American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. spoke today to the Maryland delegation about the November elections, the fight for VA healthcare, the rights of federal workers, and the danger posed by a Donald Trump presidency.

Full text of the prepared speech can found at www.afge.org/mddelegates, and highlights of the speech are below.

"I don't know what the right term for it is ... freak show, train wreck, mass insanity, hatefest, primal scream ... but after watching last week's Republican Convention, I've never been prouder to be a Democrat ... and I've never been more enthusiastic about electing Hillary Clinton the 45th president of these United States."

"As some of y'all know, I worked for decades caring for veterans at the VA. By all objective measures, the VA is the most effective health care institution in the United States ... providing the best quality of care in the most cost-effective way."

"If you want state and local governments to enact policies to improve roads, schools, parks, and policing the solution is more union members."

"And we've got to get serious about that dangerous demagogue who would tear this country apart. His campaign's appeal to racist, sexist, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic attitudes, his effort to scam working people into blaming immigrants for their problems, all must be rejected."

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union, representing 670,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center.