Democrat U.S. Rep Lateefah Simon on "not being intimidated" to vote

Now of Representative Latifah Simon, her name is on the ballot here in this November midterm election. Let's listen in to what she is saying to our Fox local crew. 30% voter turnout. We're hearing about big numbers of voters turning out across the nation. Why do you think people are so motivated to vote for this election? I don't care how you vote, red or blue, folks are feeling the suffering that has been pushed upon them by elected officials. More than ever, I feel like folks get and understand their power, not just their responsibility. But their power that you can hire and you can fire the folks who are making decisions about your life from health care to are your streets clean? Do your children have good schools? Are you afraid that you're not going to be able to pay for your insulin? Folks now understand more than ever. They're feeling the betrayal and they're excited about expressing again their power and their right and their responsibility. And I'm excited for the Bay Area. I'm excited for the nation. I'm excited to celebrate tonight and I'm excited about going back. to work to Washington, D.C. next week so we can begin the process of unturning so much of the damage that's been done in the last two years. We've been hearing about a potential blue wave. If you flip the house, how does that impact you with regards to your committee assignments and elevates your profile as well? Well, I'm interested in profile. What I'm interested in is changing the material conditions of folks in this community and across the nation and, you know, folks in this district. Again, we speak 150 languages in this district. Not only is it the most diverse, it is one of the most progressive districts in the country. They didn't send me to be a part of the 435. They sent me to lead. I will be and have been aggressively seeking an exclusive committee. I'm very interested in bringing back resources to, again, our parents here, to folks who are suffering, who need housing and groceries. I will let you know when I get the assignment. Be on the lookout. I've done the work to get that assignment and I plan on celebrating hopefully in January, February when I'm granted that committee assignment. But the committees that I've been on in the last two years, whether it's Small Business or the Oversight Committee, we threw it all on the table in those committees. I've passed five bills through the House, five bills in a Republican majority, and we feel like we've done... A really great job even reaching across the aisle and we've also brought millions of dollars home to real people's pockets, folks who hadn't gotten their social security benefits or their veterans benefits. We've been doing this for a long time. Answered 1,300 calls and finished those cases. So I'm planning on doing more of that work. And whatever committee I get, I'm going to throw it down for the people of California's 12th District. What are you hearing about DOJ monitors in Alameda County? Oh, we've heard it. We've heard about it. And they may be out here, but the people are out here. We have community organizations and attorneys, organizations like the ACLU, nonprofit organizations here in Oakland that are doing election protection. Don't let them scare you. It is your right, your fundamental right to hire and fire the folks who make decisions about your life. We will not be deterred by these threats. They tried to come for mail-in voting. They didn't win. They're threatening, again, huge sweeps in American cities by immigration officials. They're threatening to send DOJ out to intimidate voters. Do not let this administration take your power away. The vote is yours. Voting places are open. Cast your vote and not only make your voice heard, determine the future of our communities. Do not let them deter you. Have you heard of that activity happening here today? We got the announcement that there will be officials in Alameda County. That's funny. Whether that's happening on the ground or not, again, I want to make sure that folks know we will not be deterred. We get to determine our own future, not an administration that has decided to betray the American people. We regular folks are our daycare workers, our construction workers, the cafeteria lady at my daughter's school. We get to determine how policies are made. Don't let folks tell you otherwise. Any other questions? Assuming the Democrats do take the majority, is there a way to undo H.R.1? I know the Alameda Health System and some of the other safety net health care systems in Oakland and Alameda County are really struggling. Is there something that you and the Democrats can do to reverse that? So H.R.1 was an omnibus bill. It was almost 1,000 pages, again, of betrayals to working class people. I suspect all the work that we've been doing over the past few months in preparation for taking back the house, you'll see it in the first hundred hours, in the first hundred days and in the first year, we are going to do everything that we can to undo these savage attacks on our elderly, on the disabled, of working people. You're absolutely right. Our health care centers, I feel like they're being hunted. I took Catherine Clark, who will be our majority leader, I took her just a few weeks ago to both Children's Hospital and to La Clinica de la Raza in the Fruitvale to see the dedicated physicians and nurses and health workers working with families who just want a shot and to see that I know that their funding has been attacked. We're throwing it all on the ground. As many of you know, my husband died of cancer. I'm a single mom raising a 15 year old girl and I just graduated my eldest from law school. I know what it's like to file bankruptcy after you lose someone from cancer. I know what it's like to have to get up and go back to work when you've had the worst day of your lives. So one of the things you should know is the reason why I'm going back and forth every week to Washington, D.C., is to be that voice, but I will certainly be one of the loudest as it pertains to, again, stopping this hellfire. My hope is that we will, in those first hundred days, move legislation swiftly to undo these work requirements, to Again, open the floodgates of resources that go back to research and supporting our social safety net. It's going to be difficult. We still have a president in office, and we're going to have to fight like hell to undo what he believes is his most beautiful piece of legislation. We know that legislation was a betrayal. We will do everything we can. I know I will to restore what folks deserve. And, again, that's just a shot. All right, listening in here to live words from Latifah Simon, Representative for the for California's 12th district, representing Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville. She is on the ballot today for the general election. Her challenger is a fellow Democrat, Jamie Joyce, a Berkeley-based researcher, a nonprofit advocate. Looks like she's still talking with reporters and supporters there. I just learned that I will have an opportunity to speak directly with the U.S. representative, Latifah Simon. One of the things I want to talk to her about is actually something she just touched on a minute ago. She talked about the cafeteria worker at her child's school, you know, people, sort of the blue-collar workers. of the Bay Area, how they need to feel financially safe and secure in what they're doing.