Chop Wood, Carry Water 6/5
D.C.!!!!
Note: this email was written just before midnight on June 4th but I’m scheduling it to mail out at 6AM June 5th, so it represents two days worth of newsletters combined. Also, if I say “today” I will actually mean yesterday by the time you read this. Sorry!
Hi, all, and happy Wednesday!
A few more pictures than usual—sorry! But since some of you helped send me on this trip I thought you might appreciate seeing a bit of what this amazing day looked like!
On the upper left there you’ll see me in the Senate HELP Committee hearing room shortly before the hearing started. The room was absolutely packed—there was an overflow room with hundreds of people in it, too—but we had great seats! Bernie Sanders and Patty Murray were both front and center, as you can see; Bernie usually chairs this committee but he gave the gavel to Senator Murray today so she could run this one.
The hearing was titled “The Assault on Women’s Freedoms: How Abortion Bans Have Created a Health Care Nightmare Across America.” Before it began there was a press conference in the Senate “Swamp”—a small grassy area in a park across the street from the Russel Senate Building. This presser involved just a small group of camera operators—with three content creators, including me, filming, too—some staffers, and then three Democratic Senators: Patty Murray, Maggie Hassan, and Tina Smith. If you look at the picture on the right in the second row above you’ll see them getting ready to start. They gave short speeches, took a few questions, and then it was over and we all walked over to the Hart Building for the hearing.
I’m too tired to give you all the details on that for now, but suffice it to say the Democrats on the committee brought in great, smart, credible witnesses who did an excellent job describing the horror of our current situation. One was a young woman from Texas who’d had to leave the state to get an abortion right after SB 8 was passed. Two others were OBGYNs. The chair of the Guttmacher Institute rounded out the group.
As for the Republicans’ witnesses? They called two. One was an “abortion survivors’ advocate” — I’m still trying to understand what that is. The other was a “pro-life OBGYN” who believes there is never, ever, a maternal health situation where abortion is required. She also went on the record saying she believed IUDs and Plan B were abortifacients (and therefore should be banned.)
And then there was Senator Cassidy, the highest ranking Republican on the committee, who pontificated whenever he could, asked lots of “gotcha” questions, and frequently resorted to a chart showing different gestational stages (see above). He repeatedly claimed that Democrats supported “aborting babies at 41 weeks of gestation.” Not a thing.
Friends, the difference couldn’t be more stark: When it comes to reproductive health, Republicans are patronizing, aggressive, unscientific, dishonest, and completely detached from the realities American women are living under.
The Democrats? Are the opposite on all counts. And boy, was I so glad to be on their side.
I have much more to tell, but I suspect you’ve had enough, and even if you haven’t I have. I’m really, really tired.
I can’t tell you what an amazing day it was, though. I am honored, humbled, and grateful to have gotten to attend this hearing, and I hope that I’ve been able to give you a small amount of insight into how it went.
One last thing? Republicans are definitely coming after birth control. There is absolutely no question in my mind after listening to them today. So please make the below calls, and soon! There’s a vote later today on the Right to Contraception Act!
Let’s get to work one more time!
P.S. — I got to walk in the tunnels! OMG!!
Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲
🚨 Please call early—vote is at 3:45PM ET TODAY! 🚨
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m calling because I know the Senate is voting today on S. 4381 the Right to Contraception Act. I fully expect the Senator to not only support this bill but enthusiastically work to pass it. I support all reproductive freedom, but the right to contraception is something everyone should be able to get behind.
[If GOP add:] If the Senator votes no they will lose my vote permanently. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling because I know the Senate is voting today on the Right to Contraception Act. I know there is a House version of this bill—HR 4121, and I want to see the House take it up and pass it. I support all reproductive freedom, but the right to contraception is something everyone should be able to get behind. Any Congressmember who doesn’t support a woman’s right to choose when she gets pregnant and when she doesn’t will lose my vote permanently. Thanks.
Extra Credit ✅
Please call Senator Durbin and ask that he schedule a mark up of the Press Act.
The PRESS Act (S 2074) is a bi-partisan, nationwide law to shield journalists from surveillance. Freedom of the Press is enshrined in our Constitution, but journalists are, at times, nonetheless subject to government surveillance and harassment. For two decades there has been a bi-partisan effort to pass a strong national press shield law. Almost all states have them but we need a stronger, uniform national law.
Call Senator Durbin's office and request that he schedule a markup soon. His number is (202) 224-2152 or (312) 353-4952 or (217) 492-4062
Sample Script:
I am asking Senator Durbin, as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and sponsor of the PRESS Act (S 2074) to schedule this bill for Committee mark-up as soon as possible. It has passed the House with strong bipartisan support—it’s time to get this done. Thanks.
[H/T Media and Democracy Project.]
Get Smart! 📚
On Thursday, June 6th, at 12:00 p.m. EDT, Accountable US, Navigator Research, and Patients for Affordable Drugs will hold a virtual briefing to discuss new polling results on the public’s current attitude toward the pharmaceutical industry, drug profiteering, the new Medicare drug price negotiation program, and Big Pharma’s efforts to block it in the courtroom.
The participants will also discuss new research on the pharmaceutical industry’s profiteering which refutes claims that exorbitant drug prices are necessary for innovation.
You’ll hear from:
Caroline Ciccone, President, Accountable.US
Merith Basey, Executive Director, Patients for Affordable Drugs
Bryan Bennett, Senior Director of Polling and Analytics, Navigator Research
Ian Smith, Director of Polling and Analytics, Navigator Research
Virtual briefing: RSVP for Zoom link
Spread the Word! 📣
The folks at Freedom Writers Collaborative have put together a short video about Project 2025—please share! Remember, recent polling shows that only one in four Americans have heard of this major threat to American democracy. We need to get those numbers up!
Give 💰!
It’s been reported that the Trump campaign brought in a whopping $35 million in the 24 hours after his convictions—although Heather Cox Richardson speculated that, if this is true at all, the money probably came from a few billionaires who intended to give no matter what the verdict. Still, no matter how many times you’ve already donated to Pres. Biden’s campaign, please do so again if you can, at Joe Biden for President: Official Campaign Website.
(Alternatively, if you’re a fan of ice cream donate below for a chance to meet Pres. Biden and Jill Biden for ice cream in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Donate any amount and be automatically entered to win – the campaign will cover travel, a hotel stay, and an ice cream cone for you and a friend. Biden Victory Fund — Donate via ActBlue.) [H/T CFAA Actions]
Win Races! 🗳
Freaked out about GOP awfulness? Here are some virtual phone banks you can sign up for to help flip the House, expand the Senate and win the presidency. Because we must!
Sundays, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm Sign up here.
Wednesdays and Saturdays RSVP now!
They will train you! Phone and laptop or tablet required.
Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻
[To: all 3 reps ] [H/T] [Text SIGN PRCVYT to Resistbot at 50409 or via Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER]
As your constituent, I am urging you to reject the spending caps proposed by the House Appropriations Committee for FY2025, which are $75 billion less than the minimum previously agreed to.
When Congress passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act in 2024 in an agreement that suspended the debt ceiling limit, representatives agreed that FY 2025 funding for domestic and international programs would rise by no less than 1% over FY 2024.
Back in March, you and your colleagues across the aisle joined together to increase domestic and international human needs funding for FY 2024 to $778 billion. They achieved this by agreeing to include funds from sources outside a cap, and these bills passed by a large bipartisan margin in the House and Senate. A 1% increase for 2025 should amount to $786 billion, but the House Appropriations Committee is ignoring the agreement for the 1% increase. By refusing to add funds beyond the harsh cap, the House Committee’s funding level would result in $75 billion less than was agreed to.
These proposed funding caps would be devastating to so many programs including the Housing Choice Voucher Program, the Social Security Administration’s customer service, and to programs that help treat people with substance use disorders, despite the opioid epidemic.
We cannot reach prosperity by making the most vulnerable suffer. Please reject harsh and arbitrary funding caps that would result in at least $75 billion in reduced funding for critical human needs. Instead support legislation that invests in our communities.
OK, you did it again! You helped save democracy! You’re amazing.
Talk soon.
Jess
Question: an argument I never hear is the impact on the taxpayer and the future of the planet when we start forcing an increase in births when clearly the climate crisis is teaching us we need fewer people in the world, not more! Statistics already show that unwanted children lead to more crime, more demands on social services, fewer women in the workforce, more demands in our educational and healthcare systems, when already we have a crisis with nearly half of all children in the US dealing with some kind of health condition. Not to mention 60% of adult population, dealing with some form of chronic disease. I’d love to see some hard statistics about how some of these more conservative red states are going to start to fall apart in the future, necessitating taxpayers fund all of the problems that forced birth will cause in society. It’s really almost laughable how blindingly stupid and shortsighted Republicans are, and although as a woman, I’m absolutely furious about the assault on my rights, as a mother, I am even more furious about the imminent destruction of the future of all children and the planet with this monumental idiocy.
I watched the hearing live yesterday. Seeing you there and present to witness the events live and in person brings the reality home of the grave danger to women in this country when healthcare is denied. Thank you for being there. Also, seeing your pictures of the different locations is interesting. I didn't realize the Senate committee hearings are held in separate buildings (The Hart building) from the actual state capitol building. How cool you walked through some of the tunnels!