72 weeks to Midterm Elections
The AoC Checklist features clear, well-researched actions for Americans who value democracy, equality, voting, and decency. We are a big tent for all people who want a kinder, flourishing nation.
If you only have 10 minutes, take our top three suggested actions:
- Action 1: Protect elections officials from threats of violence.
- Action 2: Advocate for gender-neutral “X” option on federal IDs.
- Action 3: Advocate for ending the federal death penalty.
In this edition of the AoC Checklist:
- Senate actions: What we’re calling our senators about.
- House actions: What we’re calling our House reps about.
- Action 1: Protect elections officials from threats of violence.
- Action 2: Advocate for gender-neutral “X” option on federal IDs.
- Action 3: Advocate for ending the federal death penalty.
- Action 4: Support accessible and equitable higher education.
- Action 5: Support the constitutional right to asylum.
- Action 6: Advocate for the safety of our transgender neighbors.
- Action 7: Support a pathway to citizenship for people who arrived as kids.
- Say Thanks: Acts of Gratitude
- Check out Good News from around the nation
- How you can support and share the AoC Checklist
Call your senators
Check the box that you called–whether for one issue or all–so we can count your action. Calling your senators’ staffers with multiple concerns is more efficient for both of you. They don’t mind, but be sure to call both progressives and conservatives. They need to hear from you.
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Sen. [NAME] to:
- Pass S. 1, the bipartisan For the People Act. [Source: Vote.org]
- Pass H.R. 5, the Equality Act [Source: Human Rights Campaign]
- Pass H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act [Source: CivilRights.org]
- Pass S. 1975, the Women’s Health Protection Act [Source: BlackWomenRJ]
- Call for the Senate Judiciary Committee to thoroughly investigate DOJ surveillance of members of congress during the previous administration. [Source: The Hill]
- Expand the Housing Choice Voucher program to provide a voucher to every eligible household and lift millions of Americans out of poverty. [Source: Center on Budget]
- Renew TPS designation for Somalian people seeking refuge from a civil war. [Source: USCRI]
- Provide a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients. [Source: Detention Watch (DWN)]
- Support the Asuncion Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act (S. 1068) and the health and wellbeing of farm workers. [Source: United Farm Workers]
Call your House representative
Check the box that you called–whether for one issue or all–so we can count your action. Calling your representative’s staffers with multiple concerns is more efficient for both of you. They don’t mind, but be sure to call both progressives and conservatives. They need to hear from you.
Look up your House representative here.
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Your script: Hi, I’m from [ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Rep. [NAME] to:
- Cosponsor H.J.Res.14 to abolish the Electoral College and enable the direct election of the president via the popular vote. [Source: The Voting News]
- Call for the House Judiciary Committee to thoroughly investigate DOJ surveillance of members of congress during the previous administration. [Source: The Hill]
- Expand the Housing Choice Voucher program to provide a voucher to every eligible household and lift millions of Americans out of poverty. [Source: Center on Budget]
- Provide a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients. [Source: Detention Watch (DWN)]
- Renew TPS designation for Somalian people seeking refuge from a civil war. [Source: USCRI]
I value democracy
With respect and collaboration, we work to create a nation that welcomes all people, expands freedoms, and upholds the Constitution. Each citizen must be able to freely and fairly elect those who represent their values.
Action 1: Protect elections officials from threats of violence.
Source: Reuters and National Association of Secretaries of State
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Call: Your state’s governor (look up).
Script: Hi, I’m calling from [ZIP] to affirm that elections officials should be able to work free of intimidation. One in three elections officials currently feel unsafe. Antagonistic people are still threatening officials—secretaries of state to local election workers—with violence for doing their jobs. This is a danger to them and to democracy. Please tell me what you are doing to protect public servants and deal with people making threats. Thank you.
I value equality
Support the dignity of your rainbow of neighbors from every religion, race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, age, and ability.
Action 2: Advocate for gender-neutral “X” option on federal IDs.
Source: ACLU
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Federal IDs don’t acknowledge self-verified gender or gender neutrality. This inaccurate representation puts transgender, intersex, and non-binary people at risk of daily discrimination. President Biden has the power to prevent ID misgendering by directing all federal agencies to allow Americans to self-verify gender, and to include a gender neutral “X” designation option on all federal IDs and records.
Sign: The ACLU petition
Action 3: Advocate for ending the federal death penalty.
Source: ACLU
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Since 1973, at least 185 Americans have been exonerated after being wrongly sentenced to death. Unfortunately, wrongful convictions are not always righted, and innocent people have been executed for crimes they didn’t commit. Ask President Biden to commute the death sentences of the people on federal death row and end the federal death penalty.
Sign: The Equal Justice USA petition.
Action 4: Support accessible and equitable higher education.
Source: ACLU
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Over 44 million Americans carry more than $1.7 trillion of student debt. Due to the race-restricted accumulation of generational wealth in the U.S., this burden falls heaviest on communities of color—particularly Black women. Canceling $50,000 in student debt per borrower would help close the racial wealth gap and secure financial stability and economic mobility for millions.
Sign: The 1000 Women Strong/ACLU petition to Vice President Harris.
Action 5: Support the constitutional right to asylum.
Source: USCRI
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Call: The Department of Homeland Security comment line at 202-282-8495.
Script: Hello, I’m calling from [STATE] to advocate that Sec. Mayorkas renew TPS designation for Somalian asylum-seekers. Somalia’s civil war is ongoing and conditions in the country remain unsafe. Please protect our Somali neighbors from returning to danger.
Action 6: Advocate for the safety of our transgender neighbors.
Source: Mijente
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Transgender people often come to the U.S. fleeing persecution in their home countries. Instead of finding safety, they often face abuse, cruelty, detention, and deportation back to the violent countries they fled—or, in some cases, death due to negligent treatment in ICE custody.
Sign: The End Trans Detention petition calling for the release of transgender people, people living with HIV, and people with medical conditions from ICE custody.
Action 7: Support a pathway to citizenship for people who arrived as kids.
Source: Detention Watch (DWN)
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
This week marked nine years of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. While this protective status has helped many youth remain in the U.S., it falls far short of the benefits of full citizenship. President Biden and Congress can provide relief to this community through a pathway to citizenship.
Sign: The United We Dream petition.
Acts of Gratitude
Get out your stamps, postcards, and sparkle markers for some gratitude mail.
Tell Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D–NC) why you are grateful to his House subcommittee for compiling documentation of voter discrimination to be used as evidence in favor of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Address: 2080 Rayburn HOB, Washington, DC 20515
Tell Austin, TX Mayor Steve Adler (D) why you are grateful to him for speaking out against gun violence.
Address: P.O. Box 1088, Austin, TX 78767
Tell the Oregon House of Representatives why you are grateful to them for expelling a member who let armed protesters into a closed special session.
Address: ℅ House Speaker Tina Kotek, 900 Court St. NE, Rm. 269, Salem, Oregon 97301
Tell Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D–MI) why you are grateful to her for signing an executive order prohibiting use of state funds for so-called “conversion therapy” on minors.
Address: P.O. Box 30013, Lansing, Michigan 48909
Good News
Decent people everywhere are speaking up and working together. Just look. #GoodNews
National
- Senate unanimously passes a bill that would make Juneteenth, celebrating the date U.S. slavery ended, a national holiday.
- House of Representatives passes the same bill to make Juneteenth a national holiday.
- The Biden administration officially disbands the “Remain in Mexico” program, making immigration safer.
- DOJ doubles its civil rights enforcement staff to address voting restrictions and discrimination.
- DOJ inspector general investigates the 2018 seizure by DOJ operatives of House representatives’ data.
- The Interior Dept. suspends oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
- USCIS reinstates expedited processing for nonprofit organizations and religious workers.
- Cherokee Nation offers mental wellness leave, as distinct from sick leave and annual leave, for Cherokee Nation employees.
- The Biden administration creates a federal scientific integrity task force to address and prevent partisan interference in science and research.
- The Biden administration reinstates Michael Kuperberg as the executive director of the U.S. Global Change Research Program.
- FDA approves a first-of-its-kind medication for treating early Alzheimer’s disease.
- A federal court hands down a sentence to a former St. Paul police officer after a jury found the officer guilty of using excessive force, a civil rights violation.
- The federal government buys 500 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses to donate to other nations.
- President Biden delivers remarks from Tulsa, OK in acknowledgement of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, the first sitting president to mark the event with a visit to the city.
- The Biden administration launches a month of incentives to get 70% of adults at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19 by July 4, including sports ticket giveaways and a free round of beer.
State
- CT passes a law ensuring all parents have the same rights to legal parent-child relationships regardless of parents’ sexual orientation or gender.
- CT provides $3,200 baby bonds at birth to children of low-income parents.
- MI: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs an executive order prohibiting the use of state funds for so-called “conversion therapy” on minors.
- NV modernizes its HIV-related laws and expands access to HIV prevention medications, while also passing a law ensuring equal financial opportunities for LGBTQ-owned businesses.
- NV passes two bills decriminalizing minor traffic violations, ending the practice of issuing warrants for traffic debt, and eliminating license suspensions for drivers who can’t afford fines and fees.
- NV: Gov. Steve Sisolak signs legislation to enhance election accessibility and security.
- OR state House of Representatives expels a member for letting armed protesters into a closed special session.
- RI officially bans marriage for minors.
- VA expands broadband internet access to underserved areas.
- VT: Vote-by-mail gains bipartisan support from state legislators.
Local
- Berks County, PA court rules that a lawsuit against the Berks immigration detention center can move forward.
- San Diego residents facing deportation proceedings can access immigration lawyers under a new pilot program.
- Washington, DC files suit against Amazon for breaking antitrust law.
- Farmington High School (CT), after retiring a Native American mascot, reveals its new mascot, the River Hawks.
Corporate/business
- Facebook will hold politicians to the same conduct and content moderation rules as other users.
- Dozens of companies halt political donations to congresspeople who voted against the certification of electoral college votes or supported the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
- The Keystone XL oil pipeline’s developer terminates the project.
- Amazon institutes a one-year moratorium on police use of its facial recognition technology.
Groups and organizations
- Immigrants Are Essential publishes portraits of aspiring Americans lost to COVID-19.
- The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the ACLU of Florida, and the Community Justice Project file a federal suit challenging a new Florida anti-protest law on First Amendment grounds.
- Voting rights group Fair Fight Action launches a month-long campaign to mobilize young voters of color around the For the People Act.
- Human rights groups call on the Biden administration to end digital surveillance of aspiring Americans.
- The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights publishes an open letter supporting the full inclusion of transgender students.
- The Nonviolence Institute, a Providence-area anti-violence nonprofit, receives a $500k gift from a group of RI business leaders.
News with heart
- Darnella Frazier is awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation for filming the killing of George Floyd, which helped spark the racial justice protests of 2020.
- Stimulus checks substantially enabled U.S. residents to afford food and pay bills and also reduced anxiety and depression, according to Census Bureau analyses.
- 70% of U.S. residents, including 55% of conservatives, support same-sex marriage, the highest rate in Gallup polling since 1996.
- June is Immigrant Heritage Month, which recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments and contributions of people of diverse national origins in the U.S.
- Former NSA contractor Reality Winner is released early from prison after being jailed for sharing evidence of Russian hacking with news outlets.
- Officer Eugene Goodman, who protected the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection, throws the first pitch at a Nationals-Mets game.
- 100 million people to date sign up for Facebook’s blood donations notifications, which alert users to nearby blood donation opportunities.
- Graduates from Wilberforce University’s classes of ’20 and ’21 have their student debt forgiven by the school’s Board of Trustees.
- NPR publishes a guide to gender identity terms.
- Thousands rally outside Hungary’s Parliament in protest of anti-LGBTQ bills.
- Fitchburg High School’s class of ’21 valedictorian Verda Tetteh requests that her $40,000 college scholarship be awarded to a more in-need student.
- Lake Highlands High School’s class of ’21 valedictorian Paxton Smith speaks out against TX’s restrictive abortion laws in her graduation speech.
- Class of ’21 graduate Timothy Harrison gets a ride to his graduation ceremony from his boss when he would otherwise have been unable to attend.
- Shane Jones, 16, purchases storage units at auction and returns the contents to the units’ original owners.
- Jaylyn Keeney, 6, raises $1,000 from her lemonade stand for a local animal shelter in memory of her dog Dexter.
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