Congressman Chuck Edwards held a town hall meeting March 13 at the Ferguson Auditorium of Asheville-Buncombe Technical College.
Edwards addressed multiple issues including Ukraine, federal program cuts and Elon Musk’s DOGE program.
The town hall was split into three parts. Edwards spent the beginning talking about Western North Carolina’s recovery from Hurricane Helene and the U.S. debt crisis.
Edwards addressed the $110 billion bill he helped create to restore I-40 and clear trees and debris in Pisgah National Forest and the Great Smoky Mountains.
Edwards said his administration has assisted close to 350 individuals and families with successful resolutions of case work.
“[Our office had an] impossible time getting information from FEMA about the folks that needed help, that were caught up in the bureaucracy,” Edwards said. “157,000 families have received FEMA assistance to recover from the storm.”
According to Edwards, $18.3 million has been distributed to 6,230 families for repair or replacement of private access roads and bridges.
Edwards was met with boos and jeers when he referenced voting for a House budget resolution in Congress.
One man expressed his feelings by injecting explicit language into the discourse.
He was escorted out while the audience cheered for him. Throughout Edwards’ opening speech, the audience shouted, “Listen to us now.”
Edwards answered questions that were pre-written by the attendees. The questions addressed concerns about the Department of Education, Veterans Affairs, National Park Service cuts and uncertainty about Ukrainian immigrants’ temporary protected status.
“Those of you who are extremely concerned about the Constitution, lets drop back and realize that the Department of Education is not mentioned in our U.S. Constitution,” Edwards said. “I have supported, even as a state senator, the fact that we should abolish the U.S. Department of Education.”
He reassured the audience that he has no plans to disrupt Social Security. He reiterated that he will not touch the benefits of anyone who is already in the program.
When asked about recent threats to end temporary protected status for the Ukrainian population, Edwards did not answer and went on to the next question. Later Edwards was asked if he would stand up for Ukraine funding and protection. He confirmed that he had voted that way and would continue voting that way.
“I spent nine days in Ukraine,” Edwards said. “I had the opportunity to look into the weeping eyes of widows who lost their husbands and sons.”
At the end of the meeting, selected audience members were given two minutes each to ask Edwards a question. He reiterated his positions on the abolishment of the Department of Education, his support for Medicaid and Medicare and support for Social Security.
There were multiple organizations that protested Edwards and the current administration outside the town hall, including members from the Western North Carolina branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and members from Indivisible.
Indivisible’s goal is to increase political engagement and awareness. They also organized a bus for people to attend the town hall for $15, according to Betsy Swift, founder of the Western North Carolina branch of Indivisible.
“I was there but we didn’t get inside, there was a big, big crowd outside, a man we met as we were walking in had counted over 1,720 people and there were still folks arriving,” Swift said.
Swift said the crowd protesting and chanting outside of the town hall was so loud that they could be heard inside.
“It felt like such a beautiful community coming together during this heartbreaking time in our country’s history,” said Katie Jones, a theatre director and performer.
The full town hall stream is available to watch on WLOS News 13’s YouTube channel.
