Action Items to choose from (or do all of them: your choice!). In no particular order. Scroll down to the matching number of your option:
- Oppose the new SAVE Act, H.R. 7296, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act” or the “SAVE America Act”
- Again, keep fighting to rein in and, hopefully, to abolish ICE
- The Epstein Files Controversy is Not Over
- Read and sign a Resistbot letter to our representatives to stop judge-approved mass incarceration
- Ban private private equity ownership of hospitals
Actions
1) Oppose the new SAVE Act, H.R. 7296, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act” or the “SAVE America Act”:
This is a voter suppression bill, pure and simple. It will make voting harder, if not impossible, for millions of eligible voters (including Republicans, especially Republican women) to register to vote and to actually vote, by requiring proof of citizenship not only to register to vote, but also to cast a ballot. It would also prohibit universal voting by mail, block states from counting absentee ballots received after election day, and require frequent voter purges that would kick eligible citizens off the rolls. People without photo ID on which their name matches their birth certificate may be turned away at the polls. Once again, this could disenfranchise millions of voters, including women who took their husbands’ names upon marriage, so their last names don’t match the names on their birth certificates.
I, for example, could be hit by a double whammy: Not only did I keep my maiden name (wow, I hate that term!), but as an adult, I also changed my first name to match what I’d been called most of my life, rather than go on with a passport and driver’s license that had my unused birth name on them. Long story, but the short version is that my legal name change was supposed to make things simpler and clearer, not more difficult. And especially not more difficult to exercise my constitutional right as a U.S. citizen, born and bred, to vote in elections. I do have photo IDs that match each other—passport and driver’s license—so perhaps I won’t be asked for my birth certificate, but can I be sure of that? And what of all the women who legally took their husband’s last names using only their marriage certificate to prove that it was okay? And what about Indigenous Americans who don’t have birth certificates, only tribal IDs that don’t include all the newly required information?
The vote for H.R. 7296, the “Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act” or the “SAVE America Act,” could happen as soon as this Wednesday, February 11th. Contact House Representative Jared Golden, who was one of four Democrat Congressmen to vote for the last SAVE Act, and demand that he vote NO on this new SAVE Act, an act that, despite its name, will make it significantly harder, if not outright impossible, for millions of eligible voters to register to vote and to actually vote. It is our right as U.S. citizens to have our voices heard in elections across the nation. Golden had better support our right to vote, rather than cave to pressure from Republicans.
There is also another act in the House coming up for a vote soon: H.R.7300, the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act. Along with imposing a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration and a photo ID requirement to vote, this bill would usurp the constitutionally-granted authority of states to administer elections. Tell House Rep. Jared Golden to vote NO on this MEGA Act.
2) Again, keep fighting to rein in and, hopefully, to abolish ICE:
Our Senate reps need to stand firm against ICE and BCP: There must be NO further DHS funding at all until the Senate has agreed to ironclad guardrails for ICE. The way this agency has been abusing both American citizens and undocumented people is outrageous. The “worst of the worst” means people who snuck into this country illegally and proceeded to commit serious crimes—serious crimes, not the occasional speeding ticket. And the “worst of the worst” should be located and apprehended using legal, controlled policies, not stopping any nonwhite-skinned person who speaks with an accent or speaks in another language, brutally grabbing them, scanning their faces with inaccurate ID technology (seehttps://www.wired.com/story/cbp-ice-dhs-mobile-fortify-face-recognition-verify-identity/ ), handcuffing them, shoving them into unmarked vans, whisking them asap to cruel and torturous detention centers in other states, deporting them to foreign (to them) countries, breaking up families, detaining little children, etc. This is not the behavior of the Founders’ America, or the behavior of civilized people anywhere.
There is no excuse for ICE to not be required to follow the same legal guidelines as every other law enforcement agency in our country. ICE agents cannot be allowed to hide their identities behind masks and unprofessional, properly identified uniforms. They cannot be allowed to tear apart families, let alone to detain children without their parents and in inhumane conditions. They cannot be allowed to arrest anyone without proper judicial warrants. ICE officials cannot be allowed to make up the rules for themselves as they go along. The cannot be allowed to intimidate, beat, arrest, or otherwise abuse people in this country legally—and that includes people following legal protocols for asylum or citizenship. Detention centers should not be allowed to abuse children—with or without their families present. They should not be allowed to refuse these people medical treatment, contact with lawyers, and all due process requirements in general.
Contact Senators King and Collins and demand that they absolutely refuse to give DHS a penny more or even agree to negotiate this without the above requirements. ICE has to be forced to toe the line or be totally abolished. What’s more, Kristi Noem needs to be impeached and removed, and Stephen Miller needs to be fired. Both need to be prosecuted, but let’s get rid of them first.
3) The Epstein Files Controversy is Not Over:
Per Democracy Now, “Democratic Congressmember Ro Khanna has called for Congress to investigate associates of Jeffrey Epstein named in the files and for the full release of the remaining documents. This comes as Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the review of Epstein files is over and that no further prosecutions are expected. Blanche, who was formerly President Trump’s personal lawyer, told Fox News that ‘it isn’t a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.’
“Meanwhile, Epstein survivors have criticized the Department of Justice for failing to redact personal information, including some of their identities, as well as email addresses and even nude photos. ‘They were cavalier, at best, when it comes to the survivors, and they took great lengths to protect some of the rich and powerful people who actually committed the crimes and morally heinous acts,’” said Ro Khanna.
Khanna also said, “And I am so offended by Deputy Attorney General Blanche saying, ‘Oh, this is just about men who are playboys who are going to parties.’This is about men who knew that Epstein was abusing and raping young girls, saying, ‘I want to show up to parties where these young girls are being paraded, or where these young girls are being raped.’
“And this is the American elite? I mean, the question we have to ask ourselves as a nation is: How have we produced an elite that is so callow, that is so immature, that is so venal, that has so little scruples, and that has such impunity from the rule of law? What have we done wrong in this country that that is our elite?”
Damn good questions that deserve honest answers. Contact Congressman Jared Golden and urge him to demand that the DOJ release all documents legally mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act. He should also call for public hearings and investigations into alleged abuses revealed by the documents, call for the resignations of Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Deputy Todd Blanche, and support articles of impeachment and move to convict Donald Trump (thanks to 5calls.org for the language). Contact Senators King and Collins and urge them to cosponsor and otherwise speak out in support of Senator Ron Wyden’s bill, S.2746 (the Produce Epstein Treasury Records Act), which would require the Secretary of the Treasury to produce suspicious activity reports relating to Jeffrey Epstein and his associates. Republicans are currently blocking this bill. The very idea that anyone with any integrity would block this bill should prompt us to ask WHY? Who are they protecting? All this needs to be revealed, no matter the fallout.
4) Read and sign a Resistbot letter to our representatives to stop judge-approved mass incarceration:
https://resist.bot/petitions/PUOZIA
5) Ban private equity ownership of hospitals:
https://action.ips-dc.org/a/inequality-private-equity-hospitals?ms=tjp260204
Reminder: When you call vs when you email via our reps’ websites (best way to contact them in writing), don’t forget to begin with: “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m a constituent calling from [zip code]. That is important, because if they don’t know you’re actually a constituent, your opinion will be ignored.
Contact info:
Angus King
DC: (202) 224-5344
Augusta: (207) 622-8292
Susan Collins
DC: (202) 224-2523
Augusta: (207) 622-8414
Bangor: (207) 945-0417
Chellie Pingree
DC: (202) 225-6116
Portland: (207) 774-5019
Waterville: (207) 873-5713
Jared Golden
DC: (202) 225-6306
Bangor: (207) 249-7400
Caribou: (207) 492-6009
Lewiston: (207) 241-6767
Find your State Representative:
By name: Here
By district: Here
Find your State Senator:
By name: Here
By district: Here
(Please note that for those of you receiving this email who are not represented by Senators or House members in our district, I have to leave it up to you to find the contact info for your own representatives.)
Yours in Civic Action,
Bold Coast Civic Alliance
