Congresswomen Valerie Foushee and Congresswoman Nikema Williams speak on the impact of hurricane Helene and voting in battleground states.
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00:00Tonight, we are pleased to have two elected officials who represent thousands of people
00:06from two of those states, Congresswoman Nakima Williams from the great state of Georgia,
00:13and Congresswoman Valerie Rufuschi from the great state of North Carolina. And let me just
00:21first say thank you to the work that you're doing, especially during these times that we are dealing
00:26with the hurricane. We appreciate you taking time out to be with us today. Nakima Williams
00:33serves as the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's fifth congressional district. She is
00:39also chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia. Her district includes almost three quarters of
00:45Atlanta. She was a member of the Georgia State Senate for the 39th district from 2017 to 2021.
00:52Williams served as one of the 16 electors for Georgia Electoral College following the 2020
00:59United States presidential election. Valerie Rufuschi serves as the United States representative
01:05for North Carolina's fourth congressional district since 2023 as a member of the Democratic Party.
01:11Elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives for the 50th district in 2012,
01:17she was appointed to represent the 23rd senatorial district in 2013.
01:24Congresswoman Williams, Congresswoman Fouché, thank you so much for joining us.
01:30I want to start with Ebony's reference a few minutes ago to how you both are doing,
01:37because yes, we are in an election cycle, but we also know that both of your states
01:43have been impacted by Hurricane Helene. So I want to just give you both a moment
01:49to talk about how you're doing, how things are going, and what your communities need.
01:53Maybe we can start with you, Congresswoman Williams.
01:57Thank you. Thank you so much, Ebony, and thank you all. Thank you just for bringing us together
02:02in community, because especially when we're going through moments like this, it is important to know
02:07that we are not alone. So I am grateful for the acknowledgement of what we're dealing with. I know
02:14my sister up in North Carolina, you've seen all of the pictures of the horrific and catastrophic
02:19damage and the lives that were lost, so we are definitely centering them. We have the vice
02:24president here in Augusta, Georgia today. I was down in Augusta on Monday, and I got a call from
02:31a friend who I've known since our days in the Young Democrats, and they just needed water.
02:36So we filled up as much as we could in the back of a truck and drove it down I-20. Then we realized
02:43that they also needed gas and power, so we've worked with our local utility administrators
02:51to make sure that we could get people that were medically fragile, get them generators,
02:56but we're going through a lot. So if you see things come across your timeline about donating
03:03to local relief efforts, y'all dig in, because these are times that we need to realize that we
03:08are all in this together. That hurricane didn't matter, Valerie, if we lived in Mississippi,
03:14Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina. It doesn't understand political boundaries,
03:18and these are times when we realize that we all have to come together and support each other.
03:22So thank you. No, absolutely. Congresswoman Fouché, how about you?
03:29I'm doing well. Thank you for asking, and again, thank you for having us here this evening.
03:34But certainly in the western part of North Carolina, what we've seen is, as you've heard
03:39it described, catastrophic. What we've seen in terms of people just being not just displaced,
03:48but several, many people missing, 77 confirmed dead in North Carolina in the western part of
03:56our state. So as you've heard, anything that we can do to help those people who have been impacted
04:03by this one in a 500-year storm is going to be greatly appreciated. As you've heard, people need
04:10water, people need shelter, they need food, they are without power, just their roads that are
04:17washed out. 400 roads in western North Carolina are impassable. So as you've heard, we're sending
04:26more than thoughts and prayers, we're sending everything we can to western North Carolina.
04:31Happy to see that the president was here on the ground today and making sure that whatever is
04:36needed by way of federal funding is going to go to that area. Congresswoman Fouché, you know, they
04:45have been calling this storm, hurricane, a biblical proportion. Yes. And it's coming at a time when we
04:55are at facing one of the most critical elections at a biblically divisive time, which I would add
05:03on to that. As we look at the destruction, there's still an election that's about to happen. Given
05:10the uncertainty after what happens from a natural disaster, can you talk to us about how this could
05:18impact people's ability to cast their votes? What are you seeing? And that's to you and
05:25Congresswoman Williams. Well, certainly it is a great concern to all of us that there's so many
05:33people who have been impacted by way of how they will have access to the ballot. But again,
05:41our major concern right now is for the safety of these folks and for them to receive the resources
05:48that they need right now to just move on with their daily lives. Certainly the board of elections
05:56is working on strategies to make sure that we can make the connections to ensure that all of
06:03these people who have been impacted will have access to the ballot box and indeed that they
06:09will be able to vote and have their votes counted. But right now, our focus is on their safety and
06:15providing the resources that they need. And the same for you, Congresswoman Williams,
06:21but I will add on to that. Do you know at all, I've been reading a lot of articles,
06:25is there even any idea or request to maybe even extend the date, extend voting dates?
06:33So what we know is that we are 33 days out from the election and people that need relief,
06:41people that need support in the recovery efforts, they need to know that they can also cast their
06:47ballot because these leaders that we vote for, they're going to decide what this recovery effort
06:52continues to look like and what funds are available. So as the recovery continues,
06:57we're looking and engaging with our colleagues and other federal stakeholders from the Postal
07:02Service to the White House to FEMA about funding and information sharing so that we can address
07:08any election disruptions that are caused by the hurricane. We dealt with this when we had
07:12Hurricane Michael come through the state and we saw what happened in Southwest Georgia when people
07:17didn't have access to their normal polling locations and we already have a delay in our
07:23mail system. And so the last day to register to vote in Georgia is next week, October 7th. So
07:29people who don't have power or the mail isn't being delivered, how are they going to make sure
07:34that they get their voter registration updated or get those registrations done in time and dropped
07:39in the mail? So these are things that we're addressing with our local officials, but also
07:43looking to see how do we make sure looking down the road, polling locations that might have been
07:47damaged or might not even exist anymore. How do we make sure that voters who are still looking
07:54to engage in their democracy know where to go and when to go and what other provisions are put
08:00in place? So this is an ongoing conversation. I might be reaching out to you, Congresswoman,
08:06up in North Carolina because I'm leading a letter so that we can get assistance, federal assistance,
08:11to local election workers so that they can get poll workers in when they're making these
08:17adjustments and make sure that we're making all of the necessary federal provisions for this
08:22upcoming election. Absolutely. I would like to just add in really quickly that just for people
08:31who may be listening or watching, because we're seeing this happen in this battleground states
08:37that have been caught up in this hurricane, please be aware of misinformation and disinformation.
08:43Absolutely. I know that you are focusing on saving lives and so much that's going on,
08:49but we also know that people take opportunities like this to try to poison waters and get out
08:57disinformation, purposefully disinformation.
09:02Completely agree. And I think both Congresswomen, you've sort of talked about some of the real
09:08practical challenges that voters are going to be facing and people are going to be facing,
09:14put aside the election for a moment, but people are facing just in terms of life and death.
09:19And finding their families and getting shelter and getting food. I want to talk about in this context,
09:28because we are talking about our future as well, right? We're talking about the future of Black
09:33people and Brown people in this country. And if you could talk a little bit about Congresswoman
09:38Williams and then Congresswoman Fouché about some of the critical issues that are being raised with
09:43you in your state, right? We spoke with the head of Working Families Party a few minutes ago
09:49about some of the general issues that are raised in battleground states, whether we're talking about
09:53reproductive justice, or we're talking about climate change, whether we're talking about
09:57the access to guns, or we're talking about immigration. And from your perspective,
10:02what are some of the salient critical issues that are being raised with you in your state?
10:08So I am so glad that you brought this up because you hear the national pundits talk about these
10:14top issues. And then I talk to the people on the ground and I hear about the rising cost in
10:20housing and how people are sick and tired of just being able to get by and want an ability to get
10:27ahead. And the housing costs have skyrocketed, not just in my district and in the state of Georgia,
10:32but across the country. And then we're also doubling that with the rising cost of child care.
10:38I have a nine-year-old who we toggle between two grandpas and aunties to figure it out,
10:44but everybody doesn't have that family support system for that additional child care burden that
10:50is on us in these times. And so we've got to do something about that. And I hear it every day.
10:55But then also, Alphonso, I spent yesterday with the family of Amber Thurman,
10:59a young Georgia woman who should be alive and with us today, but because of our draconian
11:06abortion ban that was in effect two summers ago, which a judge just struck down this week,
11:12we're still waiting to see what happens. But it should not depend on what happens one day in a
11:19court. If you show up at a hospital and are able to get the reproductive health care that you need
11:25to save your life. And that is what happened to Amber Thurman. She is not with us because
11:32of a law that was put into place in the summer of 2022. And I sat with her mom and her sisters
11:38yesterday and we talked about her eight-year-old son, Messiah, and I was in tears thinking about
11:43my own Carter Cates and what so many other women are facing in this country right now.
11:49And so I heard Maurice say that a young woman came up to him and said that she's voting for
11:54abortion access. And so many people, not just women, not just men, not Democrats or Republicans,
12:01because this issue transcends partisanship. So many people are voting for their reproductive
12:06freedom because it impacts so many other things in your life, including your ability just to be
12:12alive. So I am hearing about it at every front. I was on the campus of Morehouse College today
12:18with the cast of A Different World, reminding young people about getting out to vote and what
12:23was important to them. And you hear it all, but people are afraid for their future and they're
12:30voting for their futures. How about you, Congresswoman Fouché? What are the critical
12:36issues you're hearing about in North Carolina, given, of course, that you're still struggling
12:40with recovery from the hurricane? What are you hearing in your state?
12:46Certainly, I am hearing the same things that you've heard from Congresswoman Williams. People
12:52are concerned about the rising cost of housing and certainly child care. I just introduced a bill
13:01not too long ago that will address funding for child care such that it is more accessible.
13:08But we're also hearing, along with the whole notion of protecting our freedoms,
13:16and certainly the freedom to have control of our bodies is one of those. But I am also hearing
13:23at this moment the freedom to have access to the ballot box. That is still a real issue here in
13:29North Carolina, which is one of the most gerrymandered states in this union. So the ability
13:35to understand that you will have unfettered access to the ballot boxes is a real issue here. And so
13:43folks want to make sure that their rights are protected to vote, to have the opportunity to
13:49choose who represents them. In a gerrymandered state such as North Carolina, the elected
13:55officials are choosing who gets to vote for them and not the other way around. So we're still
14:01fighting those issues here. And I'm hoping that in the next Congress, we will pass the John Lewis
14:10Voting Rights Advancement Act. We need to make sure that we do that. Fundamentally,
14:16we know that every American should have the right to unfettered access to the ballot box.
14:23And so that is still a real issue here. So basically, fundamentally, our rights to determine
14:29what we do with our bodies, our right to choose who represents us, and to be able, as you heard
14:36Congresswoman Williams say, to not just get by, but to get ahead.
14:41And so for folks who may not be that familiar with this, what we're talking about when we say
14:46gerrymandered states, and what the Congresswoman, I think, is being referring to is, you know,
14:53lines are being withdrawn in certain states like North Carolina to make your vote less valuable,
15:01to make it much more difficult for you to have the elected official that you want
15:06to represent your interests, and that we're seeing that happening in many parts of the
15:10country, unfortunately, including North Carolina. Ebony, you're on mute.
15:20Sorry about that. When we talk about North Carolina, I wanted to, Congresswoman Cloutier,
15:26can you even just explain, give people numbers, about how we have seen voter suppression,
15:32in real time, with the thousands of people that have been purged from
15:36voter rolls, can you talk about the impact of that, and how it enables people, it keeps people
15:43from being able to use their voice, and also we've seen changes even to what students can use
15:48when it comes to their ID and voting in this upcoming election. I don't think people really
15:53know all the efforts that people are putting forth when it comes to voter suppression.
15:59Sure. Just last week, the State Board of Election announced that over 750,000 people have been
16:08purged from the voter rolls, and so when you have situations like this, it causes chaos and
16:15confusion. People don't understand what's going on, and so when you talk about not being able to use
16:22certain identifications to even register to vote, we're setting up a situation where the vote
16:30is being suppressed. So what I say to people is to make sure that you understand this is the way it
16:36is right now. You need to make sure that you are indeed registered to vote, that you get the
16:42opportunity to have same-day registration and voting once early voting begins, and if you're
16:50not certain, make sure you're there. Use that opportunity to make sure you're registered and
16:55cast your vote. This whole situation whereby we know that the right to vote is being suppressed
17:04is the reason why we need to make sure we're putting people in these seats that understand
17:11that they're representing the people, and until we do that, we're going to have these laws that
17:19prohibit people from exercising that right. Congresswoman Williams, I also want, if you can,
17:27talk about this issue as well, because we're seeing in Georgia, there has been recent reports about
17:34voter certification issues and issues with electors, and there was a recent piece of
17:39legislation that was passed that essentially allows a neighbor to challenge another person's
17:45ability to vote. Can you talk a little bit about the climate that you're seeing in Georgia right
17:50now and the impact on the right to vote? Yeah, I think that the best way to put this,
17:56so I represent the seat that was held by the late Congressman John Lewis, and Mr. Lewis fought his
18:02entire life for free and fair access to the ballot box, and I never thought in 2024 I would still be
18:08fighting for some of those same freedoms and those same rights for access to the ballot box,
18:13but here we are, and what we saw in the historic voter turnout in 2020, people showed up, Black
18:20people, Black voters showed up in force en masse. Georgia had the highest youth voter turnout in the
18:26country because we had access to the ballot, people were mailed absentee ballot applications,
18:33and then all of a sudden, the rules needed to change. We sent two history-making U.S. senators
18:39to the U.S. Senate with our first Jewish senator and Senator John Ossoff and our first Black senator
18:44and Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock, and then all of the rules all of a sudden needed to change.
18:49We've changed the access to absentee balloting, changed the access to early voting, and now here
18:57we are where people are now changing the way we certify elections, saying that it is optional,
19:03and nothing in our state constitution allows certification of elections to be optional,
19:09but our State Board of Elections and three anti-democracy majority members have voted to
19:17institute a new rule through the State Board of Elections where you would have to hand-count
19:23ballots to confirm that they match whatever comes up from the machines on Election Day,
19:28and if there is any discrepancy out of millions of ballots, there could be one
19:33off number, then they have the option to not certify the election. They're setting the stage
19:40to continue to create confusion and chaos in this election cycle so that they can say that
19:46the election was stolen, so that they could say that if the winner that they don't want to win
19:52doesn't win, then the election is not valid. We also have seen people show up, and we can
19:58challenge thousands of people at one time. I could just show up, Alfonso, and say, oh, nope,
20:03Alfonso Davis should not be allowed to vote on this day at this polling location. No proof,
20:08no rationale, no reasoning, and I can challenge your ability to be registered at that location,
20:16and we are challenging all of these rules at every point because we know that they are just
20:24meant to silence people's voices at the ballot box. That's why it is so important that people
20:29show up, enforce, leave no doubt, y'all. Show up, check your voter registration, confirm where you
20:36have to go, when you need to be there, vote early so if there are any challenges, you have an
20:41opportunity to correct it later. This election is no joke, y'all. We've got work to do and 33
20:47days to get it done. Make a plan today. That's right. I'm so glad you said make a plan. I mean,
20:53the seriousness of it, Congresswoman Williams, I was watching a documentary and a report that
20:58said there was one woman who actually challenged 32,000 people. Yep, and there is no limit to the
21:06number of voters. No reason, no limits. That means that there are literally, that is all
21:12some people are doing, day, sun up to sun down to make sure if your vote did not count.
21:20And then it's up to me as the voter to come back and affirm, yes, I should be, and I,
21:26like, I don't check my mail on a good day, and so especially when all of this is going on.
21:32So my husband will have mail stacked up for days in our mailbox, and I could be put off the rolls
21:38because I have something that came in my mailbox. So you got to check and confirm your registration,
21:44y'all, because there's some shenanigans out there. People don't want your voices to be heard,
21:49but you're hearing it from us. Your voice has power, and if it didn't, people wouldn't be
21:55trying so hard to restrict your access to the ballot. Are there specific areas within your
22:00state that you believe will have an outsized impact in deciding the electoral outcome? Like,
22:06what are some of the areas or counties, I know Fulton is one we always talk about a lot,
22:11that you feel like will have a really big impact? And are any of those in part of the
22:18disaster areas that we've seen? And this is for both of you with the hurricane.
22:23So, Ebony, I represent the fighting 5th Congressional District centered in Atlanta.
22:28I have Fulton County, DeKalb County, and Clayton County. You'll hear about it on election night
22:32when those results come in, because we bank the votes here. But what we know is that in a
22:38battleground state, every vote counts. And so we have areas that were hard hit in Valdosta,
22:45people still don't have power. We don't even know if you requested an absentee ballot,
22:50what happens now if that home doesn't even exist anymore? So where will those people even
22:56accept those ballots? So we know that we only won Georgia by 11,780 votes in 2020.
23:04Strange that I know that, huh?
23:05We should get that call.
23:0611,780 votes. And so we know that every single vote counts. And so that we are working with
23:14all of our friends across the state to make sure that we're able to get some remedies in place so
23:21that nobody's access to the ballot is restricted.
23:24And my district, the fourth district, is solidly blue. And our plan is to make sure we run up the
23:30numbers as high as we can, and to help folk in other areas that can be very impactful,
23:37particularly the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area, where Representative Adams represents,
23:43to make sure that we're getting the maximum out of what we're getting in those areas where we
23:50can run up the numbers to make sure that North Carolina does deliver, particularly for the Black
23:56and brown voters in our state. We're running it up. We're doing the numbers. And we're working
24:02in rural areas. Now, those areas that were impacted by the storm is not where we'll get the
24:08bulk of our votes. But certainly, as you've heard, every vote counts. We know that we need to make
24:13sure that every eligible voter gets the access to the ballot box, that those votes are cast,
24:20and that we run up the numbers to make sure there's no doubt to what the numbers are when
24:26they're being counted. So, Congresswoman, as we wind down our time, we do have a question.
24:32Well, we had a few questions come in, but there's one question that I think
24:36we have that's been raised a few times. And the question is this,
24:40with significant infrastructure damage and supply chain challenges after Hurricane Helene,
24:46do you think we should consider or reconsider the temporary Jones Act waiver to ensure relief
24:53supplies and fuel can reach impacted areas more quickly? I know this has been a conversation that
24:59folks have had over the number of years. I know there was conversations about that when a hurricane
25:05hit Puerto Rico, for example. So, a question for either of you, whether or not this is something
25:10that we should be reconsidering at this moment. So, we heard about the strikes that happened in
25:18our major ports on the eastern seaboard. The Port of Savannah right here in Georgia has a
25:24major impact on the supply chain across the country. We saw that especially during the pandemic
25:30when we were trying to get the ports reopened and get the resources that we needed so that
25:35my big thing was this, it seems very trivial, but when you show up to Taco Bell and you want
25:39your mouth sauce and they tell you they don't have it because of supply chain issues, that becomes a
25:44real problem for people. So, it's all about perspective. But in these times when we need
25:50to make sure our president has the ability to make decisions that impact the American people.
25:59And so, as we're continuing to see how we get the resources from FEMA and from the federal
26:05government to recover from this hurricane and then it's also colliding with this port strike,
26:13then we need to make sure that we are giving our president the ability to make the decisions that
26:19are needed to take care of us domestically so that we don't run into some of these major
26:24supply chain issues. I agree 100%. Thank you. Thank you both. And last words,
26:33please let us know what you need. Please let, there are thousands of people that will see this,
26:40this video, and I want to make sure you have an opportunity to speak to not only the folks in
26:44your district, in your state, but the folks all across the country. So, Congresswoman Fouché,
26:50we'll start with you and then we'll end with you, Congresswoman Williams.
26:53I would just ask that people take the opportunity to donate wherever they can to any
27:00group that they know is legitimate, that is working to make sure that we're getting the
27:05resources to these impacted areas. Because we know that these people are not just without
27:13food and water, they're without shelter. They're without the ability to make contact with their
27:20family members. They're without the ability to move from point A to point B in some situations.
27:26So, whatever you can do to offer help, we would certainly appreciate it.
27:31And thank you for the opportunity to share.