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Contact Federal Government Officials


1.       IMMIGRATION:  Homeland Security’s Kirsten Neilsen is out and Trump has withdrawn his nominee to lead ICE and ousted the head of the Secret Service; many report that this chaos gives Trump’s influential hard-line immigration advisor Stephen Miller even greater influence than he now has: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/437934-stephen-millers-influence-rising-amid-changes-at-dhs and https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/08/kirstjen-nielsen-stephen-miller-victory  Miller apparently favors a policy known as “binary choice” in which migrant parents are forced to choose between separation from their children or waiving their children’s humanitarian protections and taking them to adult detention:  https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-officials-consider-binary-choice-child-separation-policy-wapo-2019-4 and https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/us/politics/trump-asylum-seekers-federal-judge.html  We need to make it clear to the White House—and to our MoCs—that we oppose “binary choice” and don’t want Miller dictating our immigration policy.   As important, we need to pay close attention to those who monitor the border:  https://medium.com/migratory-notes

2.      FEDERAL BUDGET: From Indivisible: House Democrats have put forward a “caps deal” spending proposal (HR 2021) that dramatically increases military spending. This proposal would give Trump nearly all money for endless wars that he asked for, while keeping domestic spending levels on things like health care and education much lower. The Pentagon failed a recent audit, and can’t even account for its already bloated wasteful budget -- this budget is unacceptable. We oppose the bill in its current form, and urge the House to vote it down. Let's read more about budget caps here, then contact our representatives in the House and ask them to oppose the bill as it's currently written, and focus on domestic spending. Indivisible has a call script we can use: https://act.indivisible.org/call/caps-deal/

3.      CHLORPYRIFOS BAN:  Two years ago, Trump overturned the ban on chlorpyrifos before it was allowed to go into effect.  “U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) today reintroduced a 2017 bill [S. 921] that would protect children nationwide by banning chlorpyrifos—a pesticide linked to learning disabilities—from use on U.S. fruits and vegetables. It joins a similar House measure [H.R. 230] introduced earlier this year by Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (D-NY).”  https://www.nrdc.org/media/2019/190328  Let’s tell our MoCs that our children should not have access to poison while we are trying to keep them healthy.

4.      TRUMP TAX RETURNS: Republican enablers are lining up to defend Trump’s refusal to furnish his tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, and accusing the Democrats of harassing Trump for political gain. https://thehill.com/policy/finance/437946-fight-escalates-over-trumps-tax-returns. Let’s remind our Republican MoCs that the American people are expecting them to do their Congressional duty and provide oversight in investigating potential conflicts of interest. A watchdog group, Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington (CREW) reported that Trump had over 1400 conflicts of interest in his first two years of the presidency. Let’s also make sure that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin (202-622-2000; 1500 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20220; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ustreasury/; Twitter: @stevenmnuchin1) knows that we expect them to comply with the law and furnish Trump’s tax returns without delay.  

5.      DRUG PRICING:  Republicans on the House Oversight Committee sent letters to a dozen CEOs of major drug companies warning that information they provide to the committee could be leaked to the public by Democratic chair Elijah Cummings in an effort to tank their stock prices.”   https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/paulmcleod/republicans-warn-drug-companies-oversight-investigation   Let’s let our MoCs know that we are for full transparency and that the health of our citizens and the accessibility to medication is of more importance to us than corporate stock prices.

6.      MULLER REPORT:  Yup. We're doing it again. Let's call or write the DOJ and tell them we want to see the Mueller report. This is not about partisan politics. This is about transparency. If you want you can remind them that the Starr Report was published as a BOOK. Which you can still buy on Amazon. True story.  DOJ Comment Line: 202-353-1555  DOJ email link: https://www.justice.gov/contact-us  (H/T Chop Wood Carry Water)   

7.      CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY:  The Corporate Executive Accountability Act  https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2019.4.2%20Corporate%20Executive%20Accountability%20Act%20Text.pdf  “would make it possible for CEOs of companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue to be held criminally liable if their companies break laws, or if executives themselves violate consumer safety or security,” while the Ending Too Big to Jail Act https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2019.4.2%20Ending%20Too%20Big%20to%20Jail%20Text.pdf  “would establish standards by which CEOs of big banks could be given criminal charges if the banks they lead violate federal law.” https://gritpost.com/elizabeth-warren-bill-jail-ceos andhttps://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/03/elizabeth-warren-will-unveil-bill-to-make-it-easier-to-jail-executives.html  Both bills have been introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Let’s tell our Senators to co-sponsor these bills, and let’s tell our Representatives to introduce parallel legislation in the House.

8.     TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN:  The House has already passed a resolution opposing Trump’s transgender ban, it is now time for them, and the Senate, to pass laws that will disallow this before it goes into effect on Friday.    These troops do not cause the problems Trump claims they do.  https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/04/02/donald-trump-transgender-ban-morally-wrong-disrupt-military-column/3291420002/ Let’s ask our MoCs to co-sponsor and support S.373 and H.R.1032 to protect these citizens who have chosen to serve.  

Elections

1.       APRIL ELECTIONS: “So far in April, there are 29 elections scheduled. If one of these is in 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 check this out:   

Other Actions

1.       MUSLIM TRAVEL BAN:  When the Supreme Court allowed the Muslim Travel Ban to take effect, it was largely because The White House promised to offer a waiver process for considering the cases of individual travelers subject to the ban. After a year of operating this so-called waiver process, the rejection rate for applicants is over 98%, confirming Justice Sotomayer's concern that it is a mere fig-leaf to cover up an ugly, cruel, and biased policy:  (http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/travel_ban_waivers_are_wrongfully_denied_class_action_lawsuit_alleges). Now there is a class-action lawsuit alleging exactly that, so let's send our emotional and financial support to the organizations trying to bring justice to bear in this case (https://www.muslimadvocates.org/36-people-file-class-action-suit-against-administration-for-wrongfully-denied-muslim-ban-waivers/)

2.      STATE IMMIGRATION LAW - FL:  Legislative proposals SB 168 and HB 527 would force state and local law enforcement to actively assist federal immigration officials, at taxpayer expense.  The ACLU is warning that people of color not visit Florida due to these bills. https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/aclu-travel-warning-cautions-immigrants-about-visiting-florida-citing-anti-sanctuary-bills-11142472  Let’s all sign United We Dream’s petition against these bills: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/florida-business-stand-against-anti-immigrant-legislation-in-florida

3.      IOWA VOTER SUPPRESSION ON YOUNG VOTE:   The sources of the GOP’s troubles with young people aren’t difficult to discern. Millennials (and Gen-Zers) are less white than older generations — and the whites among them are more radically progressive. The latest effort comes in the swing state of Iowa, where Republicans currently enjoy full control of state government. Initially, the Hawkeye State GOP hoped to ban early voting on public university campuses. But after county auditors decried the measure as an attempt at disenfranchisement, Republicans settled for a subtler means of customizing the electorate: requiring all graduating college students in the state to take a survey asking whether they intend to remain in Iowa after receiving their diplomas, and then removing them from the voting rolls if they say that they do not.  Of course, graduating college students have been known to change their plans on occasion. And many students may not understand the implications of answering the survey in the negative. What’s more, the voting reform bill would also move the poll closing time for statewide elections from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m., and mark any active voter who fails to turn out for a single presidential election as inactive.  
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/iowa-gop-advances-plan-to-disenfranchise-college-students.htmlW  If we have a student or know someone who has a student at university in Iowa let them know the consequences of answering the survey. Tell them to answer that they will stay in IOWA so they are not removed from the voting lists.  

4.      CENSUS: “Scientific yardsticks since 1940 reveal that the census misses Black Americans at disproportionately high rates, especially Black men ages 18 to 49 and Black children under age five.” The Census determines the distribution of political power and the allocation of federal funds. https://www.charlestonchronicle.net/2019/04/04/census-2020-for-all-to-count-all-must-be-counted Let’s volunteer with the NAACP to help ensure a fair census: https://www.naacp.org/

5.      REFUTE VACCINATION MISINFORMATION:  Measles are spreading across 15 states, with the number of US measles cases on pace to triple last year’s count. Students in schools with low vaccination rates are especially vulnerable and it is up to us to help protect them by refuting the false claims used to justify not vaccinating children. Fortunately Suit Up Maine has given us material to correct some of those false claims by offering an annotated version of testimony given by Sen. David Miramant (D-Knox) in opposition to a Maine bill to eliminate non-medical vaccination exemptions for school children. We can use this material to speak out to correct false information whenever and wherever we see it:  https://www.suitupmaine.org/anti-vaccine-fact-check/

6.      HOW TO HELP CAMPAIGNS:  “If you want to work on a local campaign, there are lots of ways to help. But if you want to help a campaign that isn’t geographically close to you, you might not know how best to help. This post is for you.  Whether your state doesn’t have any elections in 2019 or the special elections aren’t anywhere close to you, you can still help.”  Let’s see how:  https://politicalcharge.org/2019/04/09/9-ways-to-help-a-campaign-from-afar/

State Actions

1.       AR—GUN SAFETY—OPPOSE “STAND YOUR GROUND” BILL: A bill in the Arkansas Senate would make it legal for people to shoot to kill, even if there is a clear and safe alternative. This so-called Stand Your Ground bill failed in committee, but the NRA is trying to use a process called “extraction” to bring it to the floor for a vote. Let’s tell our State Senator to oppose this bill by using this form https://act.everytown.org/sign/oppose-ar-syg-extraction-vote , or by writing or calling: https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

2.      FL: IMMIGRATION: Awareness is spreading about the dangerous anti-immigrant legislation (HB 527/SB 168) in the House and Senate (https://hrld.us/2WUchrB). The bills would prohibit sanctuary cities and require law enforcement agencies to work with ICE and identify people who may not have legal citizenship (https://bit.ly/2FDMYmw). It would also require correctional facilities to detain any person who ICE requests to be held (https://bit.ly/2I7bfVd). 1 of 5 Florida residents is an immigrant and almost a million live with an undocumented family member; immigrants compose one quarter of the Florida labor force.  We can join the campaign to urge FL businesses to oppose these anti-immigrant bills and we can contact our state MoC in the House and Senate and ask them to oppose this harmful bill.  

3.      FL: OPPOSE MARY MAYHEW AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE NOMINATION:  Mary Mayhew, nominated to run the Agency for Health Care Administration, held the same post in Maine where she left 1 in 4 children food insecure and tens of thousands of people living in poverty without food assistance, health care, housing assistance, heating assistance and access to other critical social safety net programs. She decimated the public health nursing program  leaving Maine as the only state in the country with a rising infant mortality rate, the highest rate of whooping cough in the country and one of the highest overdose death rates in the country. She misappropriated $13 million in federal TANF funds, was caught and the state had to return the money.  We can read more about this dangerous nomination in this Miami Herald Op Ed:
https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article228799379.html  The we can call our legislators, DHHS commissioner, and Congressmembers and tell them to oppose the governor's nomination of Mary Mayhew to lead the Agency for Health Care  Administration.

4.      NY—TRUMP TAX RETURNS: Two bills in the state legislature would require the disclosure of Trump’s New York State tax returns: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/nyregion/trump-tax-returns-cuomo.htm If we are in New York, let’s tell our state senator and representative https://openstates.org/  to co-sponsor S.5072 https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/S5072, and A.7462/S.5572-A (New York Truth Act) https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2017/a7462/amendment/a

5.      TX - LGBTQ DISCRIMINATION BILL: Last week the Texas Senate gave preliminary approval to a sweeping religious refusals bill, state bill SB17.  LGTBQ advocates have called it a “license to discriminate.” Let's read more at The Texas Tribune. Let's contact our Texas state senators and state representatives to let them know we oppose SB17.

Marches/events/webinars/Tweetstorms to attend/organize

1.       JUSTICE FOR IMMIGRANTS—ACCOMPANIMENT TRAINING: “The New Sanctuary Coalition accompaniment program recruits and trains volunteers to accompany people facing deportation to their immigration hearings and ICE check-ins. This provides moral support to the person facing deportation and enables volunteers to hold immigration authorities accountable.” There’s a training in New York City on April 11. If we’re in NY, let’s sign up: https://www.newsanctuarynyc.org/accompaniment_training

Reading/Watching

1.       Sustained and ongoing’ disinformation assault targets Dem presidential candidates - https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/20/2020-candidates-social-media-attack-1176018

2.      A piece from Kyle Korver, a white player for the Utah Jazz, entitled "Privileged." - https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/kyle-korver-utah-jazz-nba

3.      Only member of Congress born in Central America says U.S. shares blame for instability - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/norma-torres-only-member-of-congress-born-in-central-america-says-u-s-shares-blame-for-instability/

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