Issued August 17, 2017
WASHINGTON—SEIU International Executive Vice President Valarie Long issued the following statement after resigning from President Trump’s National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism Infrastructure:
Valarie Long, Executive Vice President of SEIU, joins the growing chorus of labor and business leaders repudiating President Trump after he failed to condemn the violent actions of white supremacists and domestic terrorists in Charlottesville. Long is calling on other committee members to join her in resigning.
In her letter, Valarie Long says, “If the president cannot unequivocally condemn the violent actions of white supremacists and domestic terrorists, and see this as a wake-up call that the country must genuinely address its long history of racism and slavery, I see no hope whatsoever that he will make any effort to protect and empower working people and the public through our nation’s travel infrastructure.”
The National Advisory Committee on Travel and Tourism Infrastructure was appointed by President Obama’s Secretary of Transportation and is charged with improving our nation’s travel and tourism system. Since Trump took office, the Department of Transportation has yet to convene a single meeting of the committee and is not taking infrastructure seriously. Long’s role on the committee was to promote public safety and good jobs, but as the Executive Vice President of an organization that represents 2 million members who are mostly women and people of color, Long has no confidence that a president who defends white supremacists and their racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ views would make any effort to improve jobs for working people.