Happy Friday, Activists!
We have no doubt that your week has been a good one politically. Senator Warnock's big victory and the New York convictions. Brittney Griner is home and the Respect for Marriage Act has been passed in both chambers, awaiting Biden's signature. Wow! Of course, there's always more that needs to be done. We need to make calls to our representatives and tell them what we expect them to accomplish during the "last session" of this Congress before Democrats lose control of the House. So let's press for more to save our democracy.
CALLS TO ACTION We have two Calls to Action for you. First, the House just passed the Defense Authorization Act. This must-pass bill ends up with many unrelated attachments and this time it includes removing the Covid vaccine requirement and also a provision that "would shield from the public the personal information of federal judges and their families, including identifying information" like places of employment. The legislation comes after the son of Judge Esther Salas was shot and killed at her home in New Brunswick, N.J. by a disgruntled lawyer who had come looking for her. However, it also appears to allow Justice Thomas and his wife Ginni to hide her employment, including as it relates to her advocacy to overturn the 2020 election. A better solution must be possible, such as non-public reporting so that oversight can still be done, and we want our Senators to know that's what we want. Oversight of conflicts of interest are critical to ensure that federal judges are not corrupted by outside influences. Plus, we think the vaccine mandate should be included to keep our forces strong. Second, since the Republicans have won the House majority, we're running out of time to achieve our progressive priorities to do basic governance (think: raising the debt ceiling). We need to take advantage of the last few weeks of this Congress to achieve these goals. To prevent the legislative obstruction promised by MAGA Republicans, we need Democrats to keep Congress in session for the remainder of this calendar year to minimize the potential harm by Republicans. But Congress won't do this on their own. We need to convince them to take this vital step. Rep. Evans – D.C. office 202-225-4001; Phila. office 215-276-0340; email link Rep. Boyle – D.C. office 202-225-6111; Phila office 215-335-3355; email link Sen. Casey – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. 202-224-6324; email link Sen. Toomey – Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. 202-224-4254; email link For outside PA: Find your Senators’ phone numbers and emails at this link. Call your House Rep. and our Senators (yes, Toomey too!) and ask them to: (1) Revise the measure that hides judges' and their families' personal information from the public but not from oversight. Oversight of conflicts of interest are critical to ensure that federal judges are not corrupted by outside influences. (2) Stay in session to pass wildly popular bills such as: A) Raising the debt ceiling so Republicans can't weaponize it against Social Security and Medicare next year. This is a time-consuming bill so they need to get busy on it now. Here's an explainer on the debt ceiling. B) The Electoral Count Act The reform bills are ready to pass on the floor, but we know Republicans would never bring them up for a vote. So let's do this!
NEW -- KEEP JANUARY 6 IN FOCUS
Before you know it, the January 6 anniversary will be here. So mark your calendars before you head off to your holiday celebrations and sign up here. We are planning a fun event to remind voters that we must keep in focus the real threat to democracy made all to real by the attack on the Capitol on January 6. We all must remember how close we came to losing our democracy and that we need to constantly protect and defend it. We had so much fun when we did a similar event several months ago. We'll meet again just south of City Hall on the dividers where Broad Street heads south. We'll have light-up signs to remind voters as they drive by that we all must fight for our democracy every day. When: Friday, January 6th, 5:00 pm Where: South side of City Hall, at Broad Street on the traffic dividers Sign up here.
35 Doors Project! Even though election day is over, it's always the time to get interested in our 35 Doors Project! We always need to sign up to talk to voters in our neighborhoods to get out the vote. This is some of the most important work you can do - and it's fun! Check out our 35 Doors Project on our website. Email us here for more info.