opposition leader "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy."
Machado joined a notorious group of Nobel Peace laureates who either waged or advocated for war, as she backed Trump's aggression against her country. This has included a massive troop deployment, military and CIA airstrikes, bombing of boats allegedly transporting drugs, and the abduction earlier this month of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Trump has ordered the bombing of nine other countries during his two terms, more than any other president in history. US forces acting on his orders have killed thousands of civilians in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. While running for president in 2016, Trump vowed to "bomb the shit out of" Islamic State militants and "take out their families," and then followed through on his promise.
Despite being passed over by Trump for installation in any leadership role in Venezuela so far, Machado presented Trump with her framed Nobel medal along with a certificate of gratitude during a Thursday meeting at the White House. Trump subsequently posted on his Truth Social network that “María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”
In 1943!!!“Nobel Literature laureate Knut Hamsun famously gave his Nobel medal and diploma to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels as a gesture of admiration for the Nazi regime, following his support for the occupation….”
[image or embed]
— Molly Jong-Fast (@mollyjongfast.bsky.social) January 16, 2026 at 10:56 AM
That gesture prompted the Norwegian Nobel Committee to issue a statement noting that the prize cannot be given away.
"Even if the medal or diploma later comes into someone else’s possession, this does not alter who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize," the committee said. "A laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced. A Nobel Peace Prize can also never be revoked. The decision is final and applies for all time."
The committee's statement was extraordinary—but this is not the first time that a Nobel winner gave away their prize. In 1943, Norwegian author Knut Hamsun gifted his 1920 Nobel Prize for Literature—awarded for his novel Markens Grøde (Growth of the Soil)—to Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels after a trip to Germany. Other Nobel laureates have donated or sold their medals.
The progressive media outlet Occupy Democrats said on social media: "Clearly, the similarities between Trump and Goebbels extend beyond just a mutual admiration for fascism. Both men possess(ed) the kind of spiritually sick, egotistical temperament that allows one to accept a prize that someone else has earned."
"Obviously, Donald Trump does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize," the outlet continued. "He has bombed Iran, Yemen, Nigeria, innocent fishing boats in the Caribbean, Venezuela, and is in the process of turning the United States into a war zone. That said, Machado doesn't deserve it either."
"Anyone spineless enough to surrender the prize to an evil man like Trump in the hopes of obtaining power is not someone we should be celebrating," Occupy Democrats added.
Last month, Wikileaks founder and multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominee Julian Assange sued the Nobel Foundation—the Swedish organization that manages administration of the approximately $1.2 million-per-winner prize—in a bid to prevent Machado from receiving the money.
Machado's win also sparked protests outside the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.
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"No, imperialists, we have absolutely no fear of you... and we don't like to be threatened," said Cuba's president.
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A day after receiving the remains of the 32 Cubans killed during the Trump administration's invasion of Venezuela and abduction of its leader, Cuba's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, addressed thousands gathered outside the US Embassy in Havana on Friday.
"The current US administration has opened the door to an era of barbarism, plunder, and neo-fascism," Díaz-Canel declared to a massive crowd protesting the recent killings and demanding the US release Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Participants in the "anti-imperialist" action, including members of the armed forces, waved Cuban and Venezuelan flags, and held signs honoring the 32 people who were killed while carrying out missions representing Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior.
"No one here surrenders," the Cuban leader said Friday, according to the Associated Press. "The current emperor of the White House and his infamous secretary of state haven't stopped threatening me."
While the Biden administration aimed to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, President Donald Trump reversed that decision after returning to office last January and restored a list of "restricted entities" created during his first term. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, also expanded a visa restriction policy that targets Cuba's medical missions around the world.
Since US forces slaughtered dozens of Cubans while seizing Maduro, Trump and Rubio have warned that Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia could also be targeted by the US military. Trump has also urged the Cuban government to make a deal with him and pledged to prevent oil and other resources from reaching the island nation, which has been subjected to US sanctions for decades.
"No, imperialists, we have absolutely no fear of you... and we don't like to be threatened," Díaz-Canel said Friday, waving his finger at the embassy, according to Reuters. "You will not intimidate us."
"Cuba does not have to make any political concessions, and that will never be on the table for negotiations aimed at reaching an understanding between Cuba and the United States," he asserted. "It is important that they understand this. We will always be open to dialogue and improving relations between our two countries, but only on equal terms and based on mutual respect."
The demonstration in Havana came a day after Venezuelan workers led a march through Caracas, chanting, "Free Maduro!"
"He is our president and we want him back, we are in the streets, and we will not rest," said labor leader Anais Herrera. "The president prepared us for this, and that is why we are in combat, in the streets with the Venezuelan working class."
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were brought to New York City after their abduction. They were arraigned last week, and both pleaded not guilty to federal narco-terrorism charges. At the time, Maduro said in Spanish that "I am the president of Venezuela, and I consider myself a prisoner of war."
At the arraignment, Maduro's lawyer, Barry Pollack, said that he "is the head of a sovereign state and is entitled to the privileges and immunities that go with that office... In addition, there are issues about the legality of his military abduction."
Federal prosecutors and Trump have given no indications that they are willing to free Maduro or Flores. The US administration is also continuing its efforts to take control of Venezuela's oil resources.
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Palestine Action Prison Hunger Strike Ends After UK Rejects Contract for Israeli Arms Firm
One campaigner said the hunger strike "will be remembered as a landmark moment of pure defiance; an embarrassment for the British state."
Jan 16, 2026
Three British activists jailed for alleged involvement with the banned anti-genocide group Palestine Action ended their monthslong hunger strike late Wednesday after the UK government rejected a $2.7 billion contract for a subsidiary of Israel's largest weapons maker, Elbit Systems.
Prisoners for Palestine (P4P), which represents the hunger strikers, said that Hamran Ahmed, Heba Muraisi, and Lewie Chiaramello would accept food again. Muraisi hadn't eaten in 73 days, while Ahmed refused food for 66 days and Chiaramello, who has Type 1 diabetes, fasted every other day for 44 days.
"It is definitely a time for celebration," Chiaramello said Thursday. "A time to rejoice and to embrace our joy as revolution and as liberation."
P4P spokesperson Francesca Nadin told the New Arab that the hunger strike "will be remembered as a landmark moment of pure defiance; an embarrassment for the British state."
"Banning a group and imprisoning our comrades has backfired on the British state, direct action is alive, and the people will drive Elbit out of Britain for good," P4P added. "This is just the beginning. Even though the people who have just finished their hunger strike will have some time to recover, they’re also really motivated and want to continue doing as many things as possible."
P4P said other hunger-striking members of the "Filton 24"—Teuta Hoxha, Jon Cink, Qesser Zuhrah, and Amu Gib—were also accepting food following the UK government's announcement that it would not award a military training contract to Elbit Systems' British subsidiary.
The end of the strike came as Ahmed, Muraisi, and Chiaramello suffered deteriorating health, with Muraisi telling a friend earlier this week that she was "dying."
Two dozen alleged Palestine Action activists are accused of breaking into Elbit Systems' research and development facility in Filton in 2024. Alleged members of the group also staged direct action protests targeting other UK weapons factories that export arms to Israel as it wages a genocidal war in Gaza.
P4P hailed the contract cancellation as "a resounding victory for the hunger strikers, who resisted with their incarcerated bodies to shed light on the role of Elbit Systems, Israel's largest weapons manufacturer, in the colonization and occupation of Palestine."
British lawmakers voted last year to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist group after some of its members allegedly vandalized aircraft at a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire. Members of the group also allegedly vandalized US President Donald Trump’s golf course in Turnberry, Scotland. Because of the vote, the nonviolent group is on the same legal footing in Britain as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. Joining or supporting Palestine Action is punishable by up to 14 years behind bars.
Since Palestine Action was banned, more than 2,000 people have been arrested for supporting the group, often while simply holding signs.
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