March Educate Congress Letters
On February 16, 2017 millionaires stop paying into Social Security. Billionaires stopped paying into Social Security at noon on January 1st. If the wealthy paid at the same rate as everyone else, we could expand benefits until 2078. We urge you to cosponsor S427/HR1114 (Sanders - VT/Defazio – OR) – a bill to enhance Social Security benefits and ensure long-term solvency.
By removing the cap, we ensure that earned benefits will be paid not only to current seniors but also to their children. Removing the Cap and using CPI-E (Consumer Price Index – Elderly) would bring COLA in line with how seniors spend their money.
We urge you to cosponsor SJ Res 8/HJ Res 31 (Udall - NM/Deutch – FL). This Constitutional amendment would allow Congress and the States to regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others who attempt to influence elections.
We have watched with shock and dismay at the treatment of immigrants at our nation’s airports as they have been denied right to counsel and basic human dignity. We ask you to cosponsor S349/HR1006 (Harris - CA/Jayapal – WA). This bill details the rights of all persons who are held or detained at a port of entry or at any detention facility overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection or U.S.
Right to counsel in any removal, exclusion, or deportation proceeding or inspection provided at government expense by authorized counsel that the person may choose. If counsel cannot meet in person, counsel may meet remotely any time within the first hour or thereafter.
Humane treatment is required. Individuals held or detained at ports of entry or at any CBP or ICE detention facility must be held for the briefest possible term under the least restrictive conditions practicable and consistent with policy for such holding or detention. Further, individuals shall have access to food, water and restroom facilities.
House Letter Only
We believe that Healthcare is a Human Right. There is only one
solution for providing affordable and accessible healthcare in the U.S
and that solution is HR 676 - Expanded and Improved Medicare for All
(Conyers – MI). HR 676 will provide lifelong healthcare for
everyone with no deductibles or copays and no corporate middlemen acting
as gatekeepers and profiteers. It is time to remove corporate control
from healthcare and return it to medical professionals.