3/26/18
Contact Federal Government Officials
********************************
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: Members of both the House and the Senate will be out of
Washington until Tuesday, April 10 for state/district work periods.
Let's try to follow up with our MoCs at their local offices if we can.
(Sources: House 2018 Calendar, Senate 2018 Calendar)
2.
With
new National Security Advisor John Bolton on record advocating for a
pre-emptive military strike on North Korea (https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/03/john-bolton-north-korea/556370/), it’s more important than ever to
pass the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act (HR 669/S 200) and the No Unconstitutional First
Strike Against North Korea Act (HR 4140/S 2016). Other than Reps. Tom Massie (R-KY)
and Walter Jones (R-SC), who are supporting HR 4140, these bills have no
Republican co-sponsors. Let’s make sure to reach out (or ask our friends to
reach out) to our Republican MoCs to convince them to sign onto and pass these
bills.
3.
We
can’t stop Trump from appointing Bolton as his national security advisor –
despite his advocacy for a first strike on North Korea, his opposition to the
Iran agreement, his disdain for international law and the UN, and his work as
Dick Cheney’s right-hand man (https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/22/john-bolton-national-security-adviser-hr-mcmaster-trump-481721). We can, however, try to check
Bolton’s influence by making sure that our senators firmly oppose the nominations
of his likely allies: the “uber-hawk” Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State and
“black site” head Gina Haspel as CIA director. The louder our dismay at
the return of a war government like George W. Bush’s the better, especially
when Intelligence Committee members like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) are
waffling (https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/23/politics/dianne-feinstein-gina-haspel-cia-director/index.html). Let’s call our senators!
4.
The
Trump administration has already ended critical protections like Temporary
Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, and many more
face the same fate in the weeks and months ahead. By March 31, the
administration must decide on whether to renew protections for Liberians who
are in the U.S. under the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) program (https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/03/16/klobuchar-joins-liberians-in-urging-they-be-allowed-to-stay). Let’s hold our MoCs accountable.
We can use this tool and script from the
American Friends Service Committee to tell them to enact laws that offer legal permanent residency for
TPS and DED recipients and other of our immigrant friends and neighbors.
5.
The
omnibus spending bill has passed, with no protections for Dreamers (https://n.pr/2DSUqHF). Meanwhile, DACA recipients
are living in constant fear of deportation (https://bit.ly/2pCaKbw). Let's contact our reps and tell
them that we do not want to wait for the midterms to come up with a fix for
Dreamers. We need legislative action and a clean Dream Act now.
6.
Last
year the EPA chose to repeal the Clean Power Plan and its limits on carbon
emissions, a leading cause of climate change. A public comment period is
still ongoing and there have been listening sessions in a few locations,
including Kansas City where it was argued that there was no good reason to
repeal the plan (http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article201449604.html). For more information and
instructions how to leave a public comment by the April 26 deadline,
click here: https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/clean-power-plan-proposed-repeal-how-comment. The third and final listening
session on the proposed repeal will take place TOMORROW, March
27th in Gillette, Wyoming. More information and how to register can
be found here: https://www.epa.gov/stationary-sources-air-pollution/listening-sessions-repealing-clean-power-plan.
7.
One
of Trump's many concerning judicial nominees is Howard C. Nielson, an attorney
who has fought against gun restrictions as well as protections offered by the
Geneva Convention for victims of torture (https://bit.ly/2pFxZAK). Last month, the Senate
Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to allow Nielson's nomination to
continue to a full Senate vote. Let's read more about Nielson's positions, then
use the call scripts at Indivisible as we contact our senators and ask them to
vote against Howard C. Nielson Jr. nomination for District Judge of the
District of Utah: https://www.indivisible.org/resource/stop-nras-favorite-lawyer-becoming-federal-judge/.
8.
Trump
has announced that the Justice Department will be working to change firearms
regulations so that bump stocks qualify as machine guns under federal
law (https://abcn.ws/2DQwS6f, https://nyti.ms/2IRy5OC). However, Senator Dianne
Feinstein (D-CA) argues that because the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco
and Firearms (ATF) has repeatedly argued that they cannot regulate bump
stocks, any legal case that would be brought forth to challenge their authority
would likely succeed. Instead, let's follow Senator Feinstein's lead and work
to ban bump stocks through legislation. We can ask our MoC to support S.
1916/H.R. 3947, the Automatic Gunfire Prevention Act.
9.
On
Friday night at 9pm, Trump issued a memo returning us to the well of
a transgender ban in the military while retaining some latitude for military
leaders (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-transgender/trump-moves-to-limit-transgender-individuals-from-military-service-idUSKBN1H002S). Let’s let Secretary of Defense
James Mattis know that we are seeking policy free of bigotry: Secretary of
Defense James Mattis, US Dept of Defense, 1400 Defense Pentagon, Washington,
DC, 20301-1400.
1. Now that we’ve marched, it’s time to
show the gun control movement’s power at the ballot box. On April
3rd Wisconsin will elect a new state supreme court justice. Judge Rebecca Dallet supports common sense gun
control regulations like an assault weapons ban and has criticized overly broad
readings of the Second Amendment and the influence of special interests. Her
opponent, Scott Walker-appointee Michael Screnock, has the active support and
endorsement of the NRA ( https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/09/wisconsin-high-court-candidates-rebecca-dallet-and-michael-screnock-divided-over-guns-nra/404119002/). Let’s send a message to
politicians nationwide that if they toe the NRA’s line they’ll pay for it at
the ballot box. We can help Judge Dallet from anywhere in the country
by signing up to phone bank or text bank voters at this link.
2. One of the most important items on
the ballot this fall won’t be a race for Congress – it’s the ballot initiative
to restore voting rights to 1.4 million Floridians who have lost them forever
because they’ve been convicted of a felony. That’s 10% of the state’s adults,
and 1 out of 5 African-Americans (http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/01/florida-ballot-initiative-could-give-ex-felons-voting-rights.html). Passing Amendment 4 could be a
huge victory for democracy, but they need our help. Let’s sign up to help them phone
bank folks who signed the petition to get this measure on the ballot at this link.
3. Volunteer get-out-the-vote
organization Postcards to Voters currently has two (2) open campaigns: 1)
AZ-Campaign 60: Dr. Hiral Tipirneni for US Congress.
(Election: April 24) 2) WI - Campaign 63: Judge Rebecca Dallet for WI Supreme
Court. (Election: APRIL 3). Returning writers may text WIN to (484)
ASK-ABBY which is (484) 275-2229. If we are new to this effective grassroots
effort, we can still email: Join@TonyTheDemocrat.org OR text JOIN to
(484) ASK-ABBY. Let's help get out the vote!
Election 2018 – By State
1.
There
is a special election tomorrow to fill a vacancy in Alabama’s House District 21. If we live in the district, let’s
be sure to cast our ballots for Terry Jones. We can find our polling
places here.
Other Actions
1.
The
March for Our Lives took place Saturday in over 800 cities, with an
estimated 800,000 people participating in Washington, DC alone (https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/24/us/march-for-our-lives-wrap/index.html). Whether or not we were able
to participate in our communities or at a larger effort, let’s take the time to
thank people we know who did participate, along with local march organizers and
police departments for their efforts. We can also send a note of thanks to the
student organizers: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 5901 Pine Island
Rd, Parkland, FL 33076.
2.
The
NRA isn’t just putting up barriers to progress in Congress. Some of their
biggest successes have been on the state level (https://www.npr.org/2017/10/05/555859571/nra-backed-gun-laws-have-found-success-in-state-legislatures-across-the-u-s). Flippable has built a new tool for us to check
how many of our state legislators have A ratings from the NRA. Let’s check it
out here, compare it with the state gun law scorecard from the Giffords Law
Center here, and then sign up with and donate to Flippable to help elect state reps who will
take gun violence seriously.
3.
Flippable is also looking for a current NRA member who is also Team Blue and wants
to help fight back to help them with some research. We can direct message them
on Twitter if we think we can help.
4.
A
recent NRA-backed bill passed by the West Virginia legislature bars businesses
from banning guns in their own parking lots (https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/justice-signs-bill-barring-businesses-from-prohibiting-firearms-in-private/article_cb278b49-78c4-5b25-8a27-3222357ca95c.html). Let’s ask the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce (202- 659-6000/ 1615 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20062) and the chambers of commerce in our communities to take a public stand against
this intrusion on business owner’s property rights, and encourage businesses
not to hold events or move operations to West Virginia.
5.
From
Miriam's Kitchen (https://www.facebook.com/miriamskitchen/): Those of us who were in D.C.
over the weekend and bought Metro SmartTrip cards are in luck – there’s a great
way to use them! We can mail our cards to Miriam's Kitchen to help individuals
experiencing homelessness. The cards cost $2 each (not including subway or bus
fare) and can make a big difference for someone trying to get to a medical
appointment, to a shelter, or to get a warm meal. It's helpful to put a post-it
note on the card indicating the fare balance. We can send them directly to
Miriam's Kitchen (https://miriamskitchen.org/): Miriam's Kitchen, Attn:
Brenda Segal, 2401 Virginia Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20037.
6.
Since
the fight for net neutrality is at a standstill at the federal level (we still
need one more Republican senator to support the resolution to repeal the FCC's
vote!) the Free Press Action Fund and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio are
asking us to focus our efforts at the local level (https://bit.ly/2tIDOCA). They have created the Cities
Open Internet Pledge, which mayors across the United States can take to ensure
that each city maintains a free and open internet. We can read through the
Pledge here: https://bit.ly/2I5bxIR. Then we can send a letter to our mayors through the Free Press Action
Fund: https://bit.ly/2pAGeyP.
7.
If
we have wondered how certain Facebook ads are so eerily targeted to us, we can
check out thus CNBC article to see how this happens. We can read about how a
vast network of data collection, whether we are actively on the site or not is
used, in ways we may be surprised to learn: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/30/why-facebook-ads-follow-you.html. We can also find out what data
Facebook has been collecting on us by following the steps (https://lifehacker.com/how-to-find-out-everything-facebook-knows-about-you-1824022899) and check CNBC’s article about the
current crisis in Facebook leadership, including an evasion of responsibility
and massive selling off of executives’ stock: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/18/facebook-failing-zuckerberg-and-sandberg-absent-commentary.html). Finally, we can then use these
instructions from Business Insider to see which apps are tracking us and stop
whichever ones we want: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-change-facebook-privacy-and-tracking-settings-2016-5?r=UK&IR=T/.
8.
In
34 states, we must show a voter ID in order to cast a ballot. Let’s check our
state’s voter ID requirements here: https://www.voteriders.org/resources-2/. If we need help obtaining an ID,
let’s call VoteRiders’ toll-free Voter ID Helpline: 844-338-8743.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize
States
1.
MOST
STATES: Mayors across the U.S. are calling for an end to laws currently in place
in 42 states that restrict municipalities from passing their own common sense
gun laws. (https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/03/23/mayors-want-gun-control-but-blocked-nra-preemption-laws-column/450893002/). The only states that don't have
gun pre-emption laws are CA, CT, HI, IL, MA, NE, NJ, and NY. Let’s contact our
state legislators here and demand that these laws be
rescinded. We can read more about this at Everytown for Gun Safety.
Reading/Watching
1. If we want to read the transcript of
Stormy Daniel’s 60 Minutes interview, we can read it here:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stormy-daniels-describes-her-alleged-affair-with-donald-trump-60-minutes-interview/.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stormy-daniels-describes-her-alleged-affair-with-donald-trump-60-minutes-interview/.
2. 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: "This week
Trump is increasingly ruling as a party of one, making decisions and taking
actions on his own, without consultation or planning." Let's
review Amy Siskind's list week 71.
3. As usual, our weekly dose of Small
Victories: https://mailchi.mp/peaceisloud/small-victories-marching-for-our-lives.
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