BLOG CALL SCRIPTS THE WEEK OF MARCH 26, 2018

 2018-03-26

Tell Senators to stop the NRA’s top priorities

My name is ____ and my zip code is ____.

I’m calling the Senator to demand that Congress stop rubber-stamping the NRA’s Congressional agenda.

In the next few months, the Senator will be voting on two of the NRA’s priorities. First, H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which the House passed last year. Under this legislation, states would be required to recognize other states’ standards governing the possession of concealed firearms in public. This legislation is the NRA’s “number one legislative priority” and, if enacted into law, would cause a race to the bottom on gun safety standards.

Second, the Senator will consider the nomination of Howard C. Nielson, the NRA’s favorite lawyer, to a lifetime federal judgeship. Trump has nominated Nielson to a cushy seat on the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Nielson is one of the NRA’s go-to attorneys, who has made a career out of regularly representing the NRA and fighting against common-sense gun safety measures.

Urge Senators to protect Robert Mueller’s investigation

Hello my name is ____ and my zipcode is _____. I’m calling to urge the Senator to support the bipartisan S. 1735, the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act. It’s the duty of Congress to serve as a check on Trump and protect our democracy.

Call on Senators to say NO to Haspel for CIA and Pompeo for state

Hi, my name is _____ and I’m a constituent calling from zipcode _______. I’m calling to ask {PERSON} to reject Gina Haspel as CIA Director and Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State.

Haspel is a war criminal who personally helped torture detainees in a secret CIA-run prison in Thailand during the Bush administration.

Pompeo is a Trump clone who’s displayed anti-Muslim bigotry, spouted dangerous warmongering, opposed diplomacy with Iran, and denied climate change. We are all less safe if Pompeo and Haspel are confirmed.

Tell Mayor Steinberg to investigate the death of Stephon Clark

Hi, my name is _____ and my zip code is _____.

I am disturbed by reports that Stephon Clark was killed in his own backyard even though he was unarmed, and that, after being shot at with 20 rounds, did not receive emergency care for many minutes. We need to trust our police to follow laws and policies. An internal investigation conducted in secret will not reassure me. We need the District Attorney to conduct an independent, transparent, and public investigation.

Background from the ACLU of Northern California:

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California joins Sacramento community members in their outrage around the killing of 22-year-old Stephon Clark, who Sacramento police shot and killed on Sunday.

Clark appeared to be posing no threat when two Sacramento police officers entered the backyard of his home and fired 20 rounds at him. Though police initially said he was holding a weapon, he was actually holding a cell phone.

Being a Black man in a hooded sweatshirt should not be a death sentence. Trained police officers should use the least amount of force necessary.
We see stories like Clark’s again and again. Police for too long have used excessive force against communities of color, killing Black people without justification and without consequence. Racist policing is a systemic problem, not a series of isolated incidents.

We urge the Sacramento Police Department to release the body camera footage quickly as its own policies require, and the district attorney to conduct a swift investigation and bring all appropriate charges against the officers involved.

Unfortunately, California state law makes the investigations into police killings and any resulting discipline, or corrective action, completely secret. That must change. The public deserves to get a detailed account of the actual investigation. The community has a right to know what happened. The residents of Sacramento deserve to know how police, who act in their name, came to take the life of an unarmed father of two in his own backyard.

We demand accountability for the epidemic of police violence against Black people. We demand transparency from the Sacramento Police Department. We demand justice for Stephon Clark.

Tell Representative Garamendi to oppose the “PROSPER” Act

Hi my name is ____ and my zip code is _____.
I am calling to ask that Congressman Garamendi oppose HR 4508. This is the so-called ‘PROSPER’ Act which would make it harder for students to afford higher education and eliminate regulations that protect students from predatory for-profit colleges and career programs.

Fill out Representative Garamendi’s survey on priorities

Fill out the survey here.