ACTION ALERT: Updates and more

Hi everyone--happy Snow Day! If you have some time today, there are quite a few calls you can make:

Word is that Patty Murray is leading a Democrat filibuster on the Senate floor!

Also, some of you were asking for a script when you call. 

"Hi, my name is ________. I am not from your state, but I am calling you as a concerned US Citizen because I am very concerned about Betsy Devos and that she is highly unqualified to be the Secretary of Education. She has demonstrated she does not understand that the IDEA act is federal law. She does not believe in including students with disabilities in public education and does not understand the role of the Secretary of Education in ensuring all students have the right to a free and appropriate public education. I urge you to vote no. Please do not confirm Betsy DeVos, our children depend on it. Thank you."

Some staffers may hang up on you if you are not from their state, but you can try. Also, urge folks from Utah and North Carolina to call as they seem to be the ones most people feel will change their minds.

And call back if their mailbox is full. Some staffers clear it out once a day, some do more often. Vote is scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday).

Other Action Items:

Attorney General Confirmation

Call Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell to thank them for their no vote on DeVos, but urge them to vote no on Jeff Sessions as the Attorney General.
Patty Murray --202-224-2621 for DC, 206-553-5545 for Seattle office
Maria Cantwell --202-224-3441 for DC, 206-220-6400 for Seattle office

Script from 5calls.org:

Hi, my name is [Name] and I'm a constituent from [City, State, Zip].

I'm calling to express my deep opposition to the confirmation of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General.

Senator Sessions has a long history of allegations of racism, is anti-LGBTQ rights, and has not enforced the Voting Rights Act. He will not protect all of the people of the United States. I urge the Senator to reconsider their position and reject the confirmation.

Thank you for your time.

[IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your entire home address to ensure your call is tallied]

HR 861--Abolishing the EPA

Call Pramilia Jayapal 202-225-3106 (DC office) and urge her to vote no against HR 861. We need the EPA to protect our water and air and ensure clean water and air for future generations, let alone people today (the Flint Water Crisis has been going on for three years and is still not resolved).

Reject the Appointment of Steve Bannon to the Security Council

From 5calls.org:

Trump has removed the existing Director of National Intelligence and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff from the “principals committee” of the National Security Council and replaced them with his Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon. Bannon is the former leader of Breitbart News, an anti-Semitic and white supremacist right-wing opinion and "news" outlet whose notable output includes articles comparing Planned Parenthood to the Holocaust.

The purpose of the National Security Council is to ensure that the president has the best possible advice from his Cabinet, the military, and the intelligence community before making major decisions. Steve Bannon not only lacks the considerable experience needed to be the principal foreign policy adviser to the president, he has been quoted as saying "We think of ourselves as virulently anti-establishment, particularly ‘anti-’ the permanent political class." Allowing Trump to continue to be guided by Bannon in matters of national security will bring about the deaths of many innocent people.

Patty Murray --202-224-2621 for DC, 206-553-5545 for Seattle office
Maria Cantwell --202-224-3441 for DC, 206-220-6400 for Seattle office

Opposing Justice Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court

In Neil Gorsuch, Trump has nominated an avowed originalist and enemy of women’s healthcare to the Supreme Court. While on the 10th Circuit Gorsuch decided in favor of Hobby Lobby, ruling the company could refuse contraception coverage to women on religious grounds. He used the explanation that IUDs and birth control drugs destroyed fertilized eggs (which is scientifically false) and stated corporations are persons that can engage their religious right to choose which laws they want to follow.

In other assaults on women’s healthcare, Gorsuch sided with Little Sisters to the Poor in their challenge to the Affordable Care Act and its contraception mandate, and he led a judicial crusade to help Utah defund Planned Parenthood affiliates. In another particularly disturbing case, he upheld the “qualified immunity” of a police officer who tasered a man in the head and threw out the wrongful death case brought by the man’s parents.

Gorsuch has shown a distaste for the prosecution of white collar crime, he has consistently ruled in favor of corporations in labor disputes and his strict textualist reading of the constitution leaves no room LGBTQ rights. At 49 years old Gorsuch would be the youngest justice on the Supreme Court and if confirmed, his influence will be felt for over a generation.

Even though only the Senate confirms Supreme Court Justices, we will be calling both the Senate and House to let all of our legislators know we strongly disapprove of Gorsuch.

Patty Murray --202-224-2621 for DC, 206-553-5545 for Seattle office
Maria Cantwell --202-224-3441 for DC, 206-220-6400 for Seattle office

Pramilia Jayapal 202-225-3106 for DC office

There are more calls you can make if you want to--again, 5calls.org is a fabulous website for knowing who to call and having a script to use as well as background information.