I'd like to remind everybody that this isn't just about A03 or civil rights organizations. This could be applied to any 501 organization. That includes churches, schools, museums and library support organizations. All sorts of support organizations like soup kitchens or places like goodwill. Those are all non-profit organizations and they all have a 501 status. This is a threat to every civil organization we have that is meant to help the public.
So please contact your representatives. Please look this up on Twitter and click the link so you can call your representatives and voice against this. Because there's a hell of a lot more at stake with a bill like this than just ao3. People's lives could be at risk.
The House will vote THIS WEEK to determine whether the incoming Trump administration will have the power to shut down non-profit organizations with no due process.
Congress has already tried to fast-track this legislation once and failed because of the onslaught of calls to their offices. We can’t let them do this quietly. Congress giving Trump the power to crush dissent and target organizations fighting for justice is a betrayal. Tell your representatives to vote NO on this dangerous bill!
This means that it's heading over to the Senate, where they'll tinker with it and vote again.
If it passes the Senate, it goes to the President, who has the option to veto.
Which means NOW you reach out to your Senators (both of them) and tell them that you want them to vote NO on this Trojan horse of awful.
But: we have two more chances to keep this from becoming law. The fight's not over yet.
And that's not even the good news!
For various reasons of political fuckery/ rules lawyering, this bill had to go through TWO rounds of votes in Congress to get through.
It didn't pass the first time because it had a higher threshold of votes to meet (2/3 Congress Critters had to vote yes) and it failed because it couldn't clear that bar.
So the people behind the bill sent it through AGAIN in a way that needed fewer votes to pass (only 1/2 of Congress Critters had to vote yes). This time it got through.
But along the way, almost 40 people changed their vote to "No". ALL BECAUSE OF YOUR OUTREACH.
That's huge.
Here's the home page for the bill. Check out the "Roll Call Votes" section to see how your Representative voted:
Summary of H.R.9495 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act
Personally? Mine flipped her vote from "Yes" in the first round to "No" in the second.
Outreach. Works.
So, what do we do now?
Click the link above, and see how your Rep voted
Send them an email thanking them for their support/ telling them how disappointed you are. Why? Because it's important to let them know you pay attention to how they vote.
Contact your Senators (both of them) and ask them to vote NO
Contact the White House and let President Biden know you want him to veto this thing if it hits his desk
Resources
Not sure who your Representative or Senators are? Click here and type in your address:
Find your members of Congress by typing in your address on Congress.gov.
Not sure how to contact your US Representative, Senators, or the White House?
I personally use Resistbot. It's free, fast, and easy:
Text RESIST to 50409 to contact your federal, state, or local elected officials; create movements; and more. Over 30,000,000 letters deliver
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