Contact Federal Government Officials
Fax legislators
for free:
Or use Resistbot: https://resist.bot/
Or use StampsLicked to have
messages hand-delivered to our own legislators:
https://stampslicked.org/
White House
contact: https://www.usa.gov/federal-agencies/white-house
1.
CONGRESSIONAL ACTIVITY:
The House has a
district work period and the Senate has a state work period this week. Let’s try to connect with our MoCs while
they are home.
2.
NEW ZEALAND: DENOUNCING HATE: As expected, Trump’s comments on the shooting in New
Zealand, were vague. The word “Muslims” was not mentioned, and he immediately
switched topics to the border wall, calling the immigrants entering the country
an “invasion,” the same word that the
shooter used in justifying his actions. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-national-security-humanitarian-crisis-southern-border-2/ The
executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR, Nihad
Awad, is asking Trump to unequivocally denounce the shooting at the mosque in
New Zealand as a hate crime and a white supremacist terrorist attack. https://www.npr.org/2019/03/15/703904631/after-new-zealand-attacks-muslim-americans-call-for-action-against-rising-bigotr? "You need to assure all of us — Muslims,
blacks, Jews, immigrants — that we are protected and you will not tolerate any
physical violence against us because we are immigrants or we are minorities.
You need to condemn this clearly today and you do not need to be vague. You
have to be very clear on this." Let’s echo Awad’s call and tell Trump
and our MoCs that it’s time to explicitly condemn white supremacist terrorism
and tell Trump he needs to actively disabuse efforts that make him a poster
child for fostering white supremacy.
3.
NATIONAL EMERGENCY VETO: On Friday, amidst the news of the New Zealand
shootings, Trump doubled down on his racist wall dreams and issued his first
veto after both the House and the Senate voted to reject his national emergency
declaration:
https://www.apnews.com/63cfc25875fe431b9f012554acc72d6f and https://thehill.com/homenews/house/434326-dems-prepare-next-steps-after-trumps-veto Now the House will take up the vote
again to see if the veto can be overturned. If we have Democratic MoC
or Republicans who helped reject the national emergency, let’s be in touch to
say thanks and ask them to stay the course. If we have Republican MoC who did
not help reject the national emergency, let’s let them know that Trump’s response
to New Zealand makes the depth of his white nationalism clear and that they are
standing on the wrong side of history if they stay with him on this.
4.
PUBLIC COMMENTS NEEDED:
From one of our own: There was a lot of activity on the Federal
Register and Regulations.gov - but some of it hidden, like the nuclear transfer
to Saudi Arabia and waivers around oil regulation. I'm beginning to think the
best way to combat this is through legal action and elections. But ACA is back
up - on selling insurance across state lines. Consumers Union says it's a ploy
to harm consumers. Gray wolf to be delisted from endangered species. Links to
comment where available and background information provided. WOTUS still may be
the most important item on here as it redefines all the inland waters of the U.S.
We can learn more here and find where to comment on these issues and more: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TTCYEB8nktbtM6pwwdt7mllMUq91Y04m/view
5.
REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM/ASYLUM SEEKERS: On Friday
night, Rachel Maddow broke a story on her show about the spreadsheet that then
director of Office of Refugee Resettlement, Scott Lloyd, used to track the
pregnancies of migrant girls’ in order to be able to deny them abortion
access: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/trump-admin-tracked-individual-migrant-girls-pregnancies-1459294787849 They were able to track this, but
not the whereabouts of all the separated children. Lloyd is gone now but let’s let Secretary
of Health and Human Services Alex Azar know that it is deplorable that this
took place under his leadership and that we expect his
resignation:
6.
GUN LAWS: “Fox & Friends Weekend" host Pete
Hegseth on Sunday urged viewers to buy more AR-15s after Democratic
presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke called for a ban on sales of the
weapons.”
7.
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/434452-fox-news-host-tells-viewers-to-stock-up-on-ar-15s-after-orourke
the New Zealand PM says ,“Our gun laws will
change.” https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/15/asia/new-zealand-gun-control-intl/index.html We should be
asking our MOCs to act like real leaders and ban any sale of military grade
weapons to the public. After one tragedy in NZ, the PM announced she
would work on guns laws to secure the safety of her citizens. Here, FOX “NEWS”
tells its viewers to go and buy some more guns. Let’s Tell FOX to stop
promoting military Weapon gun sales. Let’s tell our MOCs to be like NZ’s
PM. Contact: FOX 1-888-369-4762, tweet at @foxnews, email at foxfriends@foxnews.com.
8.
NURSING HOME FINES:
Once again, bowing to the
pressure of industry rather than the public good, the Trump administration has
loosened it regulation on nursing homes by changing the fine structure so that
it “reduces the impact of the penalty, critics say, giving nursing homes less
incentive to fix faulty and dangerous practices before someone gets hurt.” https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/15/702645465/trump-administration-cuts-the-size-of-fines-for-health-violations-in-nursing-hom Let’s
tell our MoCs that facilities that care for our elderly need well-enforced
regulations to keep our loved ones safe.
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/
Other Actions
1.
NEW ZEALAND MASSACRE:
People around the world are
reaching out to support the communities of the two mosques that were the sites
of the Friday massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand: https://www.apnews.com/2aeb7ec2f4d54dad938d3b90089aea79 We can send notes of support and
condolence to these mosques: Masjid Al Noor, 101 Deans Ave, Riccarton,
Christchurch 8011, New Zealand; and Linwood Masjid, 223A
Linwood Ave, Linwood, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand. $1.15 in
postage is needed from the United States to NZ for a one ounce or less
letter/card. We can also use this
tool from Groundswell to send our condolences and pledge to fight white supremacy: https://action.groundswell-mvmt.org/petitions/send-a-message-of-love-solidarity-to-the-muslim-families-of-christchurch
2.
MUSLIM ASSISTANCE: If we are
looking for ways to support our Muslim sisters and brothers in the aftermath of
the Christchurch Massacre, there are several ways we can help. A) we can read
this Facebook post by writer Iskra Khan who covers sensitive ways to
respond and be a supportive ally: https://www.facebook.com/100008069628445/posts/2308009402811358?sfns=mo B) If we are able to donate, we can contribute
here, where the fundraisers promise that, “All funds raised are going to be
distributed to the families by NZIIC - New Zealand
Islamic Information Centre. All
proceeds will help with the immediate, short-term needs of the grieving
families. No amount of money will bring back their loved ones, but we do hope
to lessen their burden in some way.” Donate here: https://www.launchgood.com/project/support_for_the_families__victims_of_the_new_zealand_mosque_shootings#!/, C) Lifehacker also has more places for us to
contribute: https://lifehacker.com/where-to-donate-to-help-the-victims-of-the-christchurch-1833322533 D) meaningful way is through the Jewish Federation
of Greater Pittsburgh: https://jfedpgh.org/new-zealand
3.
AID FOR NEBRASKA FLOOD SURVIVORS: If we are looking for ways to help survivors of the
Nebraska floods, we can check out this article which has several options for
people in and out of the state. https://www.omaha.com/weather/multiple-agencies-rallying-to-help-flood-victims-first-responders-in/article_3a64e46b-ad8c-50be-8283-bc14de475fd8.html If we are
affected by the flood or know people who might be, we can also visit this site
which has some good local resources, including animal aid, sandbagging, lodging
and dealing with the aftermath, including a link to a recovery toolkit from the
University of Nebraska. https://www.welltravelednebraskan.com/how-to-help-nebraska-flood-victims-and-resources-for-those-displaced/
4.
POSTCARDING ISSUES: From one of
our own – here is a good source of issues and suggestions for postcarding this
week: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gq_xAkDZedO659fHw1M03tXF2Sd9O8NioSahO11SE4k/edit Gather
some friends and start writing!
5.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Ever
wonder what achieving the goals of a Green New Deal would look like where you
live? Well, researchers at Stanford University have done the data gathering and
analysis and packaged the results into an easy-to-use online map that shows us
what going 100% renewable by 2050 means for our town, city, state, and
country. Let's use the appropriate details from each level of this
map when pushing energy policy with our elected officials at each level of
government:
6.
CAMPAIGN TOOLS: “Businesses spend billions on software innovation
and many offer free versions of their apps to attract new customers.
These freemium apps have limited features to encourage
customers to upgrade, but are usually adequate for many campaigns. Candidates save money and can speak
with more voters with the time they save from fundraising.” Let’s check out this from Democracy Labs and see
how it might help the campaigns in which we work: https://mailchi.mp/thedemlabs.org/gasguzzler
7.
CRAFTIVIST HELP NEEDED: From one of
our own: Heads up, Knitters & Crocheters: This week, International Rescue
Committee (IRC), one
of our refugee resettlement partners, reached out to us. We were honored to
send 545 blanket/note packages to 12 IRC locations this winter. Now, IRC Phoenix
has asked us for a slightly different kind of help: they want 1,000 blankets of
welcome to give as soon as possible to incoming recently-released asylum
seekers. We can find more here: https://www.welcomeblanket.org/oncall
8.
VOTING: “When We
All Vote—a new national, nonpartisan not-for-profit—brings together citizens,
institutions, and organizations to spark a conversation about our rights and
responsibilities in shaping our democracy. Namely, the responsibility of
registering and voting.” Let’s check this out and see how we can get involved: https://www.whenweallvote.org/
State Actions
1.
STATES: MOST: VOTING RIGHTS: GOP leaders in many states or introducing
legislation to make it more difficult to get state-level voter-sponsored
initiatives on the ballot. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/434309-gop-legislators-clamp-down-on-voter-initiatives. The Ballot Initiative
Strategy Center is
tracking these efforts, along with citizen-sponsored initiatives on a state by
state basis. Let’s find out what is happening in our state and make sure our
state legislators know that we reject any attempts to curb true democracy,
which begins with voters, not legislators.
2.
MO: GUN VIOLENCE: You can’t make this stuff up. “A bill
introduced to the Missouri House of Representatives would require every
resident between 18 and 34 years old to own at least one AR-15.”
http://www.kfvs12.com/2019/03/15/proposed-bill-would-require-mo-residents-own-an-ar-/ If we are in MO, let’s tell our state reps
to oppose House
Bill 1108, And while
we’re at it, if we are in MO State District 150, let’s find a worthy
Democrat to run against Rep Andrew McDaniel, the bill’s proponent.
Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to
attend/organize
1.
ONLINE HATE & EXTREMISM: Many of us are at a loss as to how to keep the
internet free and open while also combatting the hate that grows there. It’s a
big conversation. Here’s a small place to start: Farah Pandith is a foreign
policy strategist and former diplomat who has served both Bush administrations
as well as the Obama administration. Her new book is How We Win: How Cutting-Edge Entrepreneurs, Political Visionaries,
Enlightened Business Leaders, and Social Media Mavens Can Defeat the Extremist
Threat,
(http://farahpandith.com/book/) She is being interviewed on March 25
at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Let’s
mark our calendars and plan to (virtually) attend or watch the recording:
Reading/Watching
1.
South Bend, Indiana Mayor and
Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg wrote a moving letter to the Muslim
community in his city:
2.
You Were Called Out or Called In—Now What? - https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2019/03/15/called-out-called-in-now-what
3.
Look at the photos and videos of thousands of youth
demanding climate change action NOW - https://www.upworthy.com/look-at-the-photos-and-videos-of-thousands-of-youth-demanding-climate-change-action-now
4.
A running list of how President Trump is changing
environmental policy: The Trump
administration has promised vast changes to U.S. science and environmental
policy—and we’re tracking them here as they happen - https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/how-trump-is-changing-science-environment/
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