Congressman Shomari Figures Townhall well-attended with constituents voicing concerns

MOBILE, Ala.  - Congressman Shomari Figures was welcomed to Bishop State with a standing ovation Monday night from constituents attending a townhall meeting.

His mother -- longtime State Senator Vivian Figures introduced him -- calling it a “proud mom” moment.

The Democratic Congressman Figures was elected to represent Alabama’s newly-redrawn 2nd Congressional District in November. Figures said he was humbled by the turnout.

“Remarkable -- truly remarkable about how many people are engaged, about how many people are excited to be engaged around the issues and how many people are concerned about what is going on in our country right now,” said Figures.

He spoke two hours to the standing room only crowd -- touching on a number of issues. He gave them a recap of what he’s been working on in Washington -- most recently the spending bill to fund the government to avert a government shutdown -- and why he voted against it last week.

“We voted against it because we are seeing a government now that is being shut down literally every single day. We are seeing indecent actions and people being treated very poorly. People have done nothing but come to work and being laid off with one day’s notice in an email. We’re seeing critical funding across a variety sectors of government that we cannot allow to continue to happen without some assurances that they are going to spend the money that Congress has allocated to them,” said Figures.

He took more than an hour of questions -- and hearing concerns on a wide range of topics including inflation, social security benefits, aid for veterans, DOGE and cuts to federal programs and federal programs and jobs.

“Regardless how people feel about the size of the federal government and whether or not jobs are needed or not -- I think we can all agree there’s a better way to do it. There’s a better way to do it. There’s a better way to treat people that have done nothing wrong but show up to work and be dedicated employees for the majority or all of their careers. So, that is something we cannot sit back and be silent about. We need to make sure we are leading effectively and leading responsibly. And this administration is not treating people right,” said Figures.

He also heard concerns from the local Hispanic community about the mass deportations underway.

“Unfortunately we knew this was going to be an issue with this administration in terms of deporting people from communities across this district and across the country. My message to him was -- we have to advocate a policy that is sensible and realistic in terms of what it can accomplish -- but also recognizing the role that immigrants play throughout our communities,” said Figures.

With Democrats the minority in the House and the Senate -- Figures said they are in “defense” mode. He said, “Defense is what we are doing” -- fighting through litigation and legislation. He encouraged his constituents to continue to mobilize and organize and exercise their right to vote.

“At the end of the day -- we have the playbook -- the playbook is to get up and go vote. Be mobilized, be energized, and put us in a position where we can take control back of at least one of the chambers. I think people understand that -- I think people in this country, in this state -- fought and died for us to go vote. So, we have to get out there and exercise it and get our voices heard,” said Figures.