CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, Senator Thom Tillis appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan to discuss North Carolina’s recovery efforts from Helene. 

Watch the full interview HERE. 

Senator Tillis on the state and federal disaster response:

“Resources are beginning to move. I think they're moving a little bit more slowly than I hoped, but that is why we're working on the ground. I want to thank all of the local, state, federal responders out there. They're doing extraordinary work, but we've got to plus up the resources out there into some of the hardest hit areas, areas that we haven't reached yet. I think that could be done through the leadership of active-duty DOD personnel working with the state and with the National Guard. We just need to surge more resources.”

Senator Tillis on calling for a military leader to take charge of recovery efforts:

“We've got to clear roads, most roads are closed in Western North Carolina. I've been out there twice last week and [will be out] every day this week. Just the basics of debris removal, rescue operations, things that the Department of Defense, the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Airborne are accustomed to doing in battle situations are exactly what we need in Western North Carolina…It has to be a coordinated response and FEMA knows how to do this well. They've done it in other major disaster events. The American people and people in North Carolina need to understand the scope of this storm is more like Katrina. It may look like a flood to the observer, but again, this is a land mass roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts with damage distributed throughout. We have to get the maximum resources on the ground immediately to finish rescue operations and then sadly be there for recovery and rebuilding.”

Senator Tillis on the spread of misinformation during recovery efforts:

“I've been involved in a number of storm responses and this is when I believe discipline is absolutely essential…Many of the observations are not even from people on the ground. I believe that we have to stay focused on rescue operations, recovery operations, clearing operations, and we don't need any of these distractions on the ground. It is at the expense of the hard-working first responders and people that are just trying to recover their lives…If there are any challenges, call my office and we'll track them down if there are real issues, but most of what I’ve seen is a distraction and not helping the core of the effort right here which is to save lives and start rebuilding.”

Senator Tillis on North Carolina protecting voting access for residents affected by Helene:

“North Carolina is doing a great job. I've spoken with state leaders and they're coming back and taking lessons from Louisiana and a number of other states that have had to provide ballot and voting access in difficult situations like this. They'll be passing legislative matters this week to address it and I think that North Carolina will be prepared to make sure that everybody who wants to vote will have access to the ballot and vote before election day or on election day.” 

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