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End the Shark Fin Trade The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act would ban the sale of shark fins in the United States. While shark finning is illegal in the United States, the existing market here supports the activity in other countries. Shark finning is a cruel and wasteful practice - the fins are cut off live sharks, which are then thrown back into the ocean to bleed to death or be eaten. Many shark species are slow to mature and do not produce many offspring; the practice of shark finning threatens many endangered shark species. The Shark Fin Sales Elimination Act (H.R. 1456), introduced by Edward Royce (R-CA-39), is a truly bipartisan bill with 110 co-sponsors. The bill would make it illegal to buy, possess, or sell shark fins or any product containing shark fins. A similar Senate bill - S.793 - has been introduced by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ). Action: If your Member of Congress is one of the co-sponsors of H.R. 1456, contact them to thank them. If they’re not, contact them to ask them to co-sponsor the bill. If one of your Senators is a co-sponsor of S. 793, contact them to thank them. Otherwise, contact them to ask them to be a co-sponsor. The House bill has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Water, Power, and Oceans. If your Member of Congress is on this committee, contact them to ask them to release the bill for a vote in the House. House contact information: www.house.gov Senate contact information: www.senate.gov Let’s Not Forget About Health Care With all the furore over Comey, let’s not get distracted from the important issue of health care. Mitch McConnell’s Senate working group is busy plotting to push the AHCA through while the press are all excited about Comey’s testimony. McConnell hopes to fast-track the bill with little or no transparency or debate by implementing Senate Rule 14, a process which allows the bill to skip the committee stage. Action:
Senate contact information: www.senate.gov Protecting Our Right to Protest,
Holding Police Accountable Several states have introduced legislation which would have a chilling effect on the rights of protestors, while other states have bills in the pipeline which would increase police accountability. Action: Go to http://www.ourstates.org/. Click on “Policing/Protest,” then click on your state. You will find one or more legislative items listed. Select one of these items, and depending on whether the bill is a senate or house bill, contact your state senator or representative and ask them to support legislation described as “protects communities” and to oppose legislation described as “harmful.” If your state has no active legislation, contact your state senator and representative and ask them to introduce legislation to ….. whatever you think would be good! Find your state legislators: http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/ Prevent Arms Deal with Saudi Arabia Trump wants to do a “tremendous” arms deal with Saudi Arabia. The reports of $110 billion in sales are exaggerated and unsubstantiated; however, $25 billion in sales is under way, with future sales likely. Selling arms to the Saudis is problematic, as they have an abysmal human rights record, and they are under suspicion of having used weapons to commit war crimes in Yemen. Bipartisan alliances in both the House and Senate have introduced resolutions to prohibit arms sales with Saudi Arabia. The House resolution (H.J. Res. 102) was introduced by Justin Amash (R-MI-3) and co-sponsored by Mark Pocan (D-WI-2), Thomas Massie (R-KY-4), Barbara Lee (D-CA-13), Walter Jones (R-NC-3), and James McGovern (D-MA-2). The Senate resolution (S.J. Res. 42) was introduced by Rand Paul (R-KY) and co-sponsored by Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Al Franken (D-MN). Action: If your Senator or Member of Congress co-sponsored S.J. Res. 42 or H.J. Res. 102, please contact them to thank them. If not, contact your Senators and MoC to ask them to co-sponsor these resolutions. House contact info: www.house.gov Senate contact info: www.senate.gov Free fax to Members of Congress: http://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php Free fax to Senators: http://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php Trump Threatens Civil Rights The Trump administration is dismantling civil rights protections in several federal agencies. Specifically he is disbanding or shrinking:
Action: Contact your senators to demand that they use their oversight duty to challenge Trump’s attacks on civil rights and to protect our vulnerable citizens and communities. Senate contact info: www.senate.gov United States Climate Alliance Although Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, individual states still have the power to control their own carbon emissions and set their own clean energy policies. If enough states commit to maintaining the Paris Agreement standards, Trump’s action will be meaningless. Several states have already formed the U.S. Climate Alliance and have committed to reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement. These states are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Action: Contact your state governor, asking him/her to join the United States Climate Alliance. If your state has already joined, contact the governor of one of the highest emitting states, i.e.: Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, and Florida. Find your governor: http://www.usa.gov/state-governor Paris Accord The CEOs on Trump’s business advisory council, the Strategic and Policy Forum, are not pleased with Trump’s decision to leave the Paris Accord. Tesla’s Elon Musk and Disney’s Robert Iger have already quit the Forum in protest. Action: Contact some of the other CEOs and companies to ask them to also leave Trump’s council to protestTrump’s refusal to help the world community deal with climate change.
Paris Accord Action: Call, write, and/or email the White House, demanding that Trump keep the U.S.A. in the Paris Climate Accord. White House contact information: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact |
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November 2019
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