13 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:
- Call your senators and House reps about upcoming elections and equal rights.
- Action 1: Verify your voter registration monthly through November.
- Action 3: Advocate for funding EPA environmental justice.
In this edition of the AoC Checklist:
- Senate actions: What we’re contacting our senators about.
- House actions: What we’re contacting our House reps about.
- Action 1: Verify your voter registration monthly through November.
- Action 2: Support high school voter registration drives.
- Action 3: Advocate for funding EPA environmental justice.
- Action 4: Demand immediate climate action.
- Action 5: Support environmental justice through the regulation of large-scale animal operations.
- Action 6: Demand accountability following sexual assault allegations.
- Say Thanks: Acts of Gratitude
- Check out Good News from around the nation
- How you can support and share the AoC Checklist
Contact your senators
Between August 8 and September 4, your elected officials are on recess and in their home state. We encourage you to call local offices about the following issues:
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Your script: Hi, I’m from [TOWN, ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Sen. [NAME] to:
- Support S. 4556, the Respect for Marriage Act, ensuring all American families are free of marriage discrimination. [Source: Lambda Legal]
- Support S. 4434, the My Body, My Data Act of 2022, to ensure Americans’ digital health privacy and modernize HIPAA protections. [Source: AoCC]
- Support H.R. 8373, The Right to Contraception Act, recently passed in the House.
- Support S. 4384, the bipartisan Civics Secures Democracy Act, which provides funding for K-12 education in civics and American history. [Source: The Civics Center]
- Support S. 443, the DISCLOSE Act, to reduce foreign influence on American elections and require public identification of “dark money” donors. [Source: Brennan Center]
- Oppose legislative efforts to preserve the Title 42 pandemic expulsions policy. [Source: WelcomeWithDignity]
Contact your House representative
Between August 8 and September 4, your elected officials are on recess and in their home state. We encourage you to call local offices about the following issues:
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 [TOWN, ZIP] calling/writing about several issues. I’d like Rep. [NAME] to:
- Support H.R. 8111, the My Body, My Data Act of 2022 to ensure Americans’ digital health privacy and modernize HIPAA protections. [Source: AoCC]
- Pass H.R. 1814, the bipartisan Civics Secures Democracy Act, to provide funding for K-12 education in civics and American history. [Source: The Civics Center]
- Pass H.R. 1334, the DISCLOSE Act, to reduce foreign influence on American elections and require public identification of “dark money” donors. [Source: Brennan Center]
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: Verify your voter registration monthly through November.
Source: AoCC
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
In March, voters in Texas reported that their registration was canceled without notice or reason while trying to vote in their primary. Don’t let this be you. Commit to checking your registration monthly, even if you think your information is secure.
Visit: Vote.org.
Action 2: Support high school voter registration drives.
Source: The Civics Center
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
About 1 million high school students will be old enough to vote for the first time this November, and these voters could make a big difference in midterm turnout. The Civics Center and more than 70 nonprofit groups are sponsoring High School Voter Registration Week, September 19-23.
Sign up to phone bank: Call high schools across the country about free trainings for students to learn how to run a high school voter registration drive.
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 3: Advocate for funding EPA environmental justice.
Source: National Black Environmental Justice Network
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Write: Key members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittees:
- The Honorable Jeff Merkley, Chair, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, 313 Hart SOB, Washington, DC 20510
- The Honorable Lisa Murkowski, Ranking Member, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, 522 Hart SOB, Washington, DC 20510
Script: Dear [NAME], I’m writing in support of your colleagues’ request to fund the EPA’s compliance monitoring and enforcement programs at the President’s proposed levels. The EPA has a backlog of nearly 500 high-priority Clean Air Act violations, with a notable decrease in staffing, inspections, and investigations over the past decade. I’m joining 29 environmental organizations urging you to introduce legislation that restores the EPA’s enforcement staffing and environmental justice funding.
Action 4: Demand immediate climate action.
Source: 350 US
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: President Biden via the White House contact form.
Script: I’m contacting you from [STATE] to express my concern about the worsening climate crisis. Human activity threatens lives, water supplies, infrastructure, and ecosystems. [Share personal examples.] I urge you to fulfill your climate pledges, take immediate action to curb the use of fossil fuels in the U.S., and influence world leaders to do likewise.
Action 5: Support environmental justice through the regulation of large-scale animal operations.
Source: Friends of the Earth (Action)
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact: Michael Regan, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Mail code 1101A, Washington, DC 20460
Script: Hello, I’m writing from [STATE] to express my support for government oversight of harmful factory farming practices. From skyrocketing asthma rates to a “dead zone” in the gulf, corporate ag practices compromise the health of people and our planet. I join with environmental organizations urging you to use the EPA’s authority to regulate animal agriculture systems that ensure the health of surrounding communities and ecosystems.
Action 6: Demand accountability following sexual assault allegations.
Source: Southern Poverty Law Center, AoCC, and Detention Watch Network (DWN)
Join the 0 Americans of Conscience who have completed this action by checking the tally box!
Contact:
- DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas alejandro.mayorkas@hq.dhs.gov
- Stewart County Commission Chairman Joseph Williams josephbwilliams@bellsouth.net
- ICE Atlanta Office Assistant Field Office Director Jarvis McMillar jarvis.mcmillar@ice.dhs.gov
- Atlanta Field Office Director Sean Ervin at sean.c.ervin@ice.dhs.gov
Script: Hello, I’m writing with concern about numerous sexual assault allegations at Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center. An accused perpetrator remains employed at Stewart with continued access to vulnerable detained people. Survivors have reported staff retaliation after speaking up. I join the complainants and human rights advocates in calling for a thorough investigation, the immediate closure of Stewart, the release of people still detained there, and additional support for the survivors who came forward.
Acts of Gratitude
Signatures to the forms below will be printed with a letter of thanks from Americans of Conscience, and mailed to the recipient 2 weeks after the Checklist publication date. Your information will not be stored after that date.
Thank Renee Bracey Sherman, founder and Executive Director of We Testify, for describing how to self-manage abortion in her testimony before Congress. [Note: because we don’t want to bombard Ms. Bracey Sherman with mail, please sign here, and we’ll send her a single thank-you message with your name included.]
Thank members of the House Women’s Caucus for participating in civil disobedience to demand immediate action for reproductive rights and oppose the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.
If you’d like to mail your own personal expression of gratitude, use these addresses:
Assistant House Speaker Katherine M. Clark, 157 Pleasant St, Suite 4, Malden, MA 02148
Rep. Cori Bush, 6724-A Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63133
Rep. Ilhan Omar, 404 Third Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401
Rep. Ayanna Pressley, 1295 River Street, Hyde Park, MA 02136
Rep. Barbara Lee, 1301 Clay Street Oakland, CA 94612-5233
Rep. Jackie Speier, 155 Bovet Road San Mateo, CA 94402
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, 31-19 Newtown Ave., Astoria, NY 11102
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 74-09 37th Avenue, Suite 305, Jackson Heights, NY, 11372
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, 26215 Trowbridge St. Inkster, MI 48141
Good News
As Americans of Conscience, we celebrate!
Your engagement leads to progress! Issues previously featured in the Checklist:
- A bipartisan Senate group agrees to reforms of the Electoral Count Act of 1887.
- The Biden administration creates an HHS Office of Environmental Justice as part of an effort to address the disproportionate health impacts of pollution and climate change on communities of color.
- A federal court settlement places strict limits on ICE detention ICA-Farmville facility in Virginia.
- NY governor signs a new law that empowers disabled people to live independently.
- Eight prominent conservatives release a 72-page report finding no evidence of election fraud in the 64 failed cases brought by the former president and his allies.
- A new law in MA re-enfranchises people awaiting trial to participate in elections and receive needed materials to do so.
Tribal
- The Olympic Committee reinstates Jim Thorpe (Wa-tho-huk, ‘Bright Path’) as the gold medalist of both the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games.
- Hualapai Indian Reservation will update energy infrastructure, grid reliability, and broadband communication services through Bureau of Land Management funding.
- During Pope Francis’ visit to Canada, the Haudeonsaunee Confederacy calls for Pope Francis to revoke the Papal Bulls of 1452, 1455, and 1493 used to enslave and dispossess Indigenous people.
National
- To date, the U.S. Justice Department has arrested 855 people in 50 states and D.C. connected to the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
- The U.S. Justice Department is meeting with people closest to the previous president about his efforts to overturn his election defeat.
- House passes the Respect for Marriage Act, which would officially recognize same-sex marriage at the federal level, protecting it from SCOTUS overturn.
- Biden admin tells pharmacies that refusing to fill contraception and abortion pill prescriptions could break federal civil rights law.
- The Biden administration announces $49 million in grants to boost enrollment of millions of eligible kids into Medicaid.
- Department of Health and Human Services and its Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now require health insurers to make medical costs public.
- USPS is increasing the number of new trucks that will be electric from 10 to 40% in response to citizen feedback.
- The Army releases its first-ever strategy to address climate change including slashing its emissions in half by 2030.
- HIV-positive service members can now be deployed after federal court strikes down a DOD policy preventing it.
- Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts or mental health crisis in the U.S. can now dial 988 and be connected with a mental health counselor.
- Free The Pill celebrates the first-ever application submitted to the FDA for an over-the-counter (OTC) birth control pill.
State
- IL regulators approve the 2022 Long-Term Renewable Resources Procurement Plan to reach the state’s renewable energy goals of 40% by 2030.
- IL governor signs two pieces of legislation that expand protections for residents with disabilities in state and government housing.
- MS: This fall, incarcerated people in two MS prisons will be able to start earning four-year degrees from Mississippi Valley State University.
- NY’s Assembly and Senate passes legislation to regulate predatory for-profit immigration bond companies and protect immigrating people from exploitation.
- RI governor signs legislation giving certain residents of diverse national origin the right to obtain driver’s privilege cards.
- RI sets a goal for their electric grid to operate with 100% renewable energy by 2033, the most ambitious target in the nation so far.
- TX: Federal court bars the state from enforcing restrictions on voter assistance for people with disabilities or limited English skills.
- WV: Abortions can resume in the state (at time of writing 7-26-22).
- KS and MO: Voter registration is up more than 1,000% in Kansas and 627% in Missouri since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Local
- The grassroots movement to end ICE detention in Arlington, VA is improving protections for aspiring Americans.
- Disabled voters in Leon County, FL can now vote via accessible absentee ballots in 2022 elections.
Groups and organizations
- Four migrant parents file lawsuit for damages resulting from trauma of the former president’s child separation policy.
- The Southside Community Land Trust provides Providence, RI with a place to buy affordable healthy food.
- Immigration rights nonprofit Make the Road New York wins $72,000 in a settlement against the NYPD.
- Olivia Julianna, a 19-year-old abortion rights advocate, turns an insult into $115K abortion rights fundraiser.
- HarperCollins union workers brave heat for a day-long strike for fair wages and family leave.
- In a win for privacy, Apple’s “Ask app not to track” prompt on iPhones has made Facebook ads much less effective, costing Meta $10 billion in ad revenue in 2021.
News with heart
- Mia Raven and the POWER House provide reproductive care after Alabama’s last women’s clinic closes.
- Corey “Al-Ameen” Patterson and allies advocate for his right to vote from prison—and win.
- A recent poll by Texas Politics Project shows a majority of Texas voters support gun sense laws.
- In a step toward healing, Pope Francis visits Indigenous people in Canada and apologizes for the Catholic Church’s “catastrophic” school abuses.
- 329 years after being put to death for “witchcraft”, Elizabeth Johnson Jr. of Salem is officially pardoned.
- University of Rhode Island’s Shark Camp offers a week-long marine biology adventure to 16 high school students. (video)
- A new tiger assessment from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) finds there are 40% more tigers in the world than previously estimated.
- Goleta Valley Library invites kids to leave their favorite stuffed animal overnight for a library sleepover, a reading of Goodnight Moon, and photos of toys “playing”.
To Support the Checklist
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Housekeeping
- Read this week’s inspiring message by Gerri Williams.
- Gratitude: Big thanks to our editor Jennifer Brunton, to our team of writers and researchers, and to our happy gnome farm of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram volunteers. Thanks also to our amazing patrons and donors who make creating the Checklist sustainable.
- Sign up: Get the Americans of Conscience Checklist here.
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- Schedule: There is usually a new Americans of Conscience Checklist every first and third Friday of each month. However, because the AoCC team is on sabbatical during the month of August, the next Checklist will be published in September.