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Members of Congress

  • Sen. Patty Murray
    (202) 224-2621 | Email

  • Sen. Maria Cantwell
    (202) 224-3441 | Email

  • Rep. Suzan DelBene (1st)
    (202) 225-6311 | Email

  • Rep. Kim Schrier (8th)
    (202) 225-7761 | Email

  • Rep. Adam Smith (9th)
    (202) 225-8901 | Email
    		•

    For the Week of Nov 11, 2019

    🔷 The Nov. 5th election has come and gone, and we are left with a mixed bag of results both locally and statewide. Some excellent candidates won local races while others were disappointed. We are so grateful to all who ran as they represent the best of our ideas about equity, justice, and fairness, and we hope that they continue to do their good work in our community and elsewhere. We must also celebrate the fantastic victories in Virginia and Kentucky!

    Thank you if you supported candidates by donating, canvassing, textbanking, phone banking, postcard writing, and especially voting! Many of you did participate in writing postcards with us for candidates far and wide over the past few months and several of them were successful in their races. (Please note that Washington State races won’t be certified until Dec. 5th.)

    • In Seatac, Takele Gobena and Senayet Negusse lead by a small margin.
    • In Spokane Valley, Tim Hattenburg won his race, although sadly Lance Gurel did not.
    • In Virginia, Joshua Cole was elected, but unfortunately Debra Rodman lost.
    • In Federal Way the local renter protection Initiative (19-001) is currently ahead by ten points.

    We will continue our Postcard activity for as long as there are races and issues to write for. Watch this space for details!

    🔷 On Tues, Nov 12, the Supreme Court will hold its first hearing on the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). Over 700,000 people have received deferred action status under the program. On the 12th, there will be a #HomeIsHere rally, hosted by the Washington Dream Coalition and other groups to support DACA participants. It will be at the US District Court Building, 700 Stewart St, Seattle, from 2:00 – 4:00. Here’s the Facebook page. Please support it if you can.

    Before the rally the regular monthly meeting with Senator Murray and Senator Cantwell’s staffers will take place at the Federal Building, 915 Second Ave, Seattle, 12:30-1:30. Come and hear what they are working on and bring your questions.

    🔷 Still on the topic of immigration, organizations in our area have been active in promoting an action called Rapid Response Training. WA Immigrant Solidarity Network’s – Rapid Response Network (RRN) is a community defense project developed to protect immigrant & refugee communities from deportation threats and to provide support during and after a community member’s arrest or detention. On Nov. 14th there will be training sponsored by Indivisible Kirkland and WAISN, from 3:30 -5:00. If you are interested in attending or would like more information, please contact info@ikwa.info.

    🔷 At our meeting on Saturday, we were so impressed by the great presentation by two local high school students on a bill to require pet stores in Washington to source their kittens, puppies, and bunnies from shelters rather than animal mills. They’ve worked on this for two years and have support from legislators in their district. Check out their website to learn how you can help. And see the Meeting Notes for Saturday’s Group meeting for resources we talked about.

    🔷 Here are your 3 actions for this week.

    ✊ Action 1 – [You] Sign up for an Eastside Impeachment Rally

    We have had several inquiries about a local impeachment rally and we are happy to tell you that plans are afoot! MoveOn.org is starting coordination for a future Impeachment Eve rally nationwide, and although we obviously can’t set the date of the rally until the impeachment vote is actually scheduled, Indivisible Eastside is working to organize the event at Redmond Downtown Park.

    Please sign up with MoveOn to make sure you get notification details (date and time) 24 hours before the rally.

    Join this historic nationwide mobilization on the eve of Trump’s impeachment vote: RSVP for the event. The night before the House of Representatives takes a historic vote to impeach Trump, we’ll head to every congressional office and public square to declare that Nobody Is Above the Law as representatives finalize their positions and senators look on. This will be visible, family-friendly, a public gathering to demonstrate to our lawmakers that their constituents are behind them to defend the Constitution—and that Trump has left them no alternative to uphold their oath of office but to support impeachment and removal.

    ✊ Action 2 – [You] Speak up to prevent a wrongful execution

    From AmnestyUSA and Washington Post

    Rodney Reed, 51, has been in prison in Texas since 1998 and was moved to death row over the summer. He is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Nov. 20. He was convicted of the murder of a woman whose fiance has subsequently confessed to committing the crime. There is widespread bi-partisan support for a reprieve, but there is little time left.

    You can add your voice in support of his case by writing a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both of the government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call, or Tweet them.

     

    Greg Abbott

    Governor of Texas

    Office of the Governor

    P.O. Box 12428

    Austin, Texas 78711

    Telephone: 512 463-2000

    Fax: 512 463-5745

    Webform

     

    Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

    8610 Shoal Creek Blvd.

    Austin, Texas 78757

    Fax: (512) 406-5482

    Email: bpp_pio@tdcj.texas.gov

     

    ☎ Sample Script:

    “Rodney Reed has been on death row since 1998 and faces execution on 20 November. He maintains his innocence and several experts cast doubts on his conviction.

    Rodney Reed was convicted of the 1996 murder of a white woman. DNA testing of semen from her body was matched to that of Rodney Reed, a black man, who claims they had a consensual romantic relationship. New witnesses have corroborated this. Forensic experts dispute the time of death as stated at trial, questioning the timeline implicating Reed. Texas courts have repeatedly denied requests for DNA testing of other key evidence.

    The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. Since 1973, 166 people have been exonerated from US death rows on innocence grounds.

    I urge you to recommend and grant clemency to Rodney Reed and stop his and any future executions.”

    ✊ Action 3 – [US Senate] Take action to secure our vote

    As we have mentioned in previous Actions, our democracy is at risk from a lack of funding for increasing security and ensuring the integrity of our elections. With the 2020 election less than a year away, time is of the essence. In June 2019 the House passed a Democrat-backed bill which would make meaningful investments to upgrade the security of voting systems across the country, to guard against foreign interference in our democracy.

    The Securing America’s Federal Elections (SAFE) Act would authorize $600M for the Election Assistance Commission, which would be allocated to states to enhance their security ahead of 2020. It includes language that would ban voting machines from being connected to the internet and being produced in foreign countries.

    The Senate and House must agree on how to fund the government by Nov. 21st. In September Mitch McConnell announced his support for $250M for election security, but that is insufficient and it lacks the accountability language that the House bill uses to secure our elections.

    Please contact your Senator and ask for their support in insisting for a substantial increase in the budget for election security, along with safeguards to prevent security breaches that compromise the integrity of our elections. Republican Senators have pushed back against every attempt to implement this, so we must keep up the pressure on our Senators to let them know that this is a critical area of concern, and that we expect them to keep pushing for this important legislation.

    ☎ Sample Script:

    “I am concerned about the security of our elections. I do not believe that the amount of funding approved earlier by the Senate will be sufficient to truly secure our elections. I urge the Senator to apply maximum pressure to ensure that the upcoming spending bill would allocate the full $600 million to improve our elections systems. In addition, there need to be stringent safeguards in place, such as those that meet the high standards outlined in the HR 2722 SAFE Act, to ensure the integrity of voting equipment and procedures. It is important that the American voter is confident that their vote has been counted and their voice heard.

    Thank you for your hard work answering the phones.”

    [IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied]

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