The virtual town hall was Senator Reverend Warnock’s latest effort to meet Georgians where they are in the digital media environment

Senator Reverend Warnock heard from Georgians concerned about threats to Medicaid and social security, job security for federal workers at the VA and CDC, and more

Senator Reverend Warnock: “Thousands of you have called and written into my office. Please know that I am reading your letters and hearing your stories. Since entering the U.S. Senate in 2021, it has been my mission to serve all Georgians. I’m laser focused this year on lowering your health care costs, supporting our military families, and bringing down prices at the grocery store. But it is also a priority for me to hear from and listen to all Georgians too, so thank you for taking time to listen in”

Watch Senator Reverend Warnock’s town hall HERE

Washington, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) hosted his first town hall of the new Congress to answer questions directly from Georgians about how the Senator is fighting for all Georgians amid a turbulent start of a new presidential administration. 

“Let me start by saying that the past several weeks have been a truly unprecedented time for our nation: veterans, health care professionals, and other federal workers in our state have lost their jobs, bird flu continues to harm our state’s dominant agriculture industry, and all the while the costs of everything from housing to groceries continues to soar,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “The reality is that what happens in Washington does not exist in a vacuum—the decisions made by our elected leaders have direct consequences on Georgians in every corner of our great state.”

During the town hall, Senator Warnock fielded questions from Georgians across the state on a range of issues including how the Senator will protect Medicaid and social security, why the senator is focused on bipartisanship in these divided times, how the Senator will fight for federal workers like at the VA and CDC, how we can keep DOGE in check from cutting vital services, and more.

“I have worked on a lot of things in the Senate since I arrived in 2021. But there is probably nothing that I work on more than health care. I think Dr. King said it best, ‘Of all the injustices, inequality in health care is the most shocking and the most inhumane.’ So I am very focused on this issue. In fact, I was working on Medicaid and expanding Medicaid long before I came to the United States Senate. As pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church when the Affordable Care Act was first passed, I was fighting to get the state of Georgia to expand Medicaid so that we could take working class Georgians out of the health care gap. I was arrested in the state capitol fighting for Medicaid expansion. I don’t think Georgians should have to subsidize health care in other states while working people can’t get health care,” said Senator Reverend Warnock.

Senator Warnock closed by reminding Georgians not to give in to despair during these difficult times and that he will continue fighting every day for all Georgians to ensure their voices are not being squeezed out of our democracy.

“I will be moving across the state, and we will keep this conversation going. Representing Georgia in the United States Senate is truly the honor of my lifetime. These are some difficult and dark days in our country, but even in the midst of this mess we’ve seen unfold over the last few weeks, I still pinch myself every now and then because I can’t believe I get to represent the people of my state. It is a real honor. It is a sacred covenant, and it is one I take very seriously,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “Know that I will continue to fight for you every single day in Washington. I’m going to keep fighting for you, and my ask for you is that you do not give in in these moments. I know this is a difficult time. The chief weapon that some folks are using is despair. They are literally trying to weaponize despair to so overwhelm you that you start to think that we have already lost and you might as well give up. That is the dream of wannabe autocrats. That is the dream of the oligarchs. That is the dream of folks who want to reshape this country into something we do not recognize.”

Missed the live town hall? Interested media can still view it in full HERE.

See key excerpts from the town hall below:

Senator Reverend Warnock (SRW): “I’m hosting this virtual town hall to hear directly from you, my constituents, about the challenges you’re facing and how the policies of this new Administration are impacting you and your communities. […] Let me start by saying that the past several weeks have been a truly unprecedented time for our nation: veterans, health care professionals, and other federal workers in our state have lost their jobs, bird flu continues to harm our state’s dominant agriculture industry, and all the while the costs of everything from housing to groceries continues to soar. The reality is that what happens in Washington does not exist in a vacuum—the decisions made by our elected leaders have direct consequences on Georgians in every corner of our great state. Thousands of you have called and written into my office. Please know that I am reading your letters and hearing your stories. Since entering the U.S. Senate in 2021, it has been my mission to serve all Georgians. I’m laser focused this year on lowering your health care costs, supporting our military families, and bringing down prices at the grocery store. But it is also a priority for me to hear from and listen to all Georgians too, so thank you for taking time to listen in.”

[…]

Question from Kurt in Cobb County: “I understand your concern regarding DOGE and their bulldozer approach. But you can’t deny government waste and abuse exists, and that we are spending our way into oblivion. Our national debt is the greatest threat to our nation, and drastic times call for drastic measures. Instead of complaining about tactics, can you get your colleagues to balance a budget for once?”

SRW: I am very concerned about the national debt. I am concerned about what these means for the future of our children. When I was in my early 30s, although I grew up in poverty, I purchased my first home. And nowadays I’m looking at a generation of folks behind me who find it hard to get in to that path that leads to the American dream. Ironically, the very folks who are struggling right now as this national debt continues to expand are the ones who are going to be left with the bill. And so that’s the reason why I think what Republicans are trying to do right now is so very irresponsible. They are trying to pass a $2 trillion tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, and they’re going to put a $4.5 trillion hole in the national debt. I think that is indefensible and it’s the reason why I’m fighting to address this every single day. We ought to deal with the debt, we ought to deal with trying to create a budget and a path that is sustainable, but I do not believe that we ought to engage in what I call Robin Hood in reverse, robbing from the poor in order to give to the rich. That is the game that folks are up to in Washington D.C.”

[…]

Question from Tiffany from metro Atlanta: “What efforts can be done to keep health care programs like Medicaid intact?”

SRW: “I have worked on a lot of things in the Senate since I arrived in 2021. But there is probably nothing that I work on more than health care. I think Dr. King said it best, ‘Of all the injustices, inequality in health care is the most shocking and the most inhumane.’ So I am very focused on this issue. In fact, I was working on Medicaid and expanding Medicaid long before I came to the United States Senate. As pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church when the Affordable Care Act was first passed, I was fighting to get the state of Georgia to expand Medicaid so that we could so we could take working class Georgians out of the health care gap. I was arrested in the state capitol fighting for Medicaid expansion. I don’t think Georgians should have to subsidize health care in other states while working people can’t get health care. And then a couple of years later when Republicans were busy passing a bill similar to the one that they’re trying to pass right now, and they were stripping health care away, I got arrested here in the Congress, here in the United States Senate, again as a citizen. And so now as a senator, I take that same passion, that same commitment now that I have some new tools, and I’m fighting every single day to protect Medicaid because people all over our state need it. We’re seeing too many of our rural hospitals close, and right now they are proposing to cut nearly $1 trillion. Think about that. Nearly $1 trillion out of Medicaid, and why are they doing this? They’re doing this to give the wealthiest people in America, literally the top 1%, a tax cut. I think that that is an indefensible use of taxpayer dollars. It is a drag on the Georgia economy in addition to being a drag on people’s health care. And so, I have always fought this fight. I’ve introduced bills time and time again to protect Medicaid, to make sure working-class people have access to health care, and you have my absolute commitment that I will continue to do the same. I won’t shrink back one minute on this issue.”

[…]

Question from Val in Flowery Branch: “I am a veteran. What proactive approach will you be taking to stop the 70,000 VA jobs that are scheduled to be cut. I work at the VA, and we are already short staffed.” 

SRW: “Thank you for your service. Georgia is a big military state; we’ve got a lot of veterans in our state. And our veterans really are the best among us. They signed up for service and it doesn’t matter who the president is, they go wherever they are sent. They respond to the assignment and our assignment is to make sure we protect our veterans. The people who fight for us shouldn’t have to fight with us to get the benefits that they deserve. That’s why I’m so proud of the fact that when we were in charge, we set the table for the passage of a bipartisan bill that provided the largest benefit for veterans in a generation. […] We do our veterans a terrible disservice, when we don’t provide for them the services that they need. And so as a member of the Senate who has with the power of oversight, I will continue to push the Veterans Administration to give our veterans the services that they need. I will continue to reach out, to the VA secretary who hails from Georgia and continue to press for answers.”

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