NORTHAMPTON — Many members of the federal delegation from Massachusetts, including U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, defended the commonwealth and the city of Boston, hours before an address by President Donald Trump before a joint session of Congress they anticipated would serve as an attack on the state.

Speaking at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., accompanied by guests who would be joining them later that night for Trump’s address, Markey said there needed to be a response from those representing Massachusetts and its 7 million residents and 700,000 small businesses.

“The plan that Donald Trump has laid out is a direct attack on all of our efforts over the years to create the best state,” Markey said. “Not just the Bay State, but the brain state, that’s who we are.”

Markey said the state’s business plan is under assault, including programs that draw the smartest young people to come to Massachusetts and then help them get access to capital, creating the best training and an educated workforce “That’s who we are,” Markey said.

With five of the state’s U.S. representatives present alongside Markey and Warren, they were also there to support Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who is joining mayors from Chicago, Denver and New York City at a Republican-led House Oversight Committee to discuss sanctuary city policies on Wednesday.

McGovern, joined by his guest Sue Koehler of Leominster, said the White House is showing no respect for the human dignity of each person.

“The last six weeks have been a disaster for the American people,” McGovern said, describing what he is seeing as cruel and corrupt, and not helping American consumers.

“These guys aren’t lowering prices, they’re raising them, and at the same time they’re gutting programs people rely on, just so they can hand out tax breaks to their billionaire friends,” McGovern said.

“We refuse to stand by while they sell out working families to the highest bidder,” McGovern said.

Koehler spoke about her adult son, Shawn, his need for expensive medication and how it is morally and ethically inhumane to cut Medicaid, which is a lifeline for families. She described a feeling of being thrown to the wolves.

“What Donald Trump is doing is launching an attack on the funding for Medicaid, health care, we call it MassHealth in Massachusetts,” Markey said.

Also cut will be the Affordable Care Act, Title 1, funding for disabled children and citizens and $450 million for the Green New Deal economy.

National Institutes of Health funding, Medicaid funding, National Science Foundation funding is also at the heart of Massachusetts.

“We are going to fight Donald Trump, we are not going to allow him to loot the future of Boston to pay for billionaire tax breaks,” Markey said. “That is just not something acceptable to our delegation, to our state, and I know, to Mayor Wu.”

Warren said she stands proudly with Wu to defend Boston and Massachusetts values. But she acknowledged the country is witnessing a “sandstorm of chaos” to distract people from tax cuts for billionaires, paid for with cuts to health care and what she anticipates will be cuts to Social Security. Already, Warren said, people have been fired who keep airplanes safe, inspect food and oversee nuclear waste.

“Trump and his unelected co-president Elon Musk are dismantling our government, piece by piece, so it works better for those same billionaires, and worse for everyone else,” Warren said. Warren said the bumper stickers should read “billionaires win, families lose.”

Warren’s guest Doug Kowalewski, one of 167 National Science Foundation employees fired, said Trump administration is jeopardizing top tier research. “I’m scared for this country,” Kowalewski said.

Others present included Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts; Geraldine Hines, the former associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; and Chrissy Lynch, president of Massachusetts AFL-CIO.

Lynch said working people shouldn’t be harmed by the richest people in the country. “They are taking a wrecking ball to our country and applauding mass unemployment,” Lynch said.

U.S. Rep Katherine Clark, the Minority Whip, called out a barrage of attacks on Massachusetts, constituents and communities.

“They are not even keeping the most basic promise to the people of the country,” Clark said. “They have chosen to fight for their ultra-rich donors.” She pointed to slashing food assistance, defunding public schools, attacking community health centers and going after cancer research.

U.S. Rep Ayanna Pressley said that people are feeling small and powerless to do anything.

“What you are hearing in this moment is the real state of the union, not lies, not propaganda, not a dangerous, draconian, dystopian vision for this country, not a forecast for more executive actions roll-out that are everything to do with actions to people, and not for people,” Pressley said.

Longtime U.S. Rep. Steven Lynch noted a report in August that 3,000 more employees are needed for enough staffing at the Veterans Administration, including nurses, across the country. Yet since taking office, Trump has laid off 2,400 VA workers.

“Now we’re 5,400 people short at the VA,” Lynch said.

The nearly hour-long presentation closed with Wu discussing the House Oversight Committee, of which Pressley and Lynch are Democratic members.

“The threat is that the Republicans want to cut off federal funding for the city of Boston,” Lynch said, meaning punishing community health centers and others that show decency and kindness in the city.

Wu thanked the delegation for standing up for Massachusetts and residents and values, citing accomplishments in assisting Black and Latino businesses and supporting education and being “a city that believes in science, and thrives on discovery.”

“We are a city that throws open the doors of opportunity for all of our residents at a time when this administration in the White House is slamming them shut,” Wu said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.