FEDS MAY — OR MAY NOT — LEAVE PORTLAND BUT MOVEMENT FOR BLACK LIVES STILL STRONG
ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Wyden: Thank you for being skeptical about Gov. Brown’s announcement that DHS will pull federal agents out of Portland. I also want you to fight for all of the HEROES Act provisions. For example, workers need all of the unemployment benefits restored and no limits on legal liabilities to employers who put them at risk. This is only one essential provision. Everything in the Act is worth fighting for.
Merkley: I want you to fight for all of the HEROES Act provisions. For example, workers need all of the unemployment benefits restored and no limits on legal liabilities to employers who put them at risk. This is only one essential provision. Everything in the Act is worth fighting for. Please also keep the pressure on for federal agents to leave Portland
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
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].
All except Walden: I condemn the occupation of Portland by federal agents. I also support the Black Lives Movement. It’s time to end systemic racism on all fronts. I ask you to use an anti-racist lens fro any future legislation that distributes federal resources or makes federal policy.
Walden: Please use whatever power you have left to help Chad Wolf and Trump disengage from the briar patch they have thrown themselves into by occupying Portland. This will not end well for them. Help them to see that adhering to their agreement with Gov. Brown and withdrawing now is their best bet.
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
ACTION THREE:
Oregonians are joining with activists across the country to power a Landslide Democratic victory in November 2020, from the state house to the Senate to the White House. Here’s how you can get involved
- Call Arizona voters on Thursdays – training at 5pm, calling begins at 5:30 https://swingleft.org/group/indivisible-oregon
- Write letters to voters with Swing Left and Vote Forward. Saturdays 12-2pm https://swingleft.org/group/indivisible-oregon
- Write postcards to Voters of Color with Reclaim Our Vote. Sundays 3-5pm https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJArdOyprTspE9PjIVWfpLsGbIL5lZpzOwYK
BACKGROUND:
Gov. Brown announced that DHS has agreed to pull federal agents from Portland, but Sen. Wyden is skeptical:
“I’m especially concerned there’s no specific timeline for a full withdrawal of Bill Barr and Donald Trump’s minions. That’s a loophole big enough to drive an armored personnel carrier through.”
While we continue to protest federal occupation of Portland, we also need to say Black Lives Matter in local policing and distribution of social resources in all forms.
Which brings us to the congressional battle over COVID relief. COVID affects proportionately more Black and Brown people because they more often have front-line jobs, use public transportation, and live in multi-generational housing.
Instead of protecting workers to stop the virus, Republicans have fought worker benefits. They waited until CARES unemployment benefits ran out, then proposed a sharp reduction and an end to enhanced SNAP benefits.
They also want to underfund testing, tracing and childcare— but grant legal immunity to employers who don’t protect workers. So as we push local lawmakers to clean up structural racism in policing and beyond, we need to insist that Congress pass anti-racist policies, and not the Republicans’ response to the HEROES Act.
