Marijuana The McClintock-Polis Amendment The 2014 Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds to prevent states from implementing the use of medical marijuana. In light of Jeff Sessions' recent rescinding of the Cole Memo, there is growing bipartisan support for a more sweeping legalization of marijuana. Reps. Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Jared Polis (D-CO) have introduced an amendment which would remove the word “medical” from the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment language, thus extending its provisions to all state-sanctioned marijuana use. Action: Sign this letter at the NORML website, asking your MoC to support the McClintock-Polis Amendment.. If you’d rather not give NORML your contact info, copy and paste the letter, or write your own, and send to your MoC.
0 Comments
Temporary Protected Status Revisited The SECURE Act was introduced by Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-CA) to allow qualified TPS recipients to apply for lawful permanent residence status. Currently, it is very difficult for individuals with TPS to apply for a green card. Many individuals with TPS have lived, worked, and paid taxes in the US for years or decades, have borne and raised children who are U.S. citizens, and yet have no a clear path to residency. The SECURE Act would allow qualified TPS recipients to apply for permanent residence, which would in turn allow these valued members of our community to remain in the US without the constant threat of potential deportation. Action: 1. Contact your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor S.2144, the SECURE Act. or 2. If your Senator is already a co-sponsor, send them a message of thanks. and 3. If your Senator is on the Senate Judiciary Committee, contact them and ask them to facilitate voting the Act out of committee so that it can be voted on by the full Senate. Temporary Protected Status Ending Over 2,000 El Salvadorans are about to lose Temporary Protected Status as immigrants from countries where conditions are deemed to be dangerous and unstable. These immigrants are protected from deportation and granted temporary legal status, as they would face extreme hardship if returned to their countries of origin. The Trump administration has decreed that conditions in El Salvador and other countries has improved enough that TPS is no longer necessary. Action: 1. Contact your Senators and ask them to find a bipartisan solution to protect immigrants from these countries. 2. Contact your Member of Congress with the same message. TPS ending for:
TPS may soon end for:
Free Blanca Vasquez Blanca Vasquez and her 12-year old son, Luis, turned themselves over to Border Patrol at the U.S. border in October to ask for asylum after fleeing from El Salvador. Blanca’s husband, a military sergeant, had been murdered by gang members who were now threatening her son. Blanca and her son were arrested, separated, and detained. The practice used to be “catch and release” - parents and children were permitted to stay at liberty together pending their asylum appeal. Under Trump everything has changed for the worse. Families are separated, and humans are treated worse than stray animals. Action: 1. Contact your Member of Congress, ask if they are aware of the plight of Blanca Vasquez, and demand that she be freed pending her asylum appeal. 2. Email or call (877-272-5511) Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, Kevin K. McAleenan to demand that his department cease their inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and that they immediately release Blanca Vasquez to be reunited with her son. CHIP Despite Congress having approved a temporary spending measure in December to keep CHIP going for another three months, in some states it is in danger of running out of funds later this month. Children whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford to buy health insurance, are in danger of losing coverage. Action: Call your Member of Congress and ask what they propose to do to ensure continued coverage for these children. Sunday: the day off. Enjoy: www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/01/photo-journal-birds-paths-migration-starling/ Marijuana Justice Act Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) has introduced the Marijuana Justice Act, S. 1689, which would remove marijuana from the list of Schedule 1 controlled substances and penalize states which incarcerate minorities for marijuana infractions at a rate higher than their proportion of the population. Action: Contact your Senators and ask them to co-sponsor S. 1689, the Marijuana Justice Act. Some of the medical uses for marijuana:
From: Business Insider, 4/20/16 Sessions Cracks Down Attorney General Jeff Sessions has rescinded the Cole Memo, an Obama-era Justice Department instruction which directs U.S. Attorneys in all 50 states to not interfere with their state’s policies and laws regarding marijuana use, production, and sales, notwithstanding conflicting federal laws, except in the case of sale to minors or to states where the drug remains illegal. Sessions’ actions are retrograde, tyrannical, and harmful. Action: 1. Contact your Member of Congress and ask that Congress step in to prevent Sessions from interfering with states’ ability to develop their own marijuana policies. 2. Contact the Justice Department to demand that the Cole Memo remain in force. Beto O'Rourke Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic congressman from El Paso, TX, is someone we should all pay attention to. Not only is he a straight-up all-round good guy, but he has set his sights on Ted Cruz’s seat in the Senate, and we can all agree that the only good Cruz is an unseated Cruz. O’Rourke represents the best of the new generation of Democrats; his policies are impeccable, and he refuses to take corporate donations or PAC money. He also used to play in a punk band. Action: Get to know Beto - go to his site, read some of his issue statements, and if you are so moved, make a donation to his campaign. He outraised Cruz in the first and second quarters of last year, although Cruz - stung into action - outraised him in the third. What Next? This is it. This is the year when we must work to put Republicans out of office. Not because the Democrats have all the answers but because most of the Republicans have made a Faustian deal with Trump, the NRA, and their corporate donors. We must keep up pressure on all our elected officials and continue to oppose the Trump agenda on all levels. Action: Consider becoming involved with a local Indivisible group. Find out what’s going on at the grass-roots level in your area, and stay connected to what’s happening nationally. Visit this site to find a group near you: www.indivisible.org/act-locally/ |
Archives
November 2019
|