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6/18/18 

Contact Federal Government Officials


Fax legislators for free:  Reps:  https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php

 
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Many newspapers, including New York Times and Washington Post require subscriptions, but without one we can see a few articles each month.  We can also check with our local libraries to find out how to get online access through them.

1.       This week in Congress:  Twenty-one (21) bills and resolutions are on the House Majority Leader's Schedule for this week starting on Tuesday. Additionally, we can look at this week's House committee schedule here.  Let's know what's coming.   The Senate begins their Monday session by resuming consideration of H.R.5515, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019. (Source: Senate Calendar) Last week, Senate leaders agreed to include language in the NDAA that would reverse the Trump administration's decision to save Chinese telecommunications company ZTE after it was caught violating the terms of a 2017 penalty agreement by making illegal sales to Iran and North Korea. We can read more about that at Politico

2.      Trump aide Stephen Miller (or, as Jon Lovett from Crooked Media/Pod Save America calls him, “C+ Santa Monica fascist Stephen Miller”) made clear that separating families at the border was a “simple decision”:  https://forward.com/fast-forward/403348/stephen-miller-was-driving-force-behind-trump-family-separation-policy/   Are we clear on what our own Senators are doing about this ‘simple decision’ by this white-supremacist in the White House? We can check the list of co-sponsors here to Senator Feinstein’s Keep Families Together bill (S.3036) and then reach out to our Senators to demand their involvement or say thanks for co-sponsoring. Hint: ZERO Republicans have cosponsored, and Joe Manchin (D-WV) is the only Dem who has yet to co-sign.  Let’s also contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and tell them to approve this and move it to a floor vote for the sake of these children who should not be used as pawns.  Contact: https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/about/members

3.      Nearly 2000 children have been separated from their parents at the border. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-children/government-says-nearly-2000-child-separations-at-mexico-border-in-under-two-months-idUSKBN1JB2SF  We can file a complaint against the policy of family separation with The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties within the Dept. of Homeland Security. Contact:  https://www.dhs.gov/office-civil-rights-and-civil-liberties

4.      Trump said that Hillary Clinton should have been imprisoned for her emails.  We now know that was a cruel ruse.  However, despite Kim Jong Un’s criminal activity and human rights abuses, Trump is cozying up to him instead of calling him out.  http://www.chicagonow.com/politics-now/2018/06/the-good-the-bad-and-the-con-of-the-kim-summit/  Let’s be very wary of Trump’s self-proclaimed achievements and make sure our MoCs know that we want them involved in what is happening on the international front.

5.      Even if our reps have already signed on to the legislation to end family separation, there’s still more they can do. Visits to the sites where detained children are being held apart from their parents by leaders like Senator Merkley have focused attention on this ongoing horror, and kept it there (https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/sen-jeff-merkley-talks-his-visit-to-immigration-detention-centers-1249651267671). Let’s ask our members of Congress to follow his lead, go to these sites, talk with the children, and amplify their voices.

6.      The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) of the US Department of Homeland Security investigates complaints filed by the public. Let’s flood the office with complaints about ICE—family separation, human rights abuses in detention, failure to provide counsel for vulnerable children and their families, sneaky apprehension tactics, etc. Here’s how to file complaints: https://www.dhs.gov/compliance-branch h/t https://www.facebook.com/events/255225215223830/

7.      The Benghazi investigations went on for years without any finding of wrong doing., yet Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) thinks that the Mueller investigation has gone on too long, despite its already many arrests, indictments, guilty pleas, and jailings.  http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/392454-mcconnell-mueller-ought-to-wrap-it-up Let’s remind McConnell that Mueller will be done when he is finished and that our country will be better for it. 

8.     White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had an intense press briefing on Thursday:  https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/14/sarah-huckabee-sanders-reporters-white-house-press-briefings-tension-648338  Let’s let her know that we are done with her lies and ready for her to go: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500 or on Twitter @PressSec

9.      This past weekend, seven members of Congress delegation made a surprise visit to an ICE detention center and refused to leave until they were let in. http://thehill.com/homenews/house/392680-dem-lawmakers-make-surprise-visit-to-ice-detention-center. Let’s ask our MoCs to keep organizing visits to these facilities and to make sure that the American public gains full details on how detainees are being treated.

10.  There are currently 12 investigations into EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's actions, and it appears that Republican lawmakers are growing more critical of his conduct (https://politi.co/2JErVoP). While Trump has shown his unwillingness to fire him, and Pruitt has not shown any indication that he will resign, Congress could still take action through impeachment and removal from office.  
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/06/13/if-pruitt-wont-resign-and-trump-wont-fire-him-what-penalty-could-he-face/). There would need to be significant support for such drastic action, so let's be sure to contact our MoC in the House and Senate.

11.  The public comment period is open for EPA’s proposal to restrict its use of scientific studies in developing rules and other policies.  Although the Trump Administration advocates the proposal as supporting “transparency,” the proposal would make it impractical for EPA to consider key peer-reviewed scientific studies of the health effects of pollution.  Some of the most influential and useful studies are conducted by university or other non-government scientists, and the underlying raw data is not publicly available due to privacy concerns about patients’ medical information.  https://blog.ucsusa.org/andrew-rosenberg/now-is-the-time-to-halt-the-epas-restrictions-on-science  For information on the proposal, how to comment — including suggested talking points — and links for more information, see Restricting the Use of Science Under the Guise of Providing Transparency.


Election 2018 – General

An election guide from Postcards for America:  In this Google doc (updated regularly), each State shows ALL Democratic Candidates running for Congress, Governor, Lt Gov, Attorney General, Secretary of State (if applicable) with links to their websites and Twitter. Each has a link to a Twitter Thread, a Shareable Facebook Post and a Document. For most States, there are also Info & Links for Voter Registrations, Absentee Ballots, Early Voting & Voter ID, Age Requirements and being a Poll Worker.  Let’s check this out and use and share it:  

1.       We don't have to wait for November to flip a seat in Congress! We still have a week to help Postcards To Voters get out the vote in Texas' CD 27. We have a whole Congressional District's-worth of Democratic voters to remind about this unusually-scheduled June election; it's on Saturday, June 30! It's a long list of voter addresses that volunteers have been working on for a week already. If we can, let's write 5 postcards for Campaign 92: Eric Holguin for US Congress. If we are new volunteers, we can sign up here. Let's help unite the Democratic vote for Eric.

2.      He was once on the other side of the issue, but Bob Orr, a Republican and former justice of the North Carolina state Supreme Court, has changed his mind. He is now speaking out against the new Republican push for an amendment to the NC state constitution that would require photo voter IDs: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article213082809.html Let’s send him a note of thanks for recognizing the link between vote ID laws, voter suppression, and the brutal history of denying Black Americans the franchise: greenponds.enterprises@gmail.com

3.      Webmasters! Vote.org has free civic engagement tools we can add to our websites—including a Register to Vote tool, an Absentee Ballot tool, a Verify Voter Registration Status Tool, and an Election Reminders Tool. https://www.vote.org/technology/ Let’s help increase voter turnout by adding these tools to the websites of our progressive candidates and resistance groups.

4.      With its new initiative #TeenTheVote , the organization Spread the Vote will help high school grads in TN, GA, and TX get the voter IDs they need to vote in November’s mid-term elections. Let’s see how we can help this important campaign:

5.      The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Husted v. APRI will make it easier for Republicans to suppress the  vote by purging “inactive” voters (https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-supreme-courts-husted-decision-will-make-it-more-difficult-for-democrats-to-vote). The OpenProgress text troop is fighting back, texting people in critical swing states who have moved or been marked inactive to encourage them to fix their registrations. Let’s sign up to help here.
Election 2018 – By State

1.       Upcoming voting dates and deadlines:

June 18
Arkansas
Early voting ends
runoffs
June 18
Colorado
Early voting begins
Primary
June 19
Utah
Voter Registration Deadline
Primary (in person/online)
June 19
Washington D.C.
Voter Registration Deadline
Primary (at polls)
June 19
Washington D.C.
Election date
Primary
June 19
Arkansas
Election date
Runoffs
June 21
Maryland
Early Voting ends
Primary
June 21
Oklahoma
Early Voting begins
Primary
June 22
Utah
Early Voting ends
Primary
June 23
Oklahoma
Early Voting ends
Primary

Other Actions

1.       Sleeping Giants (who leads the charge against companies who advertise on Breitbart) and GrabYourWallet (aka Shannon Coulter who leads the boycotting of Trump-related products) have both been behind the scenes and uncovering which companies are financially benefiting from the child separation policy.  We now know the names of two contractors that are coordinating these child shelters: A) MVM Inc. (Twitter: @MVMINC Phone: (571)223-4500), and B) General Dynamics (Twitter: @GDMS “Ethics helpline”: 800-433-8442).  Let’s contact them by phone, Twitter, or by using the email addresses listed here to tell them what we think:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tPp7M2_GwQ7IeB9mHhYAHtHSZMEbhkKS   

2.      Thankfully awareness has been building over the weekend about the family separation issues for asylum seekers at our southern border. We can find ways to help here in this guide from Slate:  https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/how-you-can-fight-family-separation-at-the-border.html

3.      Let’s thank the Southern Baptist Convention http://www.sbc.net/ for passing a resolution calling for “the priority of family unity” and humane immigration reform. 

4.      Part of the reason Trump has been so effective is due to the way he frames language and garners press attention to spread his skewed version of the truth. Let’s make sure to read and widely share this article from the Guardian that explains how the press and the American public continues to be manipulated by deliberately deceptive framing and language choices. And let’s write letters to the editors of our local newspapers warning them of these dangers and entreating them to (1) Learn more about how propaganda works (2) Stop the president from controlling the news cycle and (3) Stop directly quoting his lies as headliners, even if they’re reported as lies.

5.      Open Progress is seeking volunteers, especially Spanish speakers to text with them in the next few weeks as we try to register and or re-activate as many Latino voters in Arizona as possible. You really don’t need to speak Spanish, but it’s a super bonus if you do.  More info here:  https://www.openprogress.com/text-troop

6.      Attention attorneys, interpreters and law students! There is a direct way to fight Trump's continuing attack against immigrants. It is a fact that "Immigrants with legal counsel are more than 10 times as likely to succeed in their cases as detained immigrants without a lawyer. Yet, the great majority of immigrant detainees, especially in the Southeast, are not represented." Volunteering with SIFI (Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative), led by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is a fantastic way to give these folks the support and representation they need. More info here: https://www.splcenter.org/our-issues/immigrant-justice/southeast-immigrant-freedom-initiative/english/volunteer-sifi

7.      Award-winning, left-leaning editorial cartoonist Rob Rogers was fired from his job at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after the hiring of right-leaning editorial page editor Keith Burris. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/business/media/pittsburgh-cartoonist-fired.html After noticing that Rogers’ cartoons were not being published, the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists issued a statement that included this: “We would take this opportunity to remind all editorial page editors that their responsibility is to the readers…and to the open and ongoing search for truth in contending opinions.” Let’s read the whole statement, http://news.editorialcartoonists.com/aaec/2018/06/a-statement-from-the-aaec-board-on-rob-rogers-and-the-post-gazette.html , and let’s protest the firing of Rob Rogers: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette John Robinson Block, Publisher, and Keith Burris, Editorial Page Editor, 358 North Shore Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15212; 412-263-1100.  . If we are Pittsburgh area Rogan's listers, let's consider cancelling our newspaper subscription to the Post-Gazette if we have one.

8.     Let’s thank the members of the Evangelical Immigration Table  for sending this letter: http://evangelicalimmigrationtable.com/cms/assets/uploads/2018/06/EIT-Family-Separation-Letter-6.1.2018.pdf to Trump in protest of the administration’s cruel border family separation policy. Contact: info@evangelicalimmigrationtable.com

9.      Let’s thank the Anti-Defamation League for organizing 26 Jewish groups: 
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/jewish-orgs-letter-sessions-nielsen-family-separations-2018-06-12.pdf  to AG Sessions and Sec. Nielsen protesting the Trump administration’s cruel practice of separating children from their parents at the border. Contact: https://www.adl.org/contact

10.  As we work to persuade hearts and minds away from misperceptions, fake news, and propaganda, a study suggests that charts and graphics can be very effective tools. Let’s read about it here: 

11.   The DNC wants to know what issues are important to us.  Let’s tell them:  https://my.democrats.org/page/s/issues-survey-acq-m

12.  If we are a mental or medical health professional, we are asked to sign on here with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR… in an urgent letter addressed to the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice, expressing grave concerns about the administration’s stated practice of separating migrant and asylum-seeking families at the U.S. border:  https://secure.phr.org/secure/family-separation-sign-letter 

13. The two highest vote-getting Dems in South Carolina’s 2nd Congressional District are heading for a runoff for the U.S. House seat.  Let’s join our sisters in South Carolina who are denouncing the bullying of Sean Carrigan, one of the candidates.  “representatives of the Carrigan campaign have engaged in unprecedented sexist political bullying, including bogus legal threats, bogus ethics complaints, “slut shaming,” attempts to physically intimidate his female opponent, her daughter and her supporters, cyber bullying on social media and via anonymous email, the release of personal documents illegally received by the campaign, and the use of sexist imagery to demean his female opponent.”  Sign here:   https://actionnetwork.org/forms/women-denounce-political-bullying

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

1.       Think California has the “Gold Standard” Net Neutrality Law all set? Think again. ATT funded lobbyists and think tanks have been pressuring a key committee to weaken consumer protections. Now there are just a few days left before Wednesday’s vote that could gut or kill this important bill. Fortunately, we can reach these lawmakers by joining Action Together Networks’ Twitterstorm this Monday, June 18 at 8pm EST. This is not just a state wide issue since California’s results will influence other states. Passing a strong law here could have wide, national benefits.  We can find out more about the event here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1862906040437031/?ti=icl
When we click on this link, we can send out prewritten tweets with just a few clicks. 

2.      “On Saturday, June 23 the #PoorPeoplesCampaign will be headed to the US Capitol for a mass rally in Washington, D.C. as part of our Global Day of Solidarity, rounding out the #40DaysofAction and launching our next period of movement building for the long haul. The rally will begin at 10am.  Join us as we show our elected leaders we will no longer allow attention violence to keep poor and disenfranchised people down!” Learn more here:  http://bit.ly/MassRallyDC” 

3.      The National Domestic Workers Alliance is sponsoring a gathering on June 30, in Washington, DC and across the country to demand that we keep families together!  Pledge to take action on June 30: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/take-action-june-30  

States


Find elected state officials: https://openstates.org/



Reading/Watching

1.       Experts in authoritarianism advise us to keep a list of things subtly changing around us, so we’ll remember.  Amy Siskind is keeping that list for us. Amy writes, "[Attorney General] Sessions invoked the Bible to justify the regime’s practice of separating migrant children from their parents and exacerbated the crisis by ordering immigration judges to stop granting asylum to most victims of domestic abuse and gang violence. Amid widespread condemnation, Trump repeated false claims blaming Democrats for the border crisis  continuing his pattern of constructing an alternative version of reality to feed his base."  Let's review Amy Siskind's list week 83

2.      “When the Government Takes Your Children:  On June 12th, veteran photographer John Moore captured soon-to-be-separated migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border” - https://foto.gettyimages.com/news/politics/when-the-government-takes-your-children

3.      Increasingly a Necessity: A 15-Point Guide to Surviving Authoritarianism” (written last December) - https://billmoyers.com/story/increasingly-necessity-15-point-guide-surviving-authoritarianism/

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