Posted at http://www.chn.org/2017/04/10/congress-home-recess-time-talk/#.WO0YA_krIdU
April 10, 2017
It’s time to talk to your members of Congress!
Representatives and Senators have left Washington for a two-week recess, April 7 – 23. During the last recess, the outpouring of outrage about repealing the health care law forced House Speaker Ryan to pull the bill – they didn’t have the votes.
We can’t stop now – Congress is about to make funding decisions for the rest of this year, and is starting to consider President Trump’s new budget proposals. If they cannot agree on extending this year’s funding by April 28, much of the federal government will shut down. The choices are profoundly important: will the federal government slash human needs programs to build a border wall and add billions to the Pentagon? Will Congress insert poison pill policy riders that reduce environmental, labor, consumer, or health protections? Will Congress and the Administration continue to push massive Medicaid cuts, with or without reviving the moribund health care repeal, as a way to pay for tax cuts for the rich and corporations? Will they seek cuts in SNAP, or low-income tax credits, or SSI? Will they target the most vulnerable people, including immigrants and the poor?
Your voice is needed – to hold members of Congress accountable and to support those who want to do the right thing.
Here are 3 ways you can talk to Congress:
Click here for our detailed how-to-do-it guide.
- Organize a community meeting or call with your Representative or Senators:
Get 5 or 6 organizations to meet together with the Rep. or Senator (staff or Member). You may know the groups you’d like to team up with, or, if you need ideas, look at the list of organizations in your state that signed CHN’s SAVE for All letter (here) or FRAC’s anti-hunger letter (here). Suggestions about how to reach offices and what to say are in the guide online.
- Attend a town hall meeting scheduled by your Representative or Senators:
Hundreds of public meetings have been scheduled by members of Congress this recess. Find them by going to the website townhallproject.com. Or call your Representative’s or Senators’ offices to ask whether they will be holding constituent meetings. Suggestions about questions to ask are in our guide.
- Sign the petition: We Need a People’s Budget:
This one is simple – any individual is welcome to voice support for a positive agenda to invest in economic security and shared prosperity. More details about it in the guide, or just sign.
Thanks for all you do to protect human needs programs for the millions of Americans who rely on them!
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