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3/1/19 

Contact Federal Government Officials


1.    On Wednesday, more than a year after the Parkland shooting in Florida, the House of Representative finally passed HR 8, a common sense gun control measure that expands the kinds of gun sales requiring background checks. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/431855-house-passes-bill-expanding-background-checks-on-gun-sales  On Thursday, the House voted to approve HR1112, the Enhanced Background Checks Act that would extend the review period for background checks on firearm purchases. (More at The Hill.)  While the votes were bipartisan, the bill will still face an uphill battle in the Senate, and it’s not even clear whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will bring it to the floor. Let’s put pressure on Senator McConnell and our own Senators now to bring these up for votes and to pass them.  Lives are at stake.   

2.   If we had any remaining confidence in the integrity of the Republican party, it was soundly erased at former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s hearing in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday. None of the Republicans questioned Cohen on any of the evidence he presented; instead, they spent their entire time trying to discredit his character.  https://www.apnews.com/db45f379fdbd40309ab4ae650beab689   Let’s call out all the Republican Representatives who are on the Committee for their behavior and demand that they take the voluminous evidence that Cohen presented seriously. Yes, we know that Cohen has been indicted for lying, but he lied to protect Trump. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) summed it up all too pitifully well when he said, "Our colleagues aren't upset because you lied to Congress for the president. They're upset because you've stopped lying to Congress for the president." We can find a list of members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee here, with links to their Facebook and Twitter pages.

3.   Sadly, but not surprisingly, Trump’s summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un collapsed in Viet Nam:  
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/28/vietnam-summittrump-and-kim-play-down-hopes-of-quick-results-nuclear-talks  Let’s let our MoC know that Trump is far too ignorant of the complexity of these situations to be further enabled to conduct diplomacy for us. We know this is not going to improve.

4.   The Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland, powerfully closed the Cohen hearings on Wednesday with these remarks:  https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4782909/elijah-cummings-closing-remarks   Let’s take a moment to thank Rep. Cummings for his leadership and these stirring words: https://cummings.house.gov/contact

5.   As of mid-February, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has expired. Although funding for its programs was secured in the spending bill, the act itself did not achieve reauthorization (https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-violence-against-women-act-expired-20190220-story.html). Let's contact our MoC and ask them to take this time to strengthen the bill and expand its reach. We can also ask that Congress prevent VAWA from getting caught up in partisan conflict again by giving it permanent reauthorization, rather than requiring a vote every year for funding, and every five years for the bill itself.

6.   With over 200 co-sponsors, the Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4) was introduced this week.  The bill is designed to restore the original Voting Rights Act.  https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/431509-for-a-more-perfect-union-restore-the-voting-rights-act  Let’s let our MoCs know that this is the right thing to do.

7.   If Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee was not enough to persuade us of Trump’s total and singular commitment to his own self-interest, we might look to his Cabinet appointments, especially the tone-deaf billionaire Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. In an unusual rebuke of a Cabinet-level official, the Office of Government Ethics, the executive branch's ethics watchdog, refused last week to certify Ross' 2018 personal financial disclosure report; like his boss, Ross has complex and largely opaque financial assets, and, like Trump, Ross has failed to divest himself of those assets or disclose their details. "The breadth and the brazenness of his ethical lapses are just staggering," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who has called for a Justice Department investigation into Ross.  Ross is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee next month:  
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/27/696824206/not-in-compliance-wilbur-ross-the-trump-official-who-keeps-watchdogs-up-at-night  Let’s join Wyden and other MoCs in demanding that both the DOJ and the inspector general at Commerce look into Ross’s dealings: 202-353-1555 or U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20530-0001; 202-482-4661 or Dept. of Commerce, Office of Inspector General, 1401 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington DC 20230.

8.  House Democrats. on March 12, will reintroduce the Dream Act with new language providing protections for Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure recipients. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reserved the bill number HR 6 for the legislation. Let's read more at Roll Call. Let's contact our representatives to let them know that we support the Dream Act.

9.   Many leaders, including many of our own like Nancy Pelosi and Diane Feinstein, say that the Green New Deal (GND) is unrealistic. They are political veterans, who know what they're talking about, but the physics of climate change aren't negotiable, and the children of today who will have to live in the world we're now creating won't give a hoot about what we thought was/wasn't politically possible back in 2019. https://theintercept.com/2019/02/28/green-new-deal-climate-change-politics/    When politics isn't up to the task of safeguarding our children's future, we must create a new politics, and we can start by telling our MoCs to back the GND now!

10. We are only ONE co-sponsor away from having the majority of the House Democratic Caucus on board for HR 1046, The Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act Rep. Doggett’s bold drug pricing bill. Going beyond giving Medicare the long-overdue ability to negotiate drug prices, the bill allows the government to revoke Big Pharma patent monopolies, if the companies refuse to drop their prices. We can call the Capitol Switchboard today at 202 224 3121 and tell our Members of Congress to cosponsor HR 1046, the bill that protects patients by leveraging prices with patent monopolies. This guarantees that everyone gets their medicines, and that no one is left behind by rationing. We can read more here about the bill in this fact sheet. Although it refers to an earlier version introduced last year, the content of the bill is the same.  https://www.citizen.org/sites/default/files/mncla-leave-behind.pdf  We check our Congressmembers cosponsor status here:  https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1046/cosponsors

11.  “Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policies have made America’s historically weak anti-smuggling efforts even weaker. Over the past two years, as smuggling networks have thrived, the Department of Homeland Security has shifted money and manpower away from more complex investigations to support the administration’s all-out push to arrest, detain, and deport immigrants here illegally.”  https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/02/human-smugglers-thrive-under-trumps-zero-tolerance/583051/  Let’s tell our MoCs that we want money spent where it was allocated and not for Trump to chase his unnecessary wall and appease his base.

Election/Voting

1.    “So far in March, there are 22 elections scheduled. If one of these is your district, make sure you vote! For everyone else, please share this with your network to spread the word in order to increase awareness and turnout!” Let’s let  Political Charge tell us about them and then let’s help where we can:  https://politicalcharge.org/2019/02/28/elections-in-march-2019/

2.   There’s a special election on April 2, 2019, in Wisconsin for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court. Let’s help Lisa Neubauer, who is currently Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, defeat Brian Hagedorn, former chief legal counsel to Wisconsin’s infamous Republican Governor Scott Walker, and start shifting the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a more progressive direction.  https://ballotpedia.org/Wisconsin_Supreme_Court_elections,_2019 Let’s sign up with Vote Forward, https://votefwd.org/ , and send letters to Democratic-leaning Wisconsin voters to urge them to vote. Even sending just five letters can make a difference!

Other Actions

1.    Not only does the governor of Virginia have a problem with racism, the Virginia First Lady is under fire for handing cotton to African American students on mansion tour. Before a huge fireplace with iron cooking implements, Pam Northam held up samples of cotton and tobacco to a group of about 20 children and described the enslaved workers who picked it. “Mrs. Northam then asked these three pages (the only African American pages in the program) if they could imagine what it must have been like to pick cotton all day,” Walker wrote. “I cannot for the life of me understand why the first lady would single out the African American pages for this — or — why she would ask them such an insensitive question.” https://www.npr.org/2019/02/28/698947727/virginias-first-lady-criticized-for-racially-inapporpriate-mansion-tour  Let’s ask the Northams (https://www.governor.virginia.gov/constituent-services/communicating-with-the-governors-office/ and https://www.firstlady.virginia.gov/)   to take a class on racial awareness and sensitivity. These repeated incidents show they still don’t get it. 

2.   We all know that imaging and audio technologies develop and change quickly, but it may come as a shock to realize how much those developments have changed what we must do to consume news responsibly. Just 2 years ago we heard Trump's infamous "grab 'em by the..." interview clip, and while much was said about it, the legitimacy of the clip itself was not questioned. Those days are gone now, and we must learn how to better verify these types of information before believing or sharing them: https://theconversation.com/dont-be-fooled-by-fake-images-and-videos-online-111873

3.   If we are looking for training to work on a campaign, we can take a look at The Arena’s latest workshop to be held in Charleston, South Carolina, from April 12-16, 2019. This five-day intensive training program focuses on equipping us with the skills and knowledge we need to be successful in a specific role. But regardless of roles, all the curriculum includes a heavy emphasis on management, leadership, and digital and data literacy. We can pick from one of seven training tracks, including Campaign Manager, Communications Director, Finance Director, Organizing Director, Digital Director, Data Director, Organizer.  If we are Interested in learning more, we can check it out, then apply here. But we must act FAST. The deadline is TODAY at 11:59 Eastern Time:  https://arena.run/academy

State Actions

1.    GA: “A bipartisan group of women in Georgia’s state senate are mobilizing around a resolution calling on the state to ratify the ERA, which would amend the U.S. Constitution to guarantee equal rights regardless of sex. Their push comes as a similar measure died in the Virginia House of Delegates last week.“  https://rewire.news/article/2019/02/26/could-georgia-be-the-38th-state-to-ratify-the-era/   Let’s contact our state MoCs and tell them we want them to support this effort because we do.

2.   MI:Regarding the Read or Fail legislation in our state: We acknowledge the importance of focusing on 3rd grade reading as being critically important and fully-funded interventions and support strategies are an essential component. However, the provisions of the law related to mandatory retention are problematic for the reasons outlined [within].”  Let’s read this and sign if we, too, are opposed to the automatic retention of third graders next fall if they do not meet certain reading criteria:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfgT7Nyw-jX1jSlJUGjW-zCVmq9O7gGrK9t3wW1EFpPfyjcgQ/viewform  

3.   TX: State Sen. Angela Paxton has filed a bill, SB860, that would expand the authority of her husband, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and perhaps soften the securities law he has been charged with violating. Let's read more at Houston Chronicle. Let's contact our Texas state senators to let them know we oppose this bill.

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

1.    If we are elected women or self-identifying women activists, we can check out the free Power Through Education webinar series, presented by Rep19 and Vote Run Lead. Organizers inform us that presenters will include, “our country’s top thought leaders, elected officials and political experts.” We can for as many webinars as you would like. but some webinars are limited exclusively to elected women. All webinars will be at noon EST / 9am PST, starting on March 6. Information will be sent out prior to the event. We can find out more and register here. https://rep19.com/events

2.   On March 15 there will be Youth Climate Strikes all over the world.  Let’s keep an eye on this site for updates of where and when we can attend and help: https://www.youthclimatestrikeus.org/ 

Reading/Watching

1.    Loyalty to Trump cost Michael Cohen everything. Republicans pay heed- https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/27/loyalty-trump-cost-michael-cohen-republicans

2.   Why White School Districts Have So Much More Money - https://www.npr.org/2019/02/26/696794821/why-white-school-districts-have-so-much-more-money

3.   Closing Homestead detention center a noble goal, but reuniting migrant children with relatives should be the priority -




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