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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:

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In this edition of 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:

Look up your senators 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 Sen. [NAME] to:

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:

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:

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:

Tribal

National

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

Groups and organizations

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.
  • Share: Follow us and share the Checklist on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
  • 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.
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