CONGRESS MUST PROTECT OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO A FAIR CENSUS 

ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS

SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
The discovery of new documents has exposed the GOP’s lies under oath about its latest attempt to use the census process to under-count the population and engage in extreme partisan gerrymandering. I ask the Senator to:
  • Loudly oppose this wrongdoing
  • Urge members on the House Oversight Committee to investigate the Trump Administration’s efforts to subvert the Constitution’s Census Clause.
  • Urge House colleagues to open an impeachment inquiry.

ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS

Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here. 

SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
For Blumenauer: The discovery of new documents has exposed the GOP’s lies under oath about its latest attempt to use the census process to under-count the population and engage in extreme partisan gerrymandering. I ask the Rep to
  • Oppose this wrongdoing and urge your colleagues on the House Oversight Committee to investigate the Trump Administration’s efforts to subvert the Constitution’s Census Clause
  • Urge your colleagues to sign onto the impeachment inquiry resolution
  • Educate the public on the impeachment process like Rep Justin Amash is doing
For Bonamici: The discovery of new documents has exposed the GOP’s lies under oath about its latest attempt to use the census process to under-count the population and engage in extreme partisan gerrymandering. I ask the Rep to
  • Oppose this wrongdoing and urge your colleagues on the House Oversight Committee to investigate the Trump Administration’s efforts to subvert the Constitution’s Census Clause
  • Sign onto the impeachment inquiry resolution and urge your colleagues to call for an impeachment inquiry as you have
  • Educate the public on the impeachment process like Rep Justin Amash is doing
For DeFazio and Schrader: The discovery of new documents has exposed the GOP’s lies under oath about its latest attempt to use the census process to under-count the population and engage in extreme partisan gerrymandering. I ask the Rep to
  • Oppose this wrongdoing and urge your colleagues on the House Oversight Committee to investigate the Trump Administration’s efforts to subvert the Constitution’s Census Clause
  • Call for an impeachment inquiry and sign onto the impeachment inquiry resolution
For Walden: The discovery of new documents has exposed the GOP’s lies under oath about its latest attempt to use the census process to under-count the population and engage in extreme partisan gerrymandering. I ask the Rep to
  • Oppose this wrongdoing and urge your colleagues on the House Oversight Committee to investigate the Trump Administration’s efforts to subvert the Constitution’s Census Clause
  • Call for an impeachment inquiry like your GOP colleague Rep Justin Amash is doing 

BACKGROUND:

The GOP has been waging war on the Census and redistricting process for years. From mid-decade redistricting to extreme political gerrymanders, Republicans have succeeded in disenfranchising voters.
Now the GOP seeks to add a new question never asked before — about the citizenship status of each person in each household — to the census.  It would cause as many as 6.5 million people to go uncounted, dramatically affecting re-districting and the allocation of federal revenues to states and localities.
Trump Administration officials testified under oath that the question is intended to improve compliance with the Voting Rights Act (!) A majority of the Supreme Court seemed to accept their statements.
But the newly-discovered documents of a deceased Republican re-districting specialist, Thomas Hofeller, show that the VRA argument was a pretext and that the question would benefit white Republicans. Hofeller confessed that it would result in a “radical departure from the federal ‘one person, one vote’ rule.” These documents exposed the false testimony and prove that the real reason for the question is to enable more extreme Republican gerrymandering.
Now more than ever, the House Oversight Committee must continue to investigate the GOP’s efforts to undermine our democracy.

SOURCES: