FEDERAL DAILY ACTION – Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Another day, another spending bill
Call Senator Rubio (202 224-3041 or 904 354-4300), Senator Nelson (202 224-5274 or 904 346-4500) and your House representatives to tell them to withhold their support from the spending bill if it contains funding for Trump’s deportation machine.
RESISTBOT: Text the word “resist” to 50409. You will be prompted through to your MoC. It is easy, and your representative receives a fax.
FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
NEFL MoC numbers:
Sen. Marco Rubio
DC – 202-224-3041
JAX – 904-354-4300

Sen. Bill Nelson
DC – 202-224-5274
JAX – 904-346-4500

Rep. Ted Yoho
DC – 202-225-5744
Orange Park – 904-276-9626

Rep. John Rutherford
DC – 202-225-2501
Jacksonville – 904-831-5205

Rep. Ron DeSantis
DC – 202-225-2706
Palm Coast 386-302-0471

Rep. Al Lawson
DC – 202-225-0123
Jacksonville – 904-354-1652

What to Watch for in the March 23 Spending Bill
Congress once again needs to pass a spending bill to avert a government shutdown, and it needs to do it by March 23. This time the Dream Act isn’t the central issue, and we don’t expect there to be another government shutdown. But there are still a number of important issues that need to be resolved and where you can make a difference. Primary among them is the deportation program.
CONGRESS WILL TRY TO PASS AN OMNIBUS, BUT MAY HAVE TO SETTLE FOR A CROMNIBUS
Republicans are hoping to pass a spending bill that will take them through the rest of the fiscal year ending on September 31, 2018. Republicans and Democrats have finalized the details in most of the 12 funding bills, but they’ve been putting off some of the most controversial issues until the very end. Negotiations have stalled around the funding allocations within the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both emergency management and immigration enforcement agencies. If negotiators fail to reach a compromise on the DHS components, Congress may need to pass a combination Continuing Resolution and omnibus version of the spending bill to avert a shutdown while giving itself additional time to work through the DHS funding levels.
REPUBLICANS ARE INTENT ON JACKING UP FUNDING FOR TRUMP’S DEPORTATION MACHINE
If you care about Dreamers, you should care about the ongoing omnibus negotiations. While the Dream Act is not under consideration in the spending bill talks, what is under consideration is the amount of money that will become available to deport them and their families. Trump is asking for billions of dollars in funding for his border wall, additional funding for detention beds and facilities, and an increase in funding for both Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. In short, while Congress has failed at providing desperately needed relief for Dreamers, it is about to increase funding for their deportation.
TELL YOUR MOCS TO OPPOSE INCREASED FUNDING FOR TRUMP’S DEPORTATION MACHINE
The negotiations are ongoing and so you can make a difference by making it clear to your three members of Congress that you don’t want increased funding for ICE, CBP, and the rest of Trump’s deportation machine. As talks continue, it’ll be up to congressional leadership from both parties whether funding is increased, so they need to hear from rank-and-file members of Congress ASAP. That’s where you come in. Demand that your MoCs let their party leaders that they’re opposed to more funding for Trump’s deportation machine.
SAMPLE CALL SCRIPT
Caller: Hello! My name is ___ and I live in [city, zip code]. I want my representatives in Congress to know that I want them to oppose funding for immigration enforcement in the omnibus bill that must be passed by Friday, March 23. (The omnibus bill is a set of 12 funding bills, which Congress is supposed to pass every year, rolled into one giant funding bill.) This funding typically lasts a year. Trump wants more funding for immigration agents, detention beds, and border wall money. Congress has failed to provide relief for Dreamers and hundreds continue to lose their protections every day. It is unacceptable that as Dreamers continue to wait for relief, our representatives would consider plans to vote for making it easier for Trump to deport them.