Through strong, conservative leadership, we are making WNC families safer and more prosperous. We are off to a good start, but to continue, we must persevere in changing how Washington works.
Continue Rebuilding WNC from Hurricane Helene
Within days of the disaster, Congressman Edwards realized that pictures alone could not tell the full story of the impact. Over the coming weeks, he brought House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Leader Steve Scalise, Appropriations Chair Tom Cole, and many others within House leadership to WNC to see first-hand the impact of the storm. In fact, President Trump’s first trip after inauguration was with Chuck to Western North Carolina to see the work that lay ahead. Chuck authored the $110 Billion Disaster Supplemental bill to pave the way for funds to come to the aide of North Carolina families, businesses and farmers. But he didn’t stop there, since the disaster Chuck as sponsored the following legislation to help WNC:
- H.R.2364, the Helene Small Business Recovery Act and the Economic Opportunity for Distressed Communities Act
- H.R. 1245, the Disaster Survivors Fairness Act
- H.R. 760, the Restoring Access to Mountain Homes Act
- H.R. 711, the Honoring Victims of Hurricane Helene Act
When Chuck heard that the Blue Ridge Parkway, a lifeline of tourists for many of our mountain communities, was going to take up to 8 years to rebuild, he jumped into action calling for a meeting with the Secretary of the Interior to demand better results. Now 98% of the Parkway damaged by the storm is back open for tourists. When it was announced that I-40 may not be fully open for many years, Chuck assisted the Federal Highways Administration, the US Forest Service and NCDOT in creative options to pull aggregate from the nearby forest, shaving 3 years and millions of dollars from the project. Now, I-40 is back to 85% of its traditional traffic counts.
When he heard that thousands of WNC families were struggling to get answers from FEMA, he demanded the first-ever team of FEMA employees to work in his district office side-by- side with his caseworkers to expedite decisions and cut red tape. To date, more than 1,500 constituents have been helped by his office with their FEMA cases.
The work is not done. Chuck continues to fight for ways to restructure and streamline FEMA, better ensuring that those struck by the next disaster will fare much better than the last.
Closing the Border to Illegals, Cartels and Drugs
Chuck has worked tirelessly to pass legislation reversing the catastrophic impacts of Biden’s 64 Border related executive actions. This year alone, Chuck has voted to sign into law:
- Border funding of $46.6 billion to build or rebuild the border walls protecting our country
- $6.2 billion to provide state of the art technology in protecting the border
- $7.8 billion to hire, train and retain US Customers and Border Control personnel
- $14 billion in funding to state and local governments to help with immigration enforcement
Chuck continues to work with his colleagues in the House and Senate to see approval for undocumented immigrants in the US prior to 2021 to have a pathway to legal status.
As a result, illegal border crossings have fallen by over 90% since the beginning of 2025, making our communities safer and cutting the flow of drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine into our cities and towns.
Unleashing the American Spirit for a Strong Economy
As Chuck proved in the NC General Assembly, when American families and businesses have more money in their pockets and less going to the IRS, they flourish. Chuck voted to keep and expand tax cuts and incentives impacting American. From those just starting their careers, to families, to small businesses, and retirees Chuck fought for legislation to lower their tax burden. Included in legislation Chuck signed on to this year:
- Increased the Child Tax Credit to $2,200 to help families overcome the inflation associated with Bidenomics
- Overtime pay deduction to exclude overtime pay from federal taxes
- Senior Tax Credit of up to $6,000
- Eliminated the “Marriage Tax Penalty”
- Increased the pass-through deduction to 20% of Qualified Business Income to put small businesses of partnerships and S-corps on a level taxation playing field with large corporations
- Increased the Section 179 Depreciation deduction to $2.5 Million to incentivize small businesses to invest in machinery and expansion
- American Manufacturing credits to incentivize expanded manufacturing in the US
Changing How Washington Serves Constituents
"First in Constituent Services" is the mantra of Congressman Edwards, and that of his Washington and district offices. He and his team are providing constituent services in a manner never before seen in WNC. Because of the vast area and rural nature of NC-11, he created and maintains the only mobile congressional office in the United States. The ‘Carolina Cruiser’ has now traveled over 20,000 miles throughout the district, making more than 2,300 stops, listening to citizens’ thoughts and concerns, and helping solve nearly 6,000 cases where constituents had problems with a federal agency. Over his two Congressional terms, Chuck has returned more than $31Million to the tax-payers in Western North Carolina by helping them get the current or past federal benefits they deserved.
- Over 20,000 miles driven
- More than 2,300 mobile office listening sessions
- More than 6,000 constituents helped with federal agency issues
- $31Million returned to NC Taxpayers