WEEKLY REVEREND WRAP: Warnock Campaigns in Valdosta, Waycross, and Dalton; Demands Action on Baby Formula Shortage; Meets with Sheriffs

This week, Reverend Warnock traveled across Georgia to discuss his work fighting for hardworking Georgia families. Over the weekend, Reverend Warnock met with South Georgia voters in Valdosta and Waycross, the hometown of his mother, Verlene Warnock. On Wednesday, Warnock stopped in Dalton for a roundtable with Latino business owners and a meet and greet with voters. Reverend Warnock also heard from sheriffs during an interfaith roundtable in Cobb County and expressed his outrage at the FDA’s handling of the baby formula shortage. 

WARNOCK TRAVELS TO SOUTH GEORGIA, VISITS GRANDFATHER’S CHURCH

This past weekend, Reverend Warnock met with South Georgia voters and community leaders in Valdosta and Waycross, the hometown of Reverend Warnock’s mother, Verlene Warnock. 

During his stops in Waycross and Valdosta, Reverend Warnock visited his grandfather’s church and spoke with Georgians about his continued efforts to lower costs, provide relief for Georgians at the pump, protect and grow jobs, and support Georgia military families.

Reverend Warnock: “My mother is Verlene Warnock. She grew up on Vernon Street. A little house, with a big family. I stand here on the faith of my grandfather and my grandmother.” 

Reverend Warnock: “My mother who grew up in the 1950s in Waycross, picking somebody else’s cotton. Picking somebody else’s tobacco. But because this is America, and because you used your hands and your feet, and you went to the ballot box, my mother’s hands, the 82 year old hands that used to pick somebody else’s cotton and somebody else’s tobacco, picked her youngest son to be a United States Senator.”

Reverend Warnock also visited his grandfather’s church and spoke with voters and community leaders in Waycross.

Later in the day, Reverend Warnock traveled to Valdosta where he delivered remarks and greeted voters.

Reverend Warnock: “Legislation that we would write, public policy we would make, the country we would build together… is in the end, a letter to our children. We ought to ask ourselves what do we want that letter to say.”

WARNOCK MEETS WITH VOTERS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS IN DALTON

On Wednesday, Reverend Warnock traveled to North Georgia where he talked with Dalton voters about his work to continue fighting to protect and grow good-paying jobs in Dalton. During his stops in Dalton, Reverend Warnock heard from Latino Business Owners at a roundtable followed by a meet and greet hosted by the Whitfield County Democrats. 

Dalton Daily Citizen — Warnock vows to help create better America for ‘our children’

• Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock views legislation and public policy as “letters to our children, and we’d get it right more often” if more elected officials held a similar outlook, he said here Wednesday.

• “I’m going to stay focused on the people and their problems, not politicians and their problems,” said Warnock. “There’s so much talk about politicians and how they’re doing, (but) my job is to center (on) the concerns of ordinary people, (such as) a livable wage and access to healthcare.”

• As a senator, Warnock “has been a tireless advocate for Georgians,” said Tom Pinson, director of the community center. “We need to keep him” in the Senate.

• Warnock first came to Dalton as a college student in the late 1980s while working for the state’s public health department, so “I’ve been focused on women’s reproductive health and reproductive rights” for more than three decades, and “there are constructive and productive things the government can do if serious about life,” he said. For example, “we could focus on the criminally high maternal mortality rate” in the country and, specifically, Georgia, especially among Black women.

• “Places like Dalton represent (a) diverse America, and I take your spirit, fire and hope from Dalton with me to Washington, D.C.,” but attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election were a strike by some that “certain voices shouldn’t be heard,” he said. “We have to deal with the violent assault of our Capitol, and we can’t ignore it.”
  

Chattanooga Times Free Press — U.S. Sen. Warnock visits Northwest Georgia, says public policy is ‘letter to our children’

• At a rally Wednesday afternoon in Dalton, Georgia, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock emphasized legislation passed by the Democratic majority in the Senate — and the fact that Georgia voters gave Democrats that majority in 2021.

• “Public policy you make, or fail to make, is a letter to our children,” Warnock said to a crowd of more than 150 at the Mack Gaston Community Center. “And we would get more of it right if we asked ourselves each time: What do we want that letter to say?”

• There is something spiritual about infrastructure, he said, because it’s something that connects us, and something we all use. Despite political differences, Warnock said he was willing to partner with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on a highway connecting military bases and emerging technology markets from Texas to Georgia.

• The presentation was “lovely,” said Fred McDade, a disabled Vietnam veteran retired from a career as a school counselor. He said he’s a Democrat who likes Warnock’s common sense.

• Ray Scalise attended the rally and said it was “poignant” how Warnock pointed out that legislation is passed for our children, because what’s passed now won’t be built for many years. Standing with him, Debbie Sneary said she liked the senator’s point about how Democrats and Republicans share roads, communities and resources.

Reverend Warnock with a supporter in Dalton

News 9 Chattanooga — Georgia Senator Warnock talks Roe v. Wade at roundtable in Dalton Wednesday

• Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock held a roundtable with Latino business owners in Dalton Wednesday.

• Warnock addressed the reversal of Roe v Wade and brought up his time with the Georgia Department of Health in the 1980s.

• He criticized the government when referencing the mortality rate of women in Georgia.

• “If you’re serious about life, we could be focusing on the criminally high rates of maternal mortality in our country,” Warnock says.
• The senator says he is fighting to protect women and their rights to make their own healthcare decisions.”I trust women and their wisdom and I wonder why some people don’t,” Warnock says.

• He also had a meet and greet with supporters shortly after.
  

WARNOCK CALLS FOR ACTION ON BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE

As hardworking families continue to struggle with the nationwide baby shortage formula, Reverend Warnock expressed his outrage with the FDA’s handling of the issue in a letter this week. This comes a month after Reverend Warnock spoke about the urgency of rectifying this shortage and pushed legislation to address the crisis. 

11Alive Atlanta — Sen. Warnock criticizes FDA’s handling of baby formula shortage in letter, demands answers

• As the nationwide baby formula shortage continues to leave families scrambling to find solutions, on Wednesday, Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock urged federal regulators to improve their response time and help fix the issue.

• Warnock sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Robert Califf and criticized the way the FDA handled the baby formula shortage. 

• He emphasized that the timeline in which the FDA responded to the initial complaints about contaminated formula was alarming, outlining the timeline of concerns.

• In the letter, Warnock outlines that Abbott is responsible for 48% of the country’s formula production, however, no steps were taken to mitigate the exposure of bacteria in the product. 

• As of June 2022, Abbott Nutrition’s doors are still closed. While families across the U.S. continue to struggle to find the baby formula on shelves, Warnock is asking the FDA how they plan to prevent shortages in the future. In addition, he is asking for an estimated target date for when Americans can expect formula supply to return to pre-shortage levels.

WARNOCK MEETS WITH SHERIFFS IN COBB COUNTY

This week, Reverend Warnock attended an interfaith roundtable where he met with faith leaders and members of local law enforcement. In the Senate, Reverend Warnock has been fighting to pass the bipartisan Invest to Protect Act, which will provide local enforcement with the support and resources they need. The legislation has received praise from local law enforcement in Georgia, including from the Burke and Screven County Sheriffs.

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