The ongoing wounds of slavery and more than four centuries of entrenched racial oppression continues to impact every part of American society. Systemic disparities and injustices will endure unless proactive steps are taken to acknowledge and eliminate them. One way to address entrenched racial discrimination is through the study and development of reparations proposals. Urge your elected officials to cosponsor the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act (S. 1083/H.R. 40).
In the face of the unabated, preventable epidemic of gun violence, Congress must act. The vast majority of Americans, including gun owners, support common sense policies like background checks for every gun sale to prevent senseless violence.
The Background Check Expansion Act (H.R.8) and the Bipartisan Background Checks Act (S.42) will expand the federal background check requirement to include the sale or transfer of all firearms by private sellers, including those sales conducted online or at a gun show.
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is the United States' most comprehensive resource for survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. VAWA is up for reauthorization every five years - including this year. Each reauthorization provides a new opportunity to enhance these safeguards and ensure survivros of gender-based violence have access to the resources and protections they need.
In a time of unprecedented need, the US's role in refugee resettlement has reached a historic low.
The Women’s Health Protection Act (H.R. 2975/S. 165) takes crucial steps towards protecting access to abortion by prohibiting the countless regulations, bans, and restrictions that prevent people from accessing the reproductive health care they need.
Despite multiple state and federal hate crime statutes, many law enforcement agencies lack the resources and training to identify and respond to hate crimes. By providing federal grants to modernize reporting systems, establish state hotlines, and train law enforcement officers, the Senate’s Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer NO HATE Act (S.2043) and the companion bill in the House (H.R.3545) will promote more accurate data collection and assist victims of hate.
If we do not act now to mitigate climate change, effects such as heat waves, decreased rainfall, specied loss, and sea level rise will occur, impacting the health, food, water, and economic growth of communities around the world. The International Climate Accountability Act would help keep the U.S. in the Paris Agreement and ensure the U.S. remains a global leader in the effort to prevent climate change. Urge your member of Congress to support the International Climate Accountability Act (S.1743).
Currently, federal law does not explicitly prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, federal funding, education, credit, and jury selection based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The Equality Act would amend existing civil rights laws to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination.
In the 116th Congress, Representative Terri Sewell (D-AL) introduced the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 (H.R.4). The bill would improve the voting process in the United States by modernizing the preclearance formula to cover states with a pattern of discrimination that puts voters at risk, protecting voters from the types of voting changes.
