Valerie Foushee

Valerie Foushee born May 7, 1956) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for North Carolina's 4th congressional district since 2023. Elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives for the 50th district in 2012, she was appointed to represent the 23rd senatorial district in 2013.

Valerie Foushee went from serving on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, to being the first African American female elected to the Orange County Board of Commissioners, to serving in the North Carolina state House and then state Senate.

Activist family

The Foushee family has lived in Orange County for generations, during which members have stood at the forefront of the civil rights movement and served as leaders in the community.

While Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-N.C. 4th), Carrboro Town Council member Barbara Foushee and Chapel Hill Town Council member Paris Miller-Foushee might be the most recognizable Foushees, they aren't the only ones who have had a significant impact.

The three women share the name Foushee, but they are not related by blood. Each of them married into the Foushee family.

Braxton Foushee, Barbara Foushee's husband and a prominent community member in Carrboro, said the Foushee family has been in the Chapel Hill area for over 100 years.

Barbara said the opportunity to campaign for Carrboro Town Council fell into her lap unexpectedly when people from the community encouraged her to run.

At the time, she said she was already a long-standing member of service-oriented organizations such as Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP.

Braxton, who is in his 80s and a lifelong resident of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area, currently serves as the chairperson of the planning board in the Town of Carrboro.

He said he was involved in the civil rights movement in the Northside neighborhood, beginning just two weeks after the Greensboro Four sit-in. He said he and other activists in the area were trained by members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

"I've been in the fight ever since," he said.

Braxton said he became the first Black alderman for the Town of Carrboro in 1969, a position he held for 17 years. He said his two main accomplishments during this time were playing a role in preventing Carr Mill Mall from being torn down and getting the roads in Black neighborhoods paved.

He said Vivian Foushee, his cousin’s wife and Paris' mother-in-law, inspired him and other local activists during the civil rights movement with her own involvement in the movement.

Vivian, who was born in 1933, is also a lifelong Orange County resident and graduate of the UNC School of Social Work.

She still works as a social worker in a private practice in Chapel Hill, which she established with two colleagues.

Valerie is married to another member of the family — Stanley Foushee, a retired Carrboro fire marshal.

Valerie was recently elected to the U.S. House of Representatives after serving in both houses of the N.C. General Assembly and on the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.

She has also served on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education.

Paris is married to Gerald Foushee, the son of Vivian.

“All too often we have a very top-down approach to addressing the challenges that we face and we also need to, you know, be socialized in a different way of what it means to be a leader of peace," Paris said.

She also said the work she does for affordable housing on the board of EMPOWERment, Inc. is a continuation of her mother-in-law Vivian's legacy. Paris said Vivian was the first president of the organization.

Herman Foushee, another Chapel Hill native and a member of the Foushee family, said he became involved in the civil rights movement the summer after he completed seventh grade.

His great-grandmother and Braxton’s great-grandfather were siblings.

He said he attended sit-ins at Colonial Drugstore and was once arrested for visiting The Pines Restaurant — both of which were segregated establishments at the time.

Herman said he worked in several planning and consulting roles in government offices, including as an administrator of facilities management for the Washington, D.C., Department of Public Works. He is currently the president of Foushee’s Tax and Financial Management Services, Inc. and the first vice president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP.

"China Initiative" letter

On January 22, 2024, Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) led an effort to stop House GOP members from reinstating the China Initiative, a Trump-era program created in 2018 that purported to combat espionage but in effect targeted and profiled those of Chinese descent.

The Department of Justice ended the program in 2022, after several of the alleged espionage and national security cases ended in acquittal, dismissal or were dropped altogether. But Republicans in Congress are now attempting to restart the program using a provision in a key House spending bill—at the same time that they are reviving racially motivated rhetoric against Chinese Americans.

“Republicans are essentially pushing the Chinese Exclusion Act 2.0,” said Rep. Meng, First Vice Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

“The Trump-era China Initiative fostered bigotry and discrimination against Asian Americans, particularly those with connections to China, while doing little to actually advance national security interests,” said Senator Hirono, Executive Board Member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

“The Trump-era China Initiative undermined our nation’s scientific innovation and global partnerships while perpetuating the ‘forever foreigner’ stereotype and ruining the careers and lives of the innocent scholars targeted for investigations solely because of their Chinese ancestry,” said Rep. Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

Other signatories included Senators Tammy Duckworth, Peter Welch, and Congressmembers Jake Auchincloss, Ami Bera, Andre Carson, Greg Casar, Kathy Castor, Jasmine Crockett, Lloyd Doggett, Adriano Espaillat, Bill Foster, Valerie Foushee, Chuy Garcia, Robert Garcia, Dan Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Pramila Jayapal, Andy Kim, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Barbara Lee, Ted Lieu, Jim McGovern, Seth Moulton, Kevin Mullin, Jerry Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Andrea Salinas, Linda Sanchez, Adam Schiff, Tom Suozzi, Mark Takano, Jill Tokuda, Lauren Underwood.

Pro-Hamas 'Ceasefire' Letter by Troy Carter

Birmingham DSA Retweets X Post referencing Troy Carter's Pro-Hamas Ceasefire Letter Dec 2, 2023

On December 1, 2023, Representative Troy Carter wrote a letter signed by ten members of congress demanding that Joe Biden use his "immense influence" to convince Israel stop their campaign against the terror organization Hamas in the wake of the terror attack on October 7, 2023. The letter mentioned the goal of a "two-state solution" three times. "We urge you to use your immense influence and the full power of your office to continue negotiations and extend the bilateral pause beyond tomorrow so that both sides can build towards a bilateral ceasefire and, ultimately, a two-state solution." The letter called for a euphamistically named "ceasefire" mirroring the Ceasefire Now Resolution introduced in the House on October 16, 2023 and initiated by Cori Bush, Rashida Tlaib, Summer Lee, and Delia Ramirez:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Troy A. Carter, Sr. (D-LA) led 10 Members of Congress in sending a letter to President Biden, calling for him to support a bilateral ceasefire in the ongoing Middle East conflict.

Rep. Carter was joined in sending the letter by Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Valerie P. Foushee (D-NC), Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), André Carson (D-IN), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Terri A. Sewell (D-AL), and Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-GA).

Birmingham Democratic Socialists of America reposted reference to Troy Carter's letter on December 2, 2023.

Resolution condemning socialism

Fedrary 2, 2023 House Republicans moved a Resolution condemning socialism and certain dictators.

The Resolution began:

Whereas socialist ideology necessitates a concentration of power that has time and time again collapsed into Communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and brutal dictatorships;

Whereas socialism has repeatedly led to famine and mass murders, and the killing of over 100,000,000 people worldwide;

Whereas many of the greatest crimes in history were committed by socialist ideologues, including Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, and Nicolás Maduro;

Eighty six Democrats voted no. Forteen voted "present" and six didn't vote.

Representative Valerie Foushee voted "Nay".

Green New Deal Resolution

Washington (April 19, 2023) – During Earth Week and on the four-year anniversary of the Green New Deal Resolution, Representative Summer Lee (PA-12) and Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will reintroduce the resolution at a press conference at the Senate Swamp on THURSDAY, April 20th at 12:00 PM. Lee will also join Senator to announce new legislation focused on tackling the intersecting climate and public health crises.

The lawmakers will be joined by Green New Deal members of Congress and labor, health, climate, and justice advocates to celebrate the intersectional coalition’s achievement in getting the Inflation Reduction Act passed—the federal government’s largest-ever investment in climate and clean energy—while outlining the fight ahead to deliver a just, Green New Deal future that upholds the promise of the resolution and the movement that it inspired.

— Senator Ed Markey —Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez —Representative Ro Khanna —Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) —Representative Greg Casar (TX-35) —Representative Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) —Representative Summer Lee (PA-12) —Representative Maxwell Frost (FL-10) —Representative Delia Ramirez (IL-03) —Representative Robert Garcia (CA-42) —Representative Becca Balint (VT) —Kaniela Ing, National Director of the [Green New Deal Network]] —Sara Nelson, President of Association of Flight Attendants-CWA —Dr. Colleen Achong, SEIU Healthcare, Committee of Interns and Residents —Jacqui Patterson, Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project and Climate Justice Alliance member

Representatives Chellie Pingree and Valerie Foushee also showed up. THURSDAY, April 20th at 12:00 PM, Senate Swamp, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.

Medicare for All

Cheryl Webb November 30, 2022.

"We’re SO thrilled to congratulate and welcome these new members of Congress who won their elections earlier this month on a platform of supporting Medicare for All!

Greg Casar - TX-35, Summer Lee - PA-12, Valerie Foushee - NC-04, Shri Thanedar - MI-03, Delia Ramirez - IL-03, Maxwell Frost - FL-10, Sydney Kamlager - CA-37, Robert Garcia - CA-42, Becca Balint - VT-at large, Morgan McGarvey - KY-03, Glenn Ivey - MD-04, Kevin Mullin - CA-15, Jill Tokuda - HI-02, Jonathan Jackson - IL-01, John Fetterman - Senator-elect, Pennsylvania, Peter Welch - Senator-elect, Vermont .

Collective PAC

The Collective PAC endorsed Valerie Foushee in 2022.

CPC

Valerie Foushee (NC-04) was in 2023, a new member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.