#Senator Christopher Coons

[minnesotafollower]

Introduction of New Proposed Afghan Adjustment Act 

On July 13, 2023, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (Dem, MN) with five co-sponsoring Democrat Senators and six co-sponsoring Republican Senators introduced a new proposed Afghan Adjustment Act (S.2327). The Democrat co-sponsors are Senators Coon (DE), Blumenthal (CT), Shaheen (NH), Durban (IL) and Menendez (NJ), and the Republican co-sponsors are Senators Graham  (SC), Moran (KS), Mullin (OK),…

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Christopher Wiggins at The Advocate:

The federal government is poised to apologize for decades of intolerance toward the LGBTQ+ community. U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, and Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin who is the first out LGBTQ+ person elected to the Senate, have introduced a resolution on Tuesday that seeks to formally apologize for the historical discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ people in the federal workforce. The resolution, introduced during Pride Month, acknowledges the mistreatment and wrongful terminations of LGBTQ+ civil servants, foreign service officers, and service members, dating back to 1949.

“LGBT civil servants, foreign service officers, and service members have made countless sacrifices and contributions to our country and national security. Despite this, our government has subjected them to decades of harassment, invasive investigations, and wrongful termination because of who they are or who they love,” Kaine said in a press release. “This Pride Month, I’m proud to lead this resolution alongside Senator Baldwin to reaffirm our commitment to righting our past wrongs and fighting for equality for all LGBT Americans.”

A dark chapter in history

The resolution highlights the Lavender Scare, a period from the early 1940s through the 1960s during which queer federal employees were targeted and persecuted. This era, marked by heightened suspicion and discrimination, saw thousands of federal workers lose their jobs due to their sexual orientation. The most recent wave of such discrimination was perpetuated by the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which was in effect from 1994 to 2011 and led to the discharge of more than 100,000 LGBTQ+ military service members.

The resolution acknowledges the extensive harm caused by these discriminatory policies, stating, “the Federal Government discriminated against and terminated hundreds of thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals who served the United States in the uniformed services, the Foreign Service, and the Federal civil service for decades, causing untold harm to those individuals professionally, financially, socially, and medically, among other harms.”

[...]

Support and future steps

The resolution is co-sponsored by a host of prominent Democratic senators, including Chris Coons of Delaware, Jeff Merkley from Oregon, Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, Patty Murray from Washington, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire, Bob Casey from Pennsylvania, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Massachusetts’s Edward Markey, Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Rhode Island’s Sheldon Whitehouse, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Colorado’s Michael Bennet, Ron Wyden from Oregon, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Virginia’s Mark R. Warner.

What happens next?

The Senate will now review the resolution. If it gains sufficient support, it will proceed to a vote. If passed, it will serve as a formal acknowledgment and apology for the historical injustices faced by LGBTQ+ federal employees.

Tim Kaine and Tammy Baldwin, a pair of Democratic Senators, introduced a resolution seeking a formal apology for decades of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in the federal government, especially during the Lavender Scare era.

[association-of-freed-people]

Here’s the bipartisan list of slime you need to shit on this November if given the chance.

Davos 2022 includes the usual components of WEF’s “you’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy” totalitarian eco statist agenda. Topics discussed and panels at the 2022 meeting will include:

Experience the future of cooperation: The Global Collaboration Village

Staying on Course for Nature Action

Future-proofing Health Systems

Accelerating the Reskilling Revolution (for the “green transition”)

The ‘Net’ in Net Zero

The Future of Globalization

Unlocking Carbon Markets

And of course, a Special Address by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine

The American contingent will include 25 politicians and Biden Administration officials. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo will join Climate Czar John Kerry as the White House representatives there. They will be joined by 12 democrat and 10 republican politicians, including 7 senators and two state governors

Without further delay, I’ve provided the entire list of attendees who are showing up to Davos next week. I’ll list the Americans below and the rest are linked below that in an attached document.

Gina Raimondo Secretary of Commerce of USA USA

John F. Kerry Special Presidential Envoy for Climate of the United States of America

Bill Keating Congressman from Massachusetts (D)

Daniel Meuser Congressman from Pennsylvania (R)

Madeleine Dean Congresswoman from Pennsylvania (D)

Ted Lieu Congressman from California (D)

Ann Wagner Congresswoman from Missouri (R)

Christopher A. Coons Senator from Delaware (D)

Darrell Issa Congressman from California (R)

Dean Phillips Congressman from Minnesota (D)

Debra Fischer Senator from Nebraska (R)

Eric Holcomb Governor of Indiana (R)

Gregory W. Meeks Congressman from New York (D)

John W. Hickenlooper Senator from Colorado (D)

Larry Hogan Governor of Maryland (R)

Michael McCaul Congressman from Texas (R)

Pat Toomey Senator from Pennsylvania (R)

Patrick J. Leahy Senator from Vermont (D)

Robert Menendez Senator from New Jersey (D)

Roger F. Wicker Senator from Mississippi (R)

Seth Moulton Congressman from Massachusetts (D)

Sheldon Whitehouse Senator from Rhode Island (D)

Ted Deutch Congressman from Florida (D)

Francis Suarez Mayor of Miami (R)

Al Gore Vice-President of the United States (1993-2001) (D)

[weheartchrisevans]

BOSTON — So you're Tim Scott, the Republican senator from South Carolina who opposes Roe v. Wade and wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and you get a call from Chris Evans, a Hollywood star and lifelong Democrat who has been blasting President Trump for years. He wants to meet. And film it. And share it on his online platform. Can anybody say "Borat?" “I was very skeptical,” admits Scott. “You can think of the worst-case scenario.”But then Scott heard from other senators. They vouched for Evans, most famous for playing Captain America in a series of films that have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. The actor also got on the phone with Scott’s staff to make a personal appeal.

It worked. Sometime in 2018, Scott met on camera with Evans in the nation’s capital, and their discussion, which ranged from prison reform to student loans, is one of more than 200 interviews with elected officials published on “A Starting Point,” an online platform the actor helped launch in July. Not long after, Evans appeared on Scott’s Instagram Live. They have plans to do more together.

“While he is a liberal, he was looking to have a real dialogue on important issues,” says Scott. “For me, it’s about wanting to have a conversation with an audience that may not be accustomed to hearing from conservatives and Republicans.”

Evans, actor-director Mark Kassen and entrepreneur Joe Kiani launched “A Starting Point” as a response to what they see as a deeply polarized political climate. They wanted to offer a place for information about issues without a partisan spin. To do that, they knew they needed both parties to participate.

Evans, 39, sat on the patio outside his Boston-area home on a recent afternoon talking about the platform. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans and spent some of the interview chasing around his brown rescue dog. Nearly 100 million people didn’t vote in the 2016 general election, Evans says. That’s more than 40 percent of those who were eligible.He believes the root of this disinterest is the nastiness on both sides of the aisle. Many potential voters simply turn off the news, never mind talking about actual policy.“A Starting Point” is meant to offer a digital home for people to hear from elected officials without having the conversation framed by Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow.

“The idea is . . . ‘Listen, you’re in office. I can’t deny the impact you have,’ ” says Evans. “ ‘You can vote on things that affect my life.’ Let this be a landscape of competing ideas, and I’ll sit down with you and I’ll talk with you.”

Or, as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who has appeared on the site, puts it, “Sometimes, boring is okay. You’re being presented two sides. Everything doesn’t have to be sensational. Sometimes, it can just be good facts.” Evans wasn’t always active in politics. At Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, he focused on theater, not student government. And he moved away from home his senior year, working at a casting agency in New York as he pushed for acting gigs. His uncle, Michael E. Capuano, served as a congressman in Massachusetts for 20 years, but other than volunteering on some of his campaign, Evans wasn’t particularly political.

In recent years, he’s read political philosopher Hannah Arendt and feminist Rebecca Solnit’s “The Mother of All Questions” — ex-girlfriend Jenny Slate gave him the latter — and been increasingly upset by Trump’s policies and behavior. He’s come to believe that he can state his own views without creating a conflict with “A Starting Point.” When he and Scott spoke on Instagram, the president wasn’t mentioned. In contrast, recently Evans and other members of the Avengers cast took part in a virtual fundraiser with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala D. Harris.

“I don’t want to all of a sudden become a blank slate,” says Evans. “But my biggest issue right now is just getting people to vote. If I start saying, ‘vote Biden; f Trump,’ my base will like that. But they were already voting for Biden.”

(In September, Evans accidentally posted an image of presumably his penis online and, after deleting it, tweeted: “Now the I have your attention . . . Vote Nov. 3rd!!!”)

Evans began to contemplate the idea that became “A Starting Point” in 2017. He heard something reported on the news — he can’t remember exactly what — and decided to search out information on the Internet. Instead of finding concrete answers, Evans fell down the rabbit hole of opinions and conflicting claims. He began talking about this with Kassen, a friend since he directed Evans in 2011’s “Puncture.” What if they got the information directly from elected officials and presented it without a spin? Kassen, in turn, introduced Evans to Kiani, who had made his fortune through a medical technology company he founded and, of the three, was the most politically involved.

Kiani has donated to dozens of Democratic candidates across the country and earlier this year contributed $750,000 to Unite the Country, a super PAC meant to support Joe Biden. But he appreciated the idea of focusing on something larger than a single race or party initiative. He, Kassen and Evans would fund “A Starting Point,” which has about 18 people on staff.

“There’s no longer ABC, NBC and CBS,” Kiani says. “There’s Fox News and MSNBC. What that means is that we are no longer being censored. We’re self-censoring ourselves. And people go to their own echo chamber and they don’t get any wiser. If you allow both parties to speak, for the same amount of time, without goading them to go on into hyperbole, when people look at both sides’ point of view of both topics, we think most of the time they’ll come to a reasonable conclusion.”

“What people do too often is they get in their silos and they only watch and listen and read what they agree with,” says John Kasich, the former Ohio governor and onetime Republican presidential candidate. “If you go to Chris’s website, you can’t bury yourself in your silo. You get to see the other point of view.” As much as some like to blame Trump for all the conflicts in Washington, Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) says he’s watched the tone shifting for decades. He appreciated sitting down with Evans and making regular submissions to “Daily Points,” a place on the platform for commentary no longer than two minutes. During the Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Coons recorded a comment on Judge Amy Coney Barrett and the Affordable Care Act.“ ‘A Starting Point’ needs to be a sustained resource,” Coons says. “Chris often talks about it being ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ for adults.”

It’s not by chance that Evans has personally conducted all of the 200-plus interviews on “A Starting Point” during trips to D.C. Celebrities often try to mobilize the public, whether it’s Eva Longoria, Tracee Ellis Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosting the Democratic National Convention or Jon Voight recording video clips to praise Trump. But in this case, Evans is using his status in a different way, to entice even the most hesitant Republican to sit down for an even-toned chat. And he’s willing to pose with anyone, even if it means explaining himself on “The Daily Show” after Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas posted a selfie with Evans. (Two attempts to interview Trump brought no response.) Murkowski remembers when Evans came to Capitol Hill for the first time in 2018. She admits she didn’t actually know who he was — she hadn’t yet seen any Marvel movies. She was in the minority.“We meet interesting and important people but, man, when Captain America was in the Senate, it was all the buzz,” she says. “And people were like, ‘Did you get your picture taken?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I sat down and did the interview.’ ‘You did an interview? How did you get an interview with him?’ ”What impressed Murkowski wasn’t his star power. It was the way Evans conducted the interview.“It was relaxing,” she says. “You didn’t feel like you were in front of a reporter who was just waiting for you to say something you would get caught on later. It was a dialogue . . . and we need more dialogue and less gotcha.”

“Starting Points” offers two-minute answers by elected officials in eight topic areas, including education, the environment and the economy. This is where the interviews Evans conducted can be found. “Daily Points” has featured a steady flow of Republicans and Democrats. A third area, “Counterpoints,” hosts short debates between officials on particular subjects. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, debated mail-in voting with Dusty Johnson, the Republican congressman from South Dakota.

“Most Americans can’t name more than five members of the United States House,” says Johnson. “ ‘A Starting Point’ allows thoughtful members to talk to a broader audience than we would normally have.”

The platform’s social media team pushes out potentially newsworthy clips, whether it’s Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) discussing his meeting with Barrett just before he tested positive for the coronavirus, or Angus King, the independent senator from Maine, criticizing Trump for his comments on a potential peaceful transfer of power after November’s election. Kassen notes that the King clip was viewed more than 175,000 times on “A Starting Point’s” Twitter account, compared with the 10,000 who caught in on CNN’s social media platform.

“Because it’s short-form media, we’re engineered to be social,” says Kassen. “As a result, when something catches hold, it’s passed around our audience pretty well.”

The key is to use modern tools to push out content that’s tonally different from what you might find on modern cable news. Or on social media. Which is what Evans hopes leads to more engagement. He’s particularly proud that more than 10,000 people have registered to vote through “A Starting Point” since it went online.

“If the downstream impact or the byproduct of this site is some sort of unity between the parties, great,” says Evans. “But if nobody’s still voting, it doesn’t work. We need people involved.”

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) led a bipartisan majority of Senators in calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to continue to use America’s influence to push back against the International Criminal Courts’ recent politically motivated decision to illegally and unfairly pursue alleged war crimes investigations against the State of Israel.

The letter states in part:

“The ICC does not have legitimate territorial jurisdiction in this case. As articulated by State Department Spokesman Ned Price in response to this ICC decision, ‘the United States has always taken the position that the court’s jurisdiction should be reserved for countries that consent to it, or that are referred by the U.N. Security Council.’ Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, and therefore has not consented to the ICC’s jurisdiction. Furthermore, ICC rules prohibit it from prosecuting cases against the citizens of a country with a robust judicial system willing and able to prosecute atrocity crimes committed by its personnel and officials. The ICC’s mandate should not supersede Israel’s robust judicial system, including its military justice system.”  

After sending the letter, Senators Portman and Cardin released the following statement: “We are again pleased that so many of our Senate colleagues joined us on this important effort to push back against the politically motivated persecution of Israel. We commend Secretary Blinken’s statements condemning the ICC’s decision and we urge the Biden Administration to partner with Congress to work together in this effort. The ICC has no jurisdiction over disputed territories and this decision creates a dangerous precedent that undermines the purposes for which the court was founded. This effort is discriminatory against Israel and will serve to make a lasting solution, based on direct negotiations between the two parties, more difficult to achieve.”

Joining Portman and Cardin in the letter to Blinken are: Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Susan M. Collins (R-ME), Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), Mike Braun (R-IN), Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jerry Moran (R-KS), James Lankford (R-OK), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), James E. Risch (R-ID), Joe Manchin III (D-WV), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Krysten Sinema (D-AZ), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Thune (R-SD), Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA), Michael S. Lee (R-UT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tim Scott (R-SC), Tina Smith (D-MN), Roger F. Wicker (R-MS), Mark Warner (D-VA), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), John Boozman (R-AR), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), John Hoven (R-ND), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Todd Young (R-IN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Jon Tester (D-MT), John Kennedy (R-LA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Mike Rounds (R-SD), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Charles E. Grassley (R-IA).

The full text is available below and here.  

[ghostpalmtechnique]

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/02/manchin-sinema-challengers-464821

It is hard to overstate how stupid this is.  I am in favor of progressive challenges in principle, but in practice only where this isn’t simply handing seats to the GOP.  Joe Manchin is the single most valuable senator to the Democrats in the Senate; he votes with Democrats far more often than West Virginia’s partisan lean would predict, and is literally the only Democrat who could win a senate seat there.  These “progressives” are effectively advocating for the return of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. 

Want to push Senate Democrats left?  Fine.  Target Tom Carper (5th-most conservative* Democrat, representing Delaware), Chris Coons (10th-most consverative Democrat, representing Delaware), Dianne Feinstein (15th-most conservative Democrat, representing friggin California), and Christopher Murphy (16th-most conservative Democrat, representing Connecticut).

*Counting Angus King as a Democrat.

[8-evil-annoying-catboys]

US Senators Up For Re-election In 2020

Democrats:

Doug Jones - Alabama

Christopher Coons - Delaware

Richard Durbin - Illinois

Ed Markey - Massachusetts

Gary Peters - Michigan

Tina Smith - Minnesota

Jeanne Shaheen - New Hampshire

Cory Booker - New Jersey

Tom Udall - New Mexico

Jeff Merkley - Oregon

Jack Reed - Rhode Island

Mark Warner - Virginia

Republicans:

Tom Cotton - Arkansas

Cory Gardner - Colorado

David Perdue - Georgia

James Risch - Idaho

Joni Ernst - Iowa

Mitch McConnell - Kentucky

Bill Cassidy - Louisiana

Susan Collins - Maine

Cindy Hyde-Smith - Mississippi

Steve Daines - Montana

Ben Sasse - Nebraska

Thom Tillis - North Carolina

James Inhofe - Oklahoma

Lindsey Graham - South Carolina

Mike Rounds - South Dakota

John Cornyn - Texas

Shelley Moore Capito - West Virginia

Senators Who Are Stepping Down

Pat Roberts - R-Kansas

Lamar Alexander - R-Tennessee

Michael Enzi - R-Wyoming

As you probably noticed, a hell of a lot more Republicans are defending their seats or stepping down in 2020, including THE SENATE MAJORITY LEADER WHO KEEPS SITTING ON BILLS THAT WOULD HELP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, MITCH MCCONNELL. If you live in any of the states above, either vote for your Democrat incumbent to avoid a Republican taking their seat, or, more importantly, VOTE YOUR REPUBLICAN INCUMBENT OUT. We NEED to flip the Senate just as much as we need to get rid of the current president, maybe even more so, and we have that opportunity this year. Don’t. Waste. It.

[guccifloralsuits]

ON THIS PRIDE MONTH PLEASE URGE YOUR SENATOR TO PASS THE EQUALITY ACT

If passed, the Equality Act would ban discrimination on the basis of sexuality. The immediate implication: lgbtq+ people could not be denied service on the basis of who they love. 

You can read the full text of the Equality Act Here. 

Alexander, Lamar - (R - TN): (202) 224-4944 Baldwin, Tammy - (D - WI):  (202) 224-5653 Barrasso, John - (R - WY):  (202) 224-6441 Bennet, Michael F. - (D - CO):  (202) 224-5852 Blackburn, Marsha - (R - TN):  (202) 224-3344 Blumenthal, Richard - (D - CT): (202) 224-2823 Blunt, Roy - (R - MO):  (202) 224-5721 Booker, Cory A. - (D - NJ):  (202) 224-3224 Boozman, John - (R - AR):  (202) 224-4843 Braun, Mike - (R - IN):  (202) 224-4814 Brown, Sherrod - (D - OH):  (202) 224-2315 Burr, Richard - (R - NC):  (202) 224-3154  Cantwell, Maria - (D - WA):  (202) 224-3441 Capito, Shelley Moore - (R - WV):  (202) 224-6472 Cardin, Benjamin L. - (D - MD):  (202) 224-4524 Carper, Thomas R. - (D - DE):  (202) 224-2441 Casey, Robert P., Jr. - (D - PA):  (202) 224-6324 Cassidy, Bill - (R - LA):  (202) 224-5824  Collins, Susan M. - (R - ME):  (202) 224-2523 Coons, Christopher A. - (D - DE): (202) 224-5042 Cornyn, John - (R - TX): (202) 224-2934 Cortez Masto, Catherine - (D - NV):  (202) 224-3542 Cotton, Tom - (R - AR):  (202) 224-2353 Cramer, Kevin - (R - ND):  (202) 224-2043 Crapo, Mike - (R - ID):  (202) 224-6142 Cruz, Ted - (R - TX):  (202) 224-5922 Daines, Steve - (R - MT):  (202) 224-2651 Duckworth, Tammy - (D - IL):  (202) 224-2854 Durbin, Richard J. - (D - IL):  (202) 224-2152 Enzi, Michael B. - (R - WY):  (202) 224-3424 Ernst, Joni - (R - IA):  (202) 224-3254 Feinstein, Dianne - (D - CA):  (202) 224-3841 Fischer, Deb - (R - NE):  (202) 224-6551 Gardner, Cory - (R - CO):  (202) 224-5941 Gillibrand, Kirsten E. - (D - NY):  (202) 224-4451 Graham, Lindsey - (R - SC):  (202) 224-5972 Grassley, Chuck - (R - IA):  (202) 224-3744 Harris, Kamala D. - (D - CA):  (202) 224-3553 Hassan, Margaret Wood - (D - NH): (202) 224-3324 Hawley, Josh - (R - MO):  (202) 224-6154 Heinrich, Martin - (D - NM):  (202) 224-5521  Hirono, Mazie K. - (D - HI):  (202) 224-6361  Hoeven, John - (R - ND):  (202) 224-2551 Hyde-Smith, Cindy - (R - MS):  (202) 224-5054 Inhofe, James M. - (R - OK):  (202) 224-4721  Isakson, Johnny - (R - GA):  (202) 224-3643  Johnson, Ron - (R - WI):   (202) 224-5323 Jones, Doug - (D - AL):  (202) 224-4124  Kaine, Tim - (D - VA):  (202) 224-4024  Kennedy, John - (R - LA):  (202) 224-4623 King, Angus S., Jr. - (I - ME):  (202) 224-5344 Klobuchar, Amy - (D - MN):  (202) 224-3244 Lankford, James - (R - OK):  (202) 224-5754 Leahy, Patrick J. - (D - VT):  (202) 224-4242 Lee, Mike - (R - UT):  (202) 224-5444 Manchin, Joe, III - (D - WV):  (202) 224-3954 Markey, Edward J. - (D - MA):  (202) 224-2742 McConnell, Mitch - (R - KY):  (202) 224-2541 McSally, Martha - (R - AZ):  202-224-2235 Menendez, Robert - (D - NJ):  (202) 224-4744  Merkley, Jeff - (D - OR):  (202) 224-3753 Moran, Jerry - (R - KS):  (202) 224-6521  Murkowski, Lisa - (R - AK):  (202) 224-6665  Murphy, Christopher - (D - CT):  (202) 224-4041  Murray, Patty - (D - WA):  (202) 224-2621  Paul, Rand - (R - KY):  (202) 224-4343 Perdue, David - (R - GA):  (202) 224-3521  Peters, Gary C. - (D - MI):  (202) 224-6221 Portman, Rob - (R - OH):  (202) 224-3353 Reed, Jack - (D - RI):  (202) 224-4642 Risch, James E. - (R - ID):  (202) 224-2752 Roberts, Pat - (R - KS):  (202) 224-4774 Romney, Mitt - (R - UT):  (202) 224-5251 Rosen, Jacky - (D - NV):  (202) 224-6244 Rounds, Mike - (R - SD):  (202) 224-5842 Rubio, Marco - (R - FL):  (202) 224-3041  Sanders, Bernard - (I - VT):  (202) 224-5141  Sasse, Ben - (R - NE):  (202) 224-4224  Schatz, Brian - (D - HI):  (202) 224-3934  Schumer, Charles E. - (D - NY):  (202) 224-6542  Scott, Rick - (R - FL):  (202) 224-5274 Scott, Tim - (R - SC):  (202) 224-6121 Shaheen, Jeanne - (D - NH):  (202) 224-2841 Shelby, Richard C. - (R - AL):  (202) 224-5744 Sinema, Kyrsten - (D - AZ):  (202) 224-4521 Smith, Tina - (D - MN):  (202) 224-5641 Stabenow, Debbie - (D - MI):  (202) 224-4822 Sullivan, Dan - (R - AK):  (202) 224-3004 Tester, Jon - (D - MT):  (202) 224-2644 Thune, John - (R - SD):  (202) 224-2321 Tillis, Thom - (R - NC):  (202) 224-6342 Toomey, Patrick J. - (R - PA):  (202) 224-4254 Udall, Tom - (D - NM):  (202) 224-6621 Van Hollen, Chris - (D - MD):  (202) 224-4654 Warner, Mark R. - (D - VA):  (202) 224-2023 Warren, Elizabeth - (D - MA):  (202) 224-4543 Whitehouse, Sheldon - (D - RI):  (202) 224-2921 Wicker, Roger F. - (R - MS):  (202) 224-6253  Wyden, Ron - (D - OR):  (202) 224-5244  Young, Todd - (R - IN):  (202) 224-5623

What to say: “Hi, my name is ______, my zip code is______. I am calling to urge Senator_____ to vote yes for H.R. 5, the Equality Act. Thank you.”

The opinions stated on this post are mine alone, and do not represent the office I work for. 

[rjzimmerman]

The link is to an old article (October 24) from the Washington Post. However, this Senator climate caucus has expanded its membership, which is a healthy sign. Maybe more cosmetics and optics than legislating, but it’s a step in the right direction, for a change. Here’s the update information:

— Six names added to the bipartisan Senate Climate Solutions Caucus: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) are the latest members to join the caucus formed last month by Sens. Christopher Coons (D-Del.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.). The caucus said it is looking to “craft and advance bipartisan solutions to address climate change.”

First thing on the agenda: A meeting this past Tuesday with several major CEOs to discuss federal climate policy. Attendees included the top executives from the chemicals giants BASF and Dow, as well as the head of the World Resources Institute.

[minnesotafollower]

Cuba’s Unchanged Status in U.S. State Department’s Annual Report on Human Trafficking        

The U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, among other things, establishes a definition of “human trafficking” and requires the Department of State to issue annual reports on such conduct in every country of the world.

The latest such report was issued on June 27, 2017.[1]Upon its issuance Secretary of State Rex Tillerson noted that the preamble to the Act states, “The purpose of this…

[strike-back-now-info]

All US Senators talk to your people in your state let’s do what right for America. #Lets #KAG @realDonaldTrump

Sixth Amendment. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the rights of criminal defendants, including the right to a public trial without unnecessary delay, the right to a lawyer, the right to an impartial jury, and the right to know who your accusers are and the nature of the charges and evidence against you.

All US Senators talk to your people in your state let’s do what right for America. #Lets #KAG @realDonaldTrump Just saying' you might be next. 1. AK Lisa Murkowski @lisamurkowski (R) Class III 2023522 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6665Contact: www.murkowski.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact

2. AK Dan Sullivan @SenDanSullivan (R) Class II 2021302 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3004Contact: www.sullivan.senate.gov/contact/email

3. AL Doug Jones @SenDougJones (D) Class II 2021330 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4124Contact: www.jones.senate.gov/content/contact-senator

4. AL Richard C. Shelby @SenShelby (R) Class III 2023304 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5744Contact: www.shelby.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/emailsenatorshelby

5. AR John Boozman @JohnBoozman (R) Class III  2023141 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4843Contact: www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact 6. AR Tom Cotton @SenTomCottonCotton, Tom - (R - AR) Class II 2021326 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2353Contact: www.cotton.senate.gov/?p=contact

7. AZ Martha McSally @SenMcSallyAZMcSally, Martha - (R - AZ) Class III 2023404 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510202-224-2235Contact: www.mcsally.senate.gov/contact_martha

8. AZ Kyrsten Sinema @SenatorSinema Sinema, Kyrsten - (D - AZ) Class I expire in 2025317 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4521Contact: www.sinema.senate.gov/contact-kyrsten

9. CA Dianne Feinstein @SenFeinsteinFeinstein, Dianne - (D - CA)  Class I expire in 2025331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3841Contact: www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me

10. CA Kamala D. Harris @SenKamalaHarrisHarris, Kamala D. - (D - CA) Class III  2023112 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3553Contact: www.harris.senate.gov/contact

11. CO Michael F. Bennet @SenatorBennetBennet, Michael F. - (D - CO) Class III  2023261 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5852Contact: www.bennet.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact

12.  CO Cory Gardner @SenCoryGardner Gardner, Cory - (R - CO) Class II 2021354 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5941Contact: www.gardner.senate.gov/contact-cory/email-cory

13. CT Richard Blumenthal @SenBlumenthalBlumenthal, Richard - (D - CT)  Class III  2023706 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2823Contact: www.blumenthal.senate.gov/contact/  

14. CT Christopher Murphy @SenMurphyOfficeMurphy, Christopher - (D - CT)  Class I expire in 2025136 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4041Contact: www.murphy.senate.gov/contact 

15. DE Thomas R. Carper @SenatorCarper Carper, Thomas R. - (D - DE)  Class I expire in 2025513 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2441Contact: www.carper.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-senator-carper  

16. DE Christopher A. Coons @ChrisCoons Coons, Christopher A. - (D - DE) Class II 2021218 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5042Contact: www.coons.senate.gov/contact 

17. FL Marco Rubio @SenRubioPressRubio, Marco - (R - FL) Class III  2023284 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3041Contact: www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact  

18. FL Rick Scott @SenRickScott Scott, Rick - (R - FL) Class I expire in 2025716 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5274Contact: www.rickscott.senate.gov/contact_rick

19. GA Johnny Isakson @SenatorIsakson Isakson, Johnny - (R - GA) Class III  2023131 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3643Contact: www.isakson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-me 

20. GA David Perdue @sendavidperdue Perdue, David - (R - GA) Class II 2021455 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3521Contact: www.perdue.senate.gov/connect/email

21. HI Mazie K. Hirono @maziehironoHirono, Mazie K. - (D - HI)  Class I expire in 2025713 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6361Contact: www.hirono.senate.gov/contact 

22. HI Brian Schatz @SenBrianSchatzSchatz, Brian - (D - HI)  Class III  2023722 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3934Contact: www.schatz.senate.gov/contact  

23. IA Joni Ernst @SenJoniErnstErnst, Joni - (R - IA) Class II 2021730 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3254Contact: www.ernst.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact  

24. IA Chuck Grassley @ChuckGrassleyGrassley, Chuck - (R - IA) Class III 2023135 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3744Contact: www.grassley.senate.gov/contact  

25. ID Mike Crapo @MikeCrapoCrapo, Mike - (R - ID)  Class III  2023239 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6142Contact: www.crapo.senate.gov/contact  

26. ID James E. Risch @SenatorRischRisch, James E. - (R - ID) Class II 2021483 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2752Contact: www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Email 

27. IL Tammy Duckworth @SenDuckworthDuckworth, Tammy - (D - IL)  Class III  2023524 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2854Contact: www.duckworth.senate.gov/content/contact-senator  

28. IL Richard J. Durbin @SenatorDurbinDurbin, Richard J. - (D - IL)  Class II 2021711 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2152Contact: www.durbin.senate.gov/contact/ 

29. IN Mike Braun @SenatorBraunBraun, Mike - (R - IN)  Class I expire in 2025374 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4814Contact: www.braun.senate.gov/contact-mike  

30. IN Todd Young @SenToddYoungYoung, Todd - (R - IN) Class III  2023185 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5623Contact: www.young.senate.gov/contact  

31. KS Jerry Moran @JerryMoranMoran, Jerry - (R - KS)  Class III 2023521 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6521Contact: www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-jerry

32. KS Pat Roberts @SenPatRoberts Roberts, Pat - (R - KS)  Class II 2021109 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4774Contact: www.roberts.senate.gov/public/?p=EmailPat  

33. KY Mitch McConnell @SenateMajLdr McConnell, Mitch - (R - KY)  Class II 2021317 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2541Contact: www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=contact 

34. KY Rand Paul @RandPaul Paul, Rand - (R - KY) Class III  2023167 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4343Contact: www.paul.senate.gov/connect/email-rand  

35. LA Bill Cassidy @SenBillCassidyCassidy, Bill - (R - LA)  Class II 2021520 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5824Contact: www.cassidy.senate.gov/contact 

36. LA John Kennedy @SenJohnKennedyKennedy, John - (R - LA)  Class III  2023416 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4623Contact: www.kennedy.senate.gov/public/email-me

37. MA Edward J. Markey @SenMarkeyMarkey, Edward J. - (D - MA)  Class II 2021255 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 (202) 224-2742Contact: www.markey.senate.gov/contact 

38. MA Elizabeth Warren @SenWarrenWarren, Elizabeth - (D - MA)  Class I expire in 2025309 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4543Contact: www.warren.senate.gov/?p=email_senator  

39. MD Benjamin L. Cardin @SenatorCardinCardin, Benjamin L. - (D - MD)  Class I expire in 2025509 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4524Contact: www.cardin.senate.gov/contact/

40. MD Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollenVan Hollen, Chris - (D - MD)  Class III  2023110 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4654Contact: www.vanhollen.senate.gov/contact/email 

41. ME Susan M. Collins @SenatorCollinsCollins, Susan M. - (R - ME)  Class II 2021413 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2523Contact: www.collins.senate.gov/contact 

42. ME Angus S. King, Jr. @SenAngusKingKing, Angus S., Jr. - (I - ME)  Class I expire in 2025133 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5344Contact: www.king.senate.gov/contact 

43. MI Gary C. Peters @SenGaryPetersPeters, Gary C. - (D - MI)  Class II 2021724 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6221Contact: www.peters.senate.gov/contact/email-gary 

44. MI Debbie Stabenow @SenStabenowStabenow, Debbie - (D - MI)  Class I expire in 2025731 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4822Contact: www.stabenow.senate.gov/contact 

45. MN Amy Klobuchar @SenAmyKlobucharKlobuchar, Amy - (D - MN)  Class I expire in 2025425 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3244Contact: www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact 

46. MN Tina Smith @SenTinaSmithSmith, Tina - (D - MN)  Class II 2021720 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5641Contact: www.smith.senate.gov/contact-tina  

47. MO Roy Blunt @RoyBluntBlunt, Roy - (R - MO)  Class III  2023260 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5721Contact: www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-roy 

48. MO Josh Hawley @SenHawleyPressHawley, Josh - (R - MO)  Class I expire in 2025212 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6154Contact: www.hawley.senate.gov/contact-senator-hawley 

49. MS Cindy Hyde-Smith @SenHydeSmithHyde-Smith, Cindy - (R - MS)  Class II702 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5054Contact: www.hydesmith.senate.gov/content/contact-senator 

50. MS Roger F. Wicker @SenatorWickerWicker, Roger F. - (R - MS)  Class I expire in 2025555 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6253Contact: www.wicker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact 

51. MT Steve Daines @SteveDaines Daines, Steve - (R - MT)  Class II 2021320 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2651Contact: www.daines.senate.gov/connect/email-steve 

52. MT Jon Tester @SenatorTesterTester, Jon - (D - MT)  Class I expire in 2025311 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2644Contact: www.tester.senate.gov/?p=email_senator 

53. NC Richard Burr @SenatorBurrBurr, Richard - (R - NC)  Class III  2023217 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3154Contact: www.burr.senate.gov/contact/email 

54. NC Thom Tillis @SenThomTillisTillis, Thom - (R - NC)  Class II  2021113 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6342Contact: www.tillis.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-me

55. ND Kevin Cramer @SenKevinCramerCramer, Kevin - (R - ND) Class I expire in 2025400 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2043Contact: www.cramer.senate.gov/contact_kevin  

56. ND John Hoeven @SenJohnHoevenHoeven, John - (R - ND) Class III  2023338 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2551Contact: www.hoeven.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-the-senator  

57. NE Deb Fischer @SenatorFischerFischer, Deb - (R - NE)  Class I expire in 2025454 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6551Contact: www.fischer.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact   58. NE Ben Sasse @SenSasseSasse, Ben - (R - NE)  Class II 2021107 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4224Contact: www.sasse.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-ben 

59. NH Margaret Wood Hassan @SenatorHassanHassan, Margaret Wood - (D - NH)  Class III 2023324 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3324Contact: www.hassan.senate.gov/content/contact-senator  

60. NH Jeanne Shaheen @SenatorShaheenShaheen, Jeanne - (D - NH)  Class II 2021 506 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2841Contact: www.shaheen.senate.gov/contact/contact-jeanne 

61. NJ Cory A. Booker @SenBooker (D) Class II 2021717 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3224Contact: www.booker.senate.gov/?p=contact  

62. NJ Robert Menendez @SenatorMenendez (D) Class I expire in 2025528 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4744Contact: www.menendez.senate.gov/contact  

63. NM Martin Heinrich @MartinHeinrich (D) Class I expire in 2025303 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5521Contact: www.heinrich.senate.gov/contact  

64. NM Tom Udall @SenatorTomUdall (D) Class II 2021531 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6621Contact: www.tomudall.senate.gov/?p=contact

 65. NV Catherine Cortez Masto @SenCortezMasto (D) Class III  2023516 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3542Contact: www.cortezmasto.senate.gov/contact  

66. NV Jacky Rosen @SenJackyRosen (D) Class I expire in 2025144 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6244Contact: www.rosen.senate.gov/contact_jacky 

67. NY Kirsten E. Gillibrand @gillibrandny (D) Class I expire in 2025478 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4451Contact: www.gillibrand.senate.gov/contact/email-me  

68. NY Charles E. Schumer @SenSchumer (D) Class III  2023322 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6542Contact: www.schumer.senate.gov/contact/email-chuck 

69. OH Sherrod Brown @SenSherrodBrown (D) Class I expire in 2025503 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2315Contact: www.brown.senate.gov/contact/   70. OH Rob Portman @senrobportman (R) Class III  2023448 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3353Contact: www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact?p=contact... 

71. OK James M. Inhofe @JimInhofe (R) Class II 2021205 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4721Contact: www.inhofe.senate.gov/contact  

72. OK James Lankford @SenatorLankford (R) Class III  2023316 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5754Contact: www.lankford.senate.gov/contact/email   73. OR Jeff Merkley @SenJeffMerkley (D) Class II 2021313 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3753Contact: www.merkley.senate.gov/contact/ 

74. OR Ron Wyden @RonWyden (D) Class III  2023221 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5244Contact: www.wyden.senate.gov/contact/ 

75. PA Robert P. Casey, Jr. @SenBobCasey (D) Class I expire in 2025393 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6324Contact: www.casey.senate.gov/contact/  

76. PA Patrick J. Toomey @SenToomey (R) Class III 2023248 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4254Contact: www.toomey.senate.gov/?p=contact 

77. RI Jack Reed @SenJackReed (D) Class II 2021728 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4642Contact: www.reed.senate.gov/contact/ 

78. RI Sheldon Whitehouse @SenWhitehouse (D) Class I expire in 2025530 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2921Contact: www.whitehouse.senate.gov/contact/email-sheldon  

79. SC Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC (R) Class II 2021290 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5972Contact: www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-senator-gr...  

80. SC Tim Scott @SenatorTimScott (R) Class III  2023104 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6121Contact: www.scott.senate.gov/contact/email-me

81. SD Mike Rounds @SenatorRounds (R) Class II 2021502 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5842Contact: www.rounds.senate.gov/contact/email-mike 

82. SD John Thune @SenJohnThune (R) Class III  2023511 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2321Contact: www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact  

83. TN Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander (R) Class II 2021455 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4944Contact: www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Email  

84. TN Marsha Blackburn @MarshaBlackburn (R) Class I expire in 2025357 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3344Contact: www.blackburn.senate.gov/contact_marsha  

85. TX John Cornyn @JohnCornyn (R) Class II 2021517 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510 (202) 224-2934Contact: www.cornyn.senate.gov/contact  

86. TX Ted Cruz @SenTedCruz (R) Class I expire in 2025127A Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5922Contact: www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=form&id=16  

87. UT Mike Lee @SenMikeLee (R) Class III  2023361A Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5444Contact: www.lee.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact 

88. UT Mitt Romney @SenatorRomney (R) Class I expire in 2025124 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5251Contact: www.romney.senate.gov/contact-senator-romney  

89. VA Time Kaine N/A (D) Class I expire in 2025231 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4024Contact: www.kaine.senate.gov/contact

90. VA Mark R. Warner @MarkWarner (D) Class II 2021703 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2023Contact: www.warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Contact   

91. VT Patrick J. Leahy @SenatorLeahy (D) Class III  2023437 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-4242Contact: www.leahy.senate.gov/contact/  

92. VT Bernard Sanders @SenSanders (I) Class I expire in 2025332 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5141Contact: www.sanders.senate.gov/contact/  

93. WA Maria Cantwell @SenatorCantwell (D) Class I expire in 2025511 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3441Contact: www.cantwell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-maria

94. WA Patty Murray @PattyMurray (D) Class III  2023154 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-2621Contact: www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme  

95. WI Tammy Baldwin @SenatorBaldwin (D) Class I expire in 2025709 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5653Contact: www.baldwin.senate.gov/feedback    

96. WI Ron Johnson @SenRonJohnson (R) Class III  328 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-5323Contact: www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email-the-sena...  

97. WV Shelley Moore Capito @SenCapito (R) Class II 2021172 Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6472Contact: www.capito.senate.gov/contact/contact-shelley  

98. WV Joe Manchin, III @Sen_JoeManchin (D) Class I expire in 2025306 Hart Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3954Contact: www.manchin.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form  

99. WY John Barrasso @SenJohnBarrasso (R) Class I expire in 2025307 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-6441Contact: www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact-form  

100. WY Michael B. Enzi @SenatorEnzi (R) Class II 2021379A Russell Senate Office Building Washington DC 20510(202) 224-3424Contact: www.enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact?p=e-mail-sen...

[quakerjoe]

Here's Who ALREADY Endorses Joe Biden

"Former Vice President Joe Biden received endorsements from several Democratic senators shortly after he announced his 2020 presidential campaign on Thursday. Sens. Christopher Coons (D-Del.) and Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.) were among the first to back Biden's bid. “Joe Biden doesn’t just talk about making our county more just, he delivers results," Coons said in a statement. Casey said in a tweet that he was "proud to endorse my friend, Joe Biden, for President."

[inothernews]

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation on Thursday to protect special counsel Robert Mueller. In a 14-7 vote, the panel approved the bipartisan proposal that deeply divided Republicans on the committee. With every committee Democrat backing the legislation, only one Republican was needed to secure passage. In the end, four Republicans voted for the bill: Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.). Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch (Utah), Mike Lee (Utah), John Cornyn (Texas), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Ben Sasse (Neb.), John Kennedy (La.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) opposed it. The vote marks the first time Congress has advanced legislation to formally protect Mueller from being fired by President Trump, who has railed against him in public and reportedly talked in private of dismissing him. The bill, sponsored by Tillis and Graham (R-S.C.) with Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Christopher Coons (D-Del.), would codify Department of Justice regulations that say only a senior Department of Justice official can fire Mueller or another special counsel. It would give a special counsel an "expedited review" of their firing. If a court determines that it wasn't for "good cause," the special counsel would be reinstated. The committee also added new reporting requirements into the bill, including notification when a special counsel is appointed or removed and requiring a report be given to Congress after an investigation wraps up; that report would detail the investigation's findings and prosecution decisions.

The Hill, “Senate Panel Approves Bill to Protect Special Counsel.”

Mitch McConnell, that spineless coward, has already promised this bill won’t reach the Senate floor... let’s see what’s next and just how stupid the GOP is.

[berniesrevolution]

Thousands of Toby Keith fans walked into the grand pavilion at the Delaware State Fair, looking for someone to take their tickets. Tom Carper was happy to help.

“I work here at the fair,” joked Carper, a three-term Democratic senator, introducing himself to concertgoers. He addressed the women in cowboy hats as “cowgirls.” He tipped his Navy cap to the men in military T-shirts. He joked around with the burly, tattooed biker: “Hey, didn’t I pardon you when I was governor?”

Carper, 71, has run and won statewide elections in Delaware since 1976. Until now, seeking his fourth term in the U.S. Senate, he had never faced a Democratic primary challenge — and never been accused of being out of step with a party that he had a large role in building.

This year, Carper is the No. 1 target of the people who helped Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez oust the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, with one of her top staffers relocating to Delaware to help challenger Kerri Evelyn Harris in the Sept. 6 primary. He’s being watched closely by Republicans, who are running as Trump-style outsiders, and who wonder if a Democrat who once ran as “a senator for our future” may stumble or show his age.

The senator, who says that a fourth term would probably be his last, argues that none of his opponents understand what Delaware wants — and none can seriously accuse a former governor, congressman and state treasurer of failing to deliver for his state.

“The core of the Democratic Party in Delaware could be defined by Matthew 25: ‘I was naked and you clothed me, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,’” Carper said in an interview. “We have a moral imperative to help the least in our society. But because we don’t have unlimited resources, unlimited money, we have a fiscal imperative to do that in a responsible way.”

Delaware, with fewer than 1 million citizens and just three counties, is so small that candidates can credibly meet every voter in a party primary. In recent years, it’s become so reliably blue that Carper and Sen. Christopher A. Coons, his fellow Democrat, have come under fire not from Republicans but liberal groups upset at their relative moderation. Both senators, for example. have opposed “Medicare for All” and voted to roll back parts of financial reforms put in place after the 2008 economic crash.

“Delaware needs a champion who will fight back, not a rubber stamp,” said Working Families Party chairman Dan Cantor, whose New York-based group is attacking Carper with digital ads.

(Continue Reading)

[americanmysticom]

Henry Kissinger: Ukraine must give Russia territory - The Telegraph

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Mon, May 23, 2022, 12:48 PM·6 min read

https://archive.ph/Gxyw1

Veteran US statesman Henry Kissinger has urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the long term stability of Europe.

The former US secretary of state and architect of the Cold War rapprochement between the US and China told a gathering in Davos that it would be fatal for the West to get swept up in the mood of the moment and forget the proper place of Russia in the European balance of power.

Dr Kissinger said the war must not be allowed to drag on for much longer, and came close to calling on the West to bully Ukraine into accepting negotiations on terms that fall very far short of its current war aims.

“Negotiations need to begin in the next two months before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome. Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante. Pursuing the war beyond that point would not be about the freedom of Ukraine, but a new war against Russia itself,” he said.

He told the World Economic Forum that Russia had been an essential part of Europe for 400 years and had been the guarantor of the European balance of power structure at critical times. European leaders should not lose sight of the longer term relationship, and nor should they risk pushing Russia into a permanent alliance with China.

“I hope the Ukrainians will match the heroism they have shown with wisdom,” he said, adding with his famous sense of realpolitik that the proper role for the country is to be a neutral buffer state rather than the frontier of Europe.

The comments came amid growing signs that the Western coalition against Vladimir Putin is fraying badly as the food and energy crisis deepens, and that sanctions may have reached their limits.

“We’re seeing the worst of Europe,” said German vice-chancellor Robert Habeck in an angry outburst in Davos, accusing Hungary and other recalcitrant states of paralysing attempts by the rest of the EU to craft a full-fledged oil embargo.

Mr Habeck, who doubles as economy minister, said Germany is more or less ready to endure the shock of a total cut-off in Russian oil imports but others want to carry on as if nothing had changed. “I expect everyone to work to find a solution, and not to sit back and work on building their partnership with Putin,” he said.

Yuriy Vitrenkio, head of the Ukrainian energy consortium Naftogas, said the refuseniks are demanding exemptions from the embargo on false pretences. “What they really want is a free-ride on discounted Russian oil,” he said.

Eleven Republican senators and 57 congressmen in the US voted against the colossal $40bn aid package for Ukraine, an early sign of fragmenting cohesion in Washington.

“Putin is counting on the West to lose focus and that is our real challenge. People are as concerned, or more concerned, about the rising price of gas and groceries,” said Senator Christopher Coons.

“I’m not sure the unity will last. We may not get the next vote,” said Eric Cantor, former House Whip and a key figure in the sanctions policy against Iran.

Nobody is sure whether the US is trying to punish Russia for its aggression or whether the goal is a subtler use of policy that gives the Kremlin a “route out of sanctions” if it changes course. The fundamental divisions over the West’s war aims in Ukraine have so far been masked by an outpouring of solidarity and emotion, but these rifts are coming to the fore.

President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered his usual tour de force in a video address to the forum, saying “this is the year when we learn whether brute force will rule the world”. If it does, he added with his trademark touch, there will be no point in any more World Economic Forums in Davos.

Yet he also said Russia should be shut out of the civilised world entirely, and that all trade should stop until Russian forces are driven from Ukraine. “Sanctions should be maximum, so that Russia and every other potential aggressor that wants to wage a brutal war against its neighbour would clearly know the immediate consequences of their actions," he said.

It is doubtful whether the West can maintain a united front in pursuit of such far-reaching war aims with absolutist aims. Mr Cantor said it would require secondary sanctions against other countries, putting the West in a head on clash with China, India, and almost 60 states that refused to back a UN resolution denouncing Russia’s invasion.

India’s energy minister Shri Hardeep Puri brushed aside suggestions that his country should stop buying Russian oil. “The Europeans buy more Russian energy in an afternoon than we do in a quarter,” he said in Davos.

Mr Cantor said the US was in danger of overplaying its hand. “We have got to have multilateral support. We are already being accused of weaponising the world’s reserve currency. Even allies and friends are starting to ask, if you are using it in this way, we too could one day be subject to these sanctions,” he said.

The US Congress is split on the ultimate war aim. Senator Joe Manchin said the US should keep going until there was a clear “win” that restored all of Ukraine’s territory and led to the toppling of Vladimir Putin but other members of the Congressional delegation in Davos want a negotiated outcome.

Saudi Arabia and the Opec states have made it clear that they will not draw on their spare capacity to cover the lost Russian supply of oil, estimated at around one million barrels a day at the end of April. This makes it extremely hard to plug the gap if Europe cuts off purchases of Russian barrels.

Francisco Blanch from Bank of America said the oil market is now extremely tight. “The energy buffer is nearing a vanishing point. Crude oil inventories are down to a dangerously low point across Europe, North America, and OECD Asia. Inventories have also fallen to precarious levels for middle distillates and even gasoline as the market heads into the peak of the US driving season,” he said.

Unless there is a global recession and violent demand destruction, crude prices could soon spiral higher. “We’re not living in a dream world: we have to replace the lost oil with other oil,” said Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency.

Mr Birol said that the OECD bloc of rich states are releasing 1.5m barrels a day of oil to stabilise the market, and have so far depleted 9pc of their stocks. This is before the European embargo against Russia even begins. “This winter in Europe will be tough,” he said.

[mikeo56]

Fifty US senators affirmed that they indeed do believe that the activities of human beings contribute to climate change. OK. But 49 senators—fully half the upper house that represents our grand republic—do not. So, hey, you go out there and burn whatever carbon you want to? Not sure what to make of that. But we thought you might want to know just which representatives have absolved you of your responsibility to the planet. So here’s a list—of the senators who think climate change is some other species’ problem, and then the senators who wish we’d maybe do something about it.

Voted against the amendment (nay—human activities don’t contribute to climate change)

Barrasso, John (R - WY) Blunt, Roy (R - MO) Boozman, John (R - AR) Burr, Richard (R - NC) Capito, Shelley Moore (R - WV) Cassidy, Bill (R - LA) Coats, Daniel (R - IN) Cochran, Thad (R - MS) Corker, Bob (R - TN) Cornyn, John (R - TX) Cotton, Tom (R - AR) Crapo, Mike (R - ID) Cruz, Ted (R - TX) Daines, Steve (R - MT) Enzi, Michael B. (R - WY) Ernst, Joni (R - IA) Fischer, Deb (R - NE) Flake, Jeff (R - AZ) Gardner, Cory (R - CO) Grassley, Chuck (R - IA) Hatch, Orrin G. (R - UT) Heller, Dean (R - NV) Hoeven, John (R - ND) Inhofe, James M. (R - OK) Isakson, Johnny (R - GA) Johnson, Ron (R - WI) Lankford, James (R - OK) Lee, Mike (R - UT) McCain, John (R - AZ) McConnell, Mitch (R - KY) Moran, Jerry (R - KS) Murkowski, Lisa (R - AK) Paul, Rand (R - KY) Perdue, David (R - GA) Portman, Rob (R - OH) Risch, James E. (R - ID) Roberts, Pat (R - KS) Rounds, Mike (R - SD) Rubio, Marco (R - FL) Sasse, Ben (R - NE) Scott, Tim (R - SC) Sessions, Jeff (R - AL) Shelby, Richard C. (R - AL) Sullivan, Daniel (R - AK) Thune, John (R - SD) Tillis, Thom (R - NC) Toomey, Patrick J. (R - PA) Vitter, David (R - LA) Wicker, Roger F. (R - MS)

Voted for the amendment (yea— human activities contribute to climate change)

Alexander, Lamar (R - TN) Ayotte, Kelly (R - NH) Baldwin, Tammy (D - WI) Bennet, Michael F. (D - CO) Blumenthal, Richard (D - CT) Booker, Cory A. (D - NJ) Boxer, Barbara (D - CA) Brown, Sherrod (D - OH) Cantwell, Maria (D - WA) Cardin, Benjamin L. (D - MD) Carper, Thomas R. (D - DE) Casey, Robert P., Jr. (D - PA) Collins, Susan M. (R - ME) Coons, Christopher A. (D - DE) Donnelly, Joe (D - IN) Durbin, Richard J. (D - IL) Feinstein, Dianne (D - CA) Franken, Al (D - MN) Gillibrand, Kirsten E. (D - NY) Graham, Lindsey (R - SC) Heinrich, Martin (D - NM) Heitkamp, Heidi (D - ND) Hirono, Mazie K. (D - HI) Kaine, Tim (D - VA) King, Angus S., Jr. (I - ME) Kirk, Mark (R - IL) Klobuchar, Amy (D - MN) Leahy, Patrick J. (D - VT) Manchin, Joe, III (D - WV) Markey, Edward J. (D - MA) McCaskill, Claire (D - MO) Menendez, Robert (D - NJ) Merkley, Jeff (D - OR) Mikulski, Barbara A. (D - MD) Murphy, Christopher (D - CT) Murray, Patty (D - WA) Nelson, Bill (D - FL) Peters, Gary (D - MI) Reed, Jack (D - RI) Sanders, Bernard (I - VT) Schatz, Brian (D - HI) Schumer, Charles E. (D - NY) Shaheen, Jeanne (D - NH) Stabenow, Debbie (D - MI) Tester, Jon (D - MT) Udall, Tom (D - NM) Warner, Mark R. (D - VA) Warren, Elizabeth (D - MA) Whitehouse, Sheldon (D - RI) Wyden, Ron (D - OR)

Republican Legislators are a threat to National Security and life on planet Earth