5 Things You Can Do This Week

Tips for making phone calls to your Electeds

Remember to use the 5Calls App. Go to wherever you get your apps, find 5Calls, and download it. Here’s more info about 5Calls:

• Sometimes the materials listed in the calls section of IGGR’s weekly report will be the same or similar to what 5Calls suggests. Sometimes it will be other issues that also seem important.

• The 5Calls App gives a well summarized outline about the issue in question and a script you can use when calling senators and representatives.

• Best of all, the App provides a link to your senators’ and representative’s phone numbers so you don’t have to dial them.

• You can make multiple calls about the issues that concern you or you can summarize your concerns and list them in your call. Representative Scholten’s staff has expressed a preference for one call listing multiple issues.

• Whichever way you decide to call, always give your name and street address so the staff will know you are a constituent. Unfortunately, senators and representatives only want to hear from constituents, which seems counter intuitive when the issues in question are national but they want to get reelected, so they only want to hear from constituents.

Reliable and trustworthy sources of information can be found by visiting the websites for the Library of Congress, Congress.gov, and Senate.gov. The Bridge is an online newspaper about Michigan issues which is also a good source.

1) Call Your Senators

Senator Gary Peters: (202) 224-6221 

Senator Elyse Slotkin: (202) 224-4822 

(see Resources for more contact info)

• • Commit to using Democrat leverage to rein in ICE‌’s violent, lawless behavior. Congress should not fund a Department of Homeland Security that is not obeying the laws of the United States. Until DHS reins in this rogue and authoritarian ICE secret police force, there should be no more funding provided to DHS. Reject DHS funding that doesn’t include major ICE reforms: require DHS to obtain a warrant for any arrest that isn’t at the border and restrict Border Patrol operations to the actual border, stop using force indiscriminately, and limit ICE’s use of firearms when conducting routine civil matters. Perhaps most importantly, make ICE agents wear identification and remain unmasked when on duty. These are all reasonable requests in a free society. Stand firm on this, tell your fellow Senators to stay united on this, and demand that Sen. Schumer does too. Any Democratic vote to provide money to the thugs who are brutalizing our communities is a grave betrayal to the people here. Accountability can’t wait. Democrats Warm to Making ICE Funding a Line in the Sand: Operating Outside the Law

  • Oppose Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act, a 19th Century law that allows active duty military to be deployed for law enforcement purposes within the U.S. Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to stop anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis

  • Vote YES on H.R. 5145, passed by bi-partisan vote in the House, to extend the tax credits for Affordable Health Care premiums. Senators Punt Release of Health Care Package to End of January

  • Oppose confirming any Federal Reserve System (the Fed) nominee until Trump backs off the malicious prosecution of Jerome Powell, the current chair of the Fed. Blowback Builds Over Criminal Investigation of Powell

  • Oppose HHS Secretary Kennedy’s recommendation for fewer childhood vaccinations. He points to Denmark’s vaccination guidelines, ignoring the fact that Denmark is a small country with a population the size of Minnesota and it has universal health care and extensive prenatal care. Why experts say Denmark is no model for U.S. vaccine policy

2) Call Your Representative

Be sure to give them your home address so they know you are a constituent. Scholten’s staff has indicated that one call succinctly listing the multiple issues that concern you is preferable to multiple calls addressing one issue for each call.

Representative Scholten: (202) 225-3831

Representative Moolenaar (202) 225-3561

• • Thank Rep. Scholten for voting YES on HR 5145, a three year extension of the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. Continue to support the extension of tax credits for Affordable Care Act insurance premiums if the bill comes back to the House after the Senate vote.

  • Oppose Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act, a 19th Century law that allows active duty military to be deployed for law enforcement purposes within the U.S. Trump threatens to use the Insurrection Act to stop anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis

  • Commit to using Democrat leverage to rein in ICE‌’s violent, lawless behavior. Congress should not fund a Department of Homeland Security that is not obeying the laws of the United States. Until DHS reins in this rogue and authoritarian ICE secret police force, there should be no more funding provided to DHS. Reject DHS funding that doesn’t include major ICE reforms: require DHS to obtain a warrant for any arrest that isn’t at the border and restrict Border Patrol operations to the actual border, stop using force indiscriminately, and limit ICE’s use of firearms when conducting routine civil matters. Perhaps most importantly, make ICE agents wear identification and remain unmasked when on duty. These are all reasonable requests in a free society. Stand firm on this, tell your fellow Senators to stay united on this, and demand that Sen. Schumer does too. Any Democratic vote to provide money to the thugs who are brutalizing our communities is a grave betrayal to the people here. Accountability can’t wait. Democrats Warm to Making ICE Funding a Line in the Sand: Operating Outside the Law

  • Oppose HHS Secretary Kennedy’s recommendation for fewer childhood vaccinations. He points to Denmark’s vaccination guidelines, ignoring the fact that Denmark is a small country with a population the size of Minnesota and it has universal health care and extensive prenatal care. Why experts say Denmark is no model for U.S. vaccine policy

  • Support the impeachment of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. Democrats in Congress seek to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem

3) Call Your State Representative (contact information here)

• House: Thank you for voting YES on HB 4141 to limit students’ use of cellphones in traditional public and charter schools. (Passed 99-10) Michigan nears school cellphone ban. What to know

• Senate: Please vote YES on HB 4141 when it comes to a vote.

• House: Support HB 4668 the “Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Transparency Act.” This act would help protect Michiganders against some of the most dangerous applications of AI (use in cyber, chemical, and biological attacks). It would also ensure whistleblower protections exist for employees working at large AI Developer companies. The whistleblower protections are unique to state legislation on AI when compared to California or New York. Endorsed by PauseAI.

4) Submit Public Comment on Oil Drilling Lease Plans by January 23

The Trump administration has proposed to sell over a billion acres of ocean on both coasts and waters off Alaska, a project which would hurt coastal and tourist economies, jeopardize national security, ravage coastal ecosystems, threaten already endangered whale populations, and put the health and safety of millions of people at risk.

The administration’s plan proposes opening up untouched waters of Alaska, attempting to resurrect the offshore oil and gas industry in California, offering up waters off the coast of Florida that haven’t been put up for leasing in decades, and adding leases in the Gulf of Mexico. Basically, as CA representative Jared Huffman stated, everywhere Big Oil has been salivating to drill for decades.

Submit a public comment to oppose this plan and to support the leaders of the affected states in their efforts to protect their beaches, their waters, and their ecosystems. View submitted comments, and submit your comment here before January 23.

5) Donate to Minnesotans in Need

• via Stand With Minnesota. This directory of places to donate comes from activists on the ground, plugged into the situation. Everything is vetted, with the exception of individual GoFundMes (not everyone is in our networks, and we don’t want to pick and choose who is worthy of help.)

Extra Credit: Attend Kent County’s 6th Annual Female Veterans Appreciation Banquet 

Thursday, March 19, 6 - 8:30 pm at Watermark Country Club.

• The event will be held during Women’s History Month to honor the service and sacrifice of female veterans. This free event includes appetizers, a buffet dinner, desserts, raffle prizes, and personal stories shared by female veterans. Each registered Kent County guest may bring one additional attendee. FOX 17 Meteorologist and author Terri DeBoer will serve as this year’s emcee. Sign up here.