Chop Wood, Carry Water 12/7

Through thick and thin

Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!

First, I want to thank you so much for the lovely emails and comments. It's been very moving to have heard from so many of you. If I haven't yet responded to your note personally please forgive me. There's a lot going on and doing everything with one hand is, unsurprisingly, challenging.

I'm going to have to keep this intro brief again today because I am actually off to surgery right now. But I want you to know that nothing will stop me from continuing to take these actions with you. I could break every bone in my body and I’d learn to send you these emails using dictation. 😁

Having said that, I may be down for the count for the rest of the day so, again, please excuse me if I don't respond to your emails right away.

Thank you for carrying a little bit of extra weight for me today. I'll be back in fighting form tomorrow! Let’s do this!

Call Your Senators (find yours here)

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

[If Democrat] First I'm calling to ask the Senator to support the Build Back Better act. Everything in it – – the climate provisions, the healthcare fixes, the child care funding, the protections for aspiring Americans… it's all so critical. I will be very disappointed if this bill is not passed before the Senate goes on recess.

I feel equally strongly about the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. There is universal agreement that American democracy is in trouble. Democrats have about a month left before it's too late to save it. You must pass these bills before you go on recess. Reform the filibuster and get it done. Thank you.

[If GOP] First, I’d like the senator to support the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act of 2021. This legislation would update the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1972 by banning the most damaging pesticides that have been scientifically proven to harm the safety of people and our environment.

Second, I would like to ask the Senator to put country over party and support the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. I’m horrified at the way the Republican party is attacking our democracy. Please ask him/her to reverse course. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here)

Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

Please ask the Congressmember to cosponsor and vote for H.R. 4718, the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act, so human rights violators cannot keep using U.S.-made weapons to commit war crimes with impunity. Thanks. [h/t]

Extra Credit

Call or write President Biden at 1 (202) 456-1111 or here and say:

I’m calling/writing to say that I support President Biden's key priorities of climate action and democracy reforms. That's why I hope he'll keep fighting and pushing Congress to act swiftly and without delay to pass the Build Back Better Act, with all of its bold climate investments fully intact. I hope he’ll also push Congress to reform the filibuster so that we can pass crucial democracy reform bills like the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act right away. Our democracy and our planet are on the line. Thank you.

Get on the Phones!

Joans Democracy Cafe has an awesome phone bank today offering a few great ways to help save our democracy (training for all provided). It’s from 3-6PM EST. You’ll be able to:

1. Ask Michigan voters to Decline to Sign a diabolical petition that implements voter suppression without a vote of the people, and invite them to a virtual educational event (run by Voters Not Politicians)

2. Or ask Arizona and West Virginia voters to tell their Senators to reform the filibuster to pass the Freedom to Vote Act (FTVA) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (JLVRAA); we can connect the voter to their Senator’s office while we talk to them (called “patch through”).

Sign up here—it all starts in the same zoom room then you’ll break out depending on where you want to call!

Get Educated!

On Wednesday, December 8 at 7 PM EDT Charles Wheelan, author, senior lecturer at Dartmouth College and Founder and Co-chair of Unite America will be coming to speak for Big Tent. Learn how this organization is working to reform America's polarized political system and overcome gridlock. I’ll be there, because I just checked out their website and what they’re doing seems amazing! Join me! Register here.

Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here!)

[to all 3 reps] [H/t] [Quick send code text SIGN PFEZHA to 50409]

Please support and cosponsor H.R.5338/S.2798, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) as soon as possible to correct an injustice.

Thousands who were immediately downwind of US atomic bomb blasts on the US mainland and in the Pacific and uranium workers--miners, drillers, and others including those who worked to 'clean up' after the blasts have suffered for decades due to US Cold War activities but have not been compensated for their medical expenses. The existing RECA law that passed in 1990 and expires in July 2022 did not cover them.

Please cosponsor this bill to help expand the coverage and extend the law until 2045.

This bill extends compensation under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act until 2045 and extends compensation to deserving victims not included in the original law including downwinders in New Mexico, Idaho, additional parts of Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands as well to uranium miners/workers who started working in the uranium mining industry after 1971.

Please contact Representative Leger-Fernandez (D-NM) or Senator Crapo (R-ID)to cosponsor RECA. The communities that live downwind from nuclear test sites and uranium workers need our support now more than ever and the clock is ticking. Thanks.

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OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk tomorrow.

Jess