Tell your senators to cosponsor H.R. 6 – The “American Dream and Promise Act.”

Action #1: It’s been two years. Let’s get it done!

UPDATE: H.R. 6 JUST PASSED THE HOUSE ON 3/18! CAll and EMAIL scripts have been adjusted for senators.

We first published this post on March 14, 2019, almost exactly two years ago. Since then, the public’s support for Dreamers has continued to grow. Nancy Pelosi stated in 2020 – “Eighty percent of the American people support our Dreamers.” The Pew Research Center puts it at 3 out of 4. Let’s get this done.
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H.R. 6 provides permanent protection and a path to citizenship to a possible 4,438,000 DREAMers, individuals eligible for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED), and legal DREAMers eligible for permanent residence. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, this version’s author, states: “This legislation would enable millions of undocumented young people to fulfill their God-given potential, give back to their communities, and ultimately obtain U.S. citizenship.  It would also serve our national interest by reducing the deficit, contributing to our country’s economic growth, and enabling our armed services to meet their recruiting goals.  I have introduced the newest version of this bill as HR 6, The Dream and Promise Act, which includes protections and a path to citizenship not just for Dreamers, but for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) beneficiaries as well.”

However, it can be made even better. Nicole Austin-Hillery, executive director of the US Program at Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated “… the bill contains harsh and unnecessary provisions based on youth offenses that would amplify the racial injustices in the criminal legal system and make the bill less inclusive…” Their coalition sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee urging them to remove these criminalization bars. Said Austin-Hillery: “Congress should be focused on ensuring all immigrant youth who have only known the United States as home no longer have to live in fear of an uncertain future. The juvenile justice system recognizes that young people are different than adults and treats them as such. We urge Congress to do the same.” [Resources: (HRW/NJJ&DPC/Sentencing Project/& more letter) (HRW/Indivisible/& more letter)(National Immigration Project report lists criminalization bars)(Description of immigration legislation bills here]

Minimal script – call: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Sen. [___] to support H.R. 6 – The “American Dream and Promise Act of 2021.” I’m also asking that in the interests of racial justice, [he/she] eliminate criminalization bars and other barriers to relief from this legislation, as they are counter to the purpose of the Dream and Promise Act, which is to protect ALL immigrant youth from deportation.

Continue reading “Tell your senators to cosponsor H.R. 6 – The “American Dream and Promise Act.”” →

Wed. 3/10: The “H.R. 1/S.1 – For the People Act” is now in the Senate! Call your senators and join in the outreach campaigns!

ACTION #1: Reach out to your senators, no matter what side they’re on.

(The House version – H.R. 1 – the For the People Act passed on 3/3/2021.)

Minimal script for DEM. senators: I’m calling from [zip code] to thank Sen. [___] for cosponsoring and supporting S.1– For the People Act. Please ask the senator to be prepared to use a targeted filibuster to pass this bill and others related to the basic foundations of our democracy, such as H.R.4 – The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act and H.R. 51 – Washington DC Admission Act. Also, please ask [him/her] to include these best practices for more secure and transparent elections in the bill:

  • PAPER BALLOTS: Clarify that every voter shall be offered an Hand-Marked Paper Ballots (HMPB) when voting in person.
  • NO BARCODES: Remove barcodes for recording votes, as their information can’t be verified by the voter.
  • POST PUBLICLY: Scanned images of paper ballots shall be preserved as publicly accessible records.
  • AUDIT: Routine independent audits of all federal elections in addition to Risk Limiting Audits (RLAs)
  • STANDARDIZE RECOUNTS: Public 100% hand count of every federal race with margins of 1% or less.
Continue reading “Wed. 3/10: The “H.R. 1/S.1 – For the People Act” is now in the Senate! Call your senators and join in the outreach campaigns!” →

Wed. 3/10: Tell your legislators to remove Trump’s harmful last-minute rules.

(This is a great action from the great folks at IndivisibleSF.)

Minimal call script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep./Sen. [___] to use your power under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to revoke racist, destructive and corrupt rules from the Trump regime. This is an urgent issue, as I understand you only have 60 legislative days to do this. Please revoke the following:

  1. Independent Contractor Status Under the FLSA
  2. Increasing Consistency and Transparency in Considering Benefits and Costs in the Clean Air Act Rulemaking Process
  3. Fair Access to Financial Services

(Speak slowly, so the staffer can get the names down. Explanations on these rules below.)

Continue reading “Wed. 3/10: Tell your legislators to remove Trump’s harmful last-minute rules.” →

Tues 3/9/21: H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446 – Gun background check bills – vote possible tomorrow. “YES” on both – Call your legislators!

UPDATE – The HOUSE just passed these bills. CALL YOUR SENATORS!

On March 6th, President Biden thanked the American public for making the American Rescue Plan possible. “You say, “Well, how do they make it possible?” Well, quite frankly, without the overwhelming bipartisan support of the American people, this would not have happened.  Your elected officials heard you. Overwhelming public support — every public opinion poll shows overwhelming support for this plan. And for the last weeks, it’s shown that. Every public opinion poll shows the people want this, they believe it’s needed, and they believe it’s urgent.” 

Well, when it comes to background checks for guns, we, the American public, are once again the main bipartisan support. 93 percent of American voters support requiring background checks on all gun sales, including 89 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of gun owners. To get the job done, however, we need to finally pass two related bills, both of which may be voted on in the House tomorrow.

  • H.R. 8 – Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 requires all guns, with a few exceptions, to be sold from licensed dealers. The “Bipartisan” in the title is aspirational. Out of 210 total cosponsors for H.R.8, there are only 3 GOP cosponsors.
  • H.R.1446 – Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2021 extends the background check time from 3 to 10 days to eliminate the “Charleston Loophole.” The name refers to the 2015 shooting of nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Charleston, S.C., where Dylann Roof – who was prohibited by law from possessing a firearm – was able to acquire one under current federal law from the dealer after 3 days, before the FBI could complete his background check. Only 137 cosponsors have cosponsored this bill, all Democrats.

We expect both to pass the House, but thank your legislators anyway. (Rep-check here for HR. 8 and here for H.R.1446.) Reps. Brownley and Carbajal are signed onto both already. The problem will clearly occur in the Senate, so we also need to start calling our senators, and urging friends and family in RED states to call theirs.

NOTE: WE AREN’T THE ONLY ONES CALLING! Gun-owners AGAINST background checks are working the phones too.

Continue reading “Tues 3/9/21: H.R. 8 and H.R. 1446 – Gun background check bills – vote possible tomorrow. “YES” on both – Call your legislators!” →

Monday 3/8: “This is a democracy issue!” Call out corporations who fund voter suppression.

Quote from this LaTosha Brown. Update: The Georgia state Senate just voted along party lines on Monday to REPEAL no-excuse absentee voting after the state sent to Democrats to the Senate and voted for a Democratic presidential nominee for the first time in decades. All because 35 people out of 4,935,487 (or .0007% of the total) wrongly voted during the 2020 election. The bill would need to pass before March 31

Action: Write/email to these corporations – contact information below. Here are some points you can use.

You can write your own comment customized per company and/or use this sign-on form from the New Georgia Project here to send a message to eleven corporate heads. Mix it up a bit so your own voice comes through. You can add personal experiences of discrimination you’ve seen or been the subject of, as well.

Continue reading “Monday 3/8: “This is a democracy issue!” Call out corporations who fund voter suppression.” →

Thurs 3/4: Romney’s TRUST Act is a “Trojan Horse” to cut seniors’ Social Security benefits!

Seriously. A lot of Democratic senators fell for this!

Minimal script for senators who voted FOR the Trust Act amendment in the 2021 budget: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Sen. [Feinstein] to make sure that Sen. Mitt Romney’s TRUST Act, which could endanger Social Security, is NOT included in the final COVID relief bill. Sen. [Feinstein] voted for this amendment to the 2021 budget. Perhaps [he/she] did not appreciate how it would circumvent legislative norms for changing Social Security and would allow cuts to be made to benefits without regard to how they would affect [his/her] constituents who depend on them.

Minimal script for senators who voted AGAINST the Trust Act amendment in the 2021 budget:: I’m calling from [zip code] to thank Sen. [Padilla] for voting against Sen. Mitt Romney’s TRUST Act, as an amendment to the 2021 budget, and to ask him to speak out against it being included in the COVID relief bill. This malicious amendment could endanger Social Security by allowing cuts to be made to benefits without regard to their human impact.

The amendment was voted into the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget as  S. Amdt. 803 to S. Con. Res. 5. Senator Feinstein voted “YES” and Senator Padilla voted “NO“. Find your own senator’s vote here.

Note: If you haven’t made this call yet on adding unemployment tax relief and automatic stabilizers to the American Rescue Plan, do it at the same time.

Continue reading “Thurs 3/4: Romney’s TRUST Act is a “Trojan Horse” to cut seniors’ Social Security benefits!” →

Wed 3/3: Wanted: Postcard writers! D.C. statehood and stopping deportation flights.

Action #1: Washington D.C. is a living, breathing, racial and civil rights injustice and we need to fix it!

A member is printing up several thousand postcards!!! JOIN IN! If you’re unfamiliar with the hundreds of years that DC residents have been denied statehood, along with the rights we take for granted, like representation along with taxation, the ability to make laws without federal interference, and being able to call up the National Guard when they need it, here’s our post with lots of information and great videos. (Also 51 for 51 and DCstatehoodcoalition.org ) Both the House and Senate have reintroduced bills to fix this, H.R.51 & S.51– “Washington, D.C. Admission Act. Another important bill – H.R.1 – “For the People Act, declares, amongst many important voting reforms, “…that DC residents deserve full Congressional voting rights and self-government, which only statehood can provide.” (full text) (endorsements).

We need to get all Democratic representatives and senators onboard both bills as cosponsors quickly as possible! And the filibuster should be eliminated, at least for bills like this. There’s no reason the basic rights of the citizens of Washington DC should be held hostage to whether or not 60 Democrats are elected to the Senate.

DIRECTIONS:

Continue reading “Wed 3/3: Wanted: Postcard writers! D.C. statehood and stopping deportation flights.” →

Tues – 3/2: The American Rescue Plan could use a couple of extra lifeboats…

Remove taxes on unemployment payments and add automatic stabilizers!

H.R. 1319 – The American Rescue Plan Act, is popular and full of great things for a country struggling with survival and rebuilding during this pandemic, but a couple of things would make it even better. (No, we’re not talking about the $15 minimum wage…that’s not happening in this bill, unfortunately.) It’s already passed the House, so we need to ask the Senate to amend it with some additional items.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] to ask Sen. [___] to add some important features to the H.R. 1319 – The American Rescue Plan Act to help struggling Americans.

  • Zero out taxes for unemployment checks for this entire pandemic period. The IRS code excludes government payments made “in connection with a qualified disaster in order to promote the general welfare.” What is the point of a $1400 stimulus check if people just have to send it back to the IRS?
  • Add automatic stabilizers to tie federal aid to economic conditions, so people don’t suffer waiting for new legislation to extend benefits if it becomes necessary.
  • (For GOP senators only) Zero out Pay-Go. This bill is an emergency measure that I, along with the rest of your constituents are expecting you to work together with the Democrats to make happen.
Continue reading “Tues – 3/2: The American Rescue Plan could use a couple of extra lifeboats…” →

Mon 3/1/21: H.R.1/S.1 – For the People Act of 2021: The most important bill for our democracy is still the first one.

And we don’t have much time.

Latest anti-democratic news from the Nazi-symbol stage at CPAC: “As local and state Republicans seek to narrow access to the polls, Trump, who tried to force officials in Georgia to steal the election for him, called on the GOP to outlaw mail-in and early voting to ensure “honest elections” and made racially motivated insinuations about irregularities in Detroit and Philadelphia. He demanded citizen tests for ballot access, said voting should only take place on Election Day and called for independent judges to be barred from adjudicating election disputes.”

H.R.1/S.1, first introducted in 2019, is a collection of reforms to campaign finance, voting rights, and government ethics for ALL THREE BRANCHES of government, including the presidency and the judiciary. After Trump’s real-time master class in corruption, we need this bill’s stronger guardrails more than ever. “Norms” are no longer good enough. H.R. 1 is an important first step towards building an equitable and functional democracy, along with the D.C. statehood bill and H.R.4 – John Lewis Voting Rights Act, without which we can’t achieve any of our other progressive goals.

(This helpful video below, from 2019, is a great conversation with the bill’s author, Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD-3). Short explainer videos from him on this bill here.)

Minimal script for Reps: I’m calling from [zip code] to thank Rep. [___] for cosponsoring and supporting H.R. 1 – the For the People Act and I urge [him/her] to work to swiftly pass this legislation. PASSED 3/3/2021

Continue reading “Mon 3/1/21: H.R.1/S.1 – For the People Act of 2021: The most important bill for our democracy is still the first one.” →

Friday 2/26: #FilibusterFriday! Both the $15/hr. wage and H.R. 5 – the Equality Act are in danger in the Senate.

The filibuster means that Mitch McConnell is still in charge.

We have less than 2 years before the next election and we have a lot to fix NOW! The GOP will use the 60-vote minimum of the filibuster to block progressive legislation from advancing in the Senate, keeping that chamber’s reputation as “the most powerful force for structural racism in American life.” (Great filibuster explainer video at the bottom of post.)
Today’s victims:

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to cosponsor and support HR 5 – The Equality Act and if necessary, remove the filibuster for this vote (even with a mini-nuke or carve-out), and for any other legislation that ensures equal civil rights for all Americans. The majority of voters want LGBTQ community members to be accorded the same rights and responsibilities as every other citizen. Allowing a minority to use the filibuster to maintain a legacy of human rights violations and discriminatory practices against a specific group of taxpaying Americans is both anti-democratic and morally wrong.

Continue reading “Friday 2/26: #FilibusterFriday! Both the $15/hr. wage and H.R. 5 – the Equality Act are in danger in the Senate.” →