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Senate Update: Judge Gorsuch Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings – March 20, 11 am
Judge Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings begin on March 20, 2017 at 11 am in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The selection of a Supreme Court Justice is an important event for our democracy and a judge’s record on key issues gives an indication as to the type of justice they will be.
Prior to contacting the committee or its members, here are some resources to learn about the judge’s record so that you are able to articulate your concerns or provide questions you’d like the committee to ask the judge during his confirmation hearing. Below are a few items about Judge Gorsuch’s record:
- NPR – Here’s what we know about Neil Gorsuch
- SCOTUS Blog – Judge Gorsuch on civil rights
- New York Times – Democrats’ Line of Attack on Gorsuch: No Friend of the Little Guy
- The Denver Post – What you need to know about Colorado judge Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court
If you’d like to contact members of the Judiciary Committee, Dinner at the Grange has created PDF contact lists for each committee. Download the Senate Judiciary Committee contact list (PDF).
Worried about Bannon on the NSC? Lobby for H.R. 804 (141 Co-Sponsors)
2/1/17: US House Representative Stephanie Murphy (D-Fl) introduced bill H.R. 804. It’s been sent to three subcommittees for consideration. Click here to read the bill. No action has been taken by the committees and that’s NOT okay.
ANY citizen can call committee members and lobby for or against a bill. It’s only when a bill goes to the floor for a vote that constituents should call only their elected officials.
Link to House Armed Services committee members
Link to House Foreign Affairs committee members
Link to House Intelligence (permanent) committee members
It’s worth following up on a previous Call to Action post concerning Bannon. These are separate issues. The above is to lobby for a specific piece of legislation. Below, this is your opportunity to contact the Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee to voice your concerns about Steve Bannon on the NSC.
2.5.17 – Call to Action: Updated Info to Get Bannon off the NSC
New information: Where do your congressional members stand on Bannon’s appointment to the National Security Council? Check this site (organized by houses, House of Representatives and Senate). Links to contact your congressional members in the table. Call their District/mobile offices first, then their DC office.
Call to Action # 1: Keep placing calls to the Homeland Security & Government Affairs Committee’s main number (202-224-4751). If the mailbox is full, try again in a few hours. They empty the mailbox every day at noon EST (9:00 am PST) and every night. You can call repeatedly; no limit.
You can also email the Committee – use this the form from the Committee to contact them.
The folks over at the Daily Kos put together a list with contact information to the Committee Members. See below for the 15 members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and how to contact them directly. Just one call makes a difference and it takes just a few minutes.
Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) – Chairman
- Direct: 414-276-7282
- DC: 202-224-5323
Claire McCaskil (D-Mo.) – Ranking Member
- Direct: 816-421-1639
- DC: 202-224-6154
John McCain (R-Az.)
- Direct: 602-952-2410
- DC: 202-224-2235
Rob Portman (R-Oh.)
- Direct: 513-684-3265
- DC: 202-224-3353
Thomas R. Carper (D-De.)
- Direct: 302-573-6291
- DC: 202-224-2441
Jon Tester (D-Mt.)
- Direct: 406-252-0550
- DC: 202-224-2644
Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
- Direct: 270-782-8303
- DC: 202-224-4343
James Lankford (R-Ok.)
- Direct: 405-231-4941
- DC: 202-224-5754
Heidi Heitkamp (D-Nd.)
- Direct: 701-258-4648
- DC: 202-224-2043
Gary C. Peters (D-Mi.)
- Direct: 313-226-6020
- DC: 202-224-6221
Michael B. Enzi (R-Wy.)
- Direct: 307-739-9507
- DC: 202-224-3424
John Hoeven (R-Nd.)
- Direct: 701-250-4618
- DC: 202-224-2551
Margaret Hassan (D-Nh.)
- Direct: 603-622-2204
- DC: 202-224-3324
Kamala Harris (D-Ca.)
- Direct: 916-448 – 2787
- DC: 202-224-3553
Steve Daines (R-Mt.)
- Direct: 406-245-6822
- DC: 202-224-2651
Site Update: Flowchart – Make Your Way Through the Political Maze
A Dinner at the Grange user forward this graphic to me today. I know, tiny, tiny print, so here’s the link to the Google Doc. The flowchart is sound advice right down to contacting committee members. Update: author and graphic artist found! Author: Eva Hagberg Fisher, Graphic Artist: Jason Snell. 2017. It’s great resource to share with others!
For future reference, it’s been uploaded to Dinner at the Grange’s Helpful Tools & Resources page. Don’t know where to find legislation? See Dinner at the Grange’s Executive Order & Legislation page.
Eva Hagberg Fisher, Graphic Artist: Jason Snell. 2017
Site Update: U.S. Civics – Training – Overview Presentation
Friends recently asked me to give a U.S. civics’ overview/refresher presentation. I am not an expert on federal legislative affairs (I’m a scientist!) but given my history geek background, I was happy to help. Turns out the group really liked it, so thought I’d provide it for others to watch – Dinner at the Grange’s U.S. Civics’ Overview PowerPoint presentation. The link takes you to DropBox where the presentation may be downloaded. It is a brief, basic refresher of the U.S. Constitution, checks and balances between our three branches of government, and focuses on how bills become law – with tips on how folks can get involved to lobby for (or against) a bill. There are only a few slides but two of them have multiple transitions on them. As such, watch in slideshow to see the information fully-displayed.
If you share this presentation – and I encourage you to – please cite appropriately and link back to Dinner at the Grange.
Dinner at the Grange 