THE SENATE MUST FOCUS ON THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE AND PASS THE HEROES ACT NOW

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…
Nearly 40 million Americans are unemployed.  The House version of the HEROES Act includes vital assistance to people whose access to basic needs are still threatened because of the pandemic.  Mitch McConnell must stop politicizing the Senate with judges and move on a HEROES act that will help people.  I am asking the Senator to demand a Senate version of HEROES be brought to a vote now with a focus on people, not corporations.  Businesses must have legal accountability.  Thank you.

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, Bonamici and DeFazio:
I want to thank the Representative for voting for the Heroes Act.  I appreciate that the House version provides vital assistance to people whose access to basic needs are still threatened because of the pandemic and did not give companies immunity from legal accountability.  And I am asking him/her to actively support the Every Worker Protection Act and to continue to demand protections for workers and uphold legal accountability for businesses.  Thank you.
For Schrader and Walden:
Nearly 40 million Americans are unemployed.  The HEROES Act includes vital assistance to people whose access to basic needs are still threatened because of the pandemic.   I am disappointed that the Representative voted against it.  I am asking that he begin to put the health and safety of his constituents ahead of politics.  He must support the Every Worker Protection Act and insist that all economic relief packages include protections for workers and uphold legal accountability for businesses.

ACTION THREE:

ACTION 3:  LEARN ABOUT DEFUNDING POLICE. 
Leaders of the uprising against police brutality are pushing for more than moderate police reforms. Learn what is meant by defunding, why reforms haven’t worked, and how policing is woven into white supremacy in your community.  These three documents by Black leaders are just the beginning.  
 Black Lives Matter petition: https://blacklivesmatter.com/defundthepolice/ 
How Defund The Police could happen in Portland: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kI2KrgAZGvpFrxTv1TlaNGH8Z-SwEVxG/view 

BACKGROUND:

Mitch McConnell is refusing to take any action on the HEROES Act until the end of July.  That will give the Senate a total of three weeks to pass it before they leave for their month-long summer break.
The House bill sent to the Senate isn’t perfect, but it includes vital assistance to people whose access to basic needs are still threatened because of the pandemic, as well as aid to truly small businesses.
The party that pushed through a $1.5 trillion tax cut for the rich and has refused transparency about the distribution of previous relief money claims, straight faced, that moving quickly on this bill would be fiscally irresponsible. 
Rather than working now to get vital legislation enacted that will help the people of this country, McConnell will spend the time pushing to fill every possible federal judgeship with extreme conservatives.  It’s a political agenda he has been dedicated to ever since Trump was elected and as the next election nears, his pace has quickened.  
The Senate must act on COVID-19 relief now.  During a pandemic it is unconscionable for McConnell to continue to put his political agenda above the lives of the American people. 

SOURCES: