FAMILY SEPERATION. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DAVID CICILLINE.

June 22, 2018
Dear David, I spent this past Sunday in Texas visiting immigration detention facilities to see firsthand the impact of the Trump administration’s cruel new family separation policy. I met a woman who hadn’t seen her daughter in days, I spoke with asylum seekers who explained through tears that they didn’t know what happened to their kids, and I saw dozens of children being kept in overcrowded cages. Two days ago, the President tried to escape blame for this mess by signing a new executive order that will keep immigrant families together, but require them to stay in detention facilities indefinitely. This is pathetic. Apparently the President is fine to keep immigrant families together as long as he can keep them behind bars. That’s not a solution. He created this crisis with his ‘zero tolerance’ policy that treats asylum seekers as criminals. Nothing in his executive order changes that. PROTECTING JOBS ACT Working Americans are struggling enough to get ahead. They don’t need the deck further stacked against them by having their student loan debt be the cause of a revoked or denied professional license. There are currently 19 states that have laws on the books allowing state entities to take adverse action against an individual’s professional license for student loan default. In 2017, the New York Times found that there have been at least 8,700 cases of at-risk or revoked professional licenses -- including those for teachers, nurses, firefighters and cosmetologists. On a fundamental level, people know that the economy is not working for them. That is why this week I joined Representative Drew Ferguson (R-GA-03) to introduce the Protecting Job Opportunities for Borrowers Act. This legislation would prevent states from suspending, revoking or denying state professional, teaching or driver’s licenses solely because borrowers fall into a delinquent or default status on their federal student loan payments. The Protecting JOBs Act is a companion bill to the Senate version introduced by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). I am proud to join my colleagues to introduce this bill to help workers pay off their debt and make ends meet by ending this harmful practice. OPIOID FUNDING Opioid overdoses are killing more Americans than car crashes. According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, there were 323 Rhode Islanders that died of accidental drug overdoses in 2017. This public health epidemic has demanded an aggressive and comprehensive response from our Congressional delegation. That is why I am proud to announce that a substantial increase in federal funding has been made available for Rhode Island’s fight against opioid addiction. Our state’s share from a grant program at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will rise from $2.1 million last year to $12.55 million, as a result of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 -- also known as the Omnibus Appropriations law. In 2016 alone, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranked Rhode Island’s drug overdose death rate as the ninth highest of any other state in the nation. That is why it is so important that Rhode Island will be getting more than $10 million in additional federal funding to end this crisis. However, the fight doesn’t end there; our entire Congressional delegation will continue fighting for the prevention, treatment and recovery resources we need to keep Rhode Islanders safe. IS THERE A LOADED, UNSECURED GUN IN YOUR HOUSE? Every single day, seven children and teens are killed by gun violence and 40 more are shot and survive. Most of the time, the incident could have been be prevented if the gun had been unloaded and locked away safely. Did you know that there are 1.7 million American children living in a home with an unlocked gun, and that three out of every four children ages 5-14 know where those guns are kept? As Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I have introduced a Congressional resolution to recognize June 21st as National Asking Saves Kids Day. National ASK Day, which is led by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, encourages parents to ask each other if there are loaded, unsecured guns in their homes. This initiative has been endorsed by Head Start, the American Public Health Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. I believe that by asking these simple questions we could help save lives and reduce the level of gun violence in our country. As always, if you or someone you know has any questions or concerns, please call my office at 729-5600 or send me an email at David.Cicilline@mail.house.gov. You can also click here to follow my work on Twitter. Warm Regards, David Cicilline Member of Congress

Important reminder: GOTV starts tomorrow! CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE PAT RYAN.

Hi David -- We're busy down at Team Ryan HQ preparing to Get Out The Vote, which starts tomorrow!   It’s not too late to sign up to help! We need volunteers to knock doors, phone bank, or make calls from home.   We're looking for volunteers to sign up for shifts at our four staging locations:   Gardiner Kingston Red Hook Union Vale   Sign up here to volunteer:   Saturday 6/23 Sunday 6/24 Monday 6/25 Tuesday 6/26 - Election Day!   If you'd like to make calls from home, please email me at Brit@patryanforcongress.com.   Don't forget - we have a special guest, Pat's friend and mentor Congressman Seth Moulton from Massachusetts' 6th district coming to headline our GOTV rally on Monday at 11am.   We’ll be rallying with our top supporters at our Campaign HQ to get fired up and kick off our final day of GOTV. Come hear Rep. Moulton speak and then pick up a packet and head out to knock doors or make calls at HQ. I hope that you’ll join us!   GOTV Rally for Pat Ryan Monday, June 25 | 11:00 AM Team Ryan Campaign Headquarters 308 Plaza Road, Kingston Plaza, Kingston, NY 12401   Important voting information   Absentee Voting: If you'll be out of town or unable to make it to a polling station on Tuesday, June 26, you are able to vote absentee - but only if you submit an absentee ballot application. It's too late to submit an application for an absentee ballot by mail, but you can submit the application in person to your county board of election office.   Important: Absentee ballot applications submitted in person must be submitted by Monday, June 25. If you're mailing in your ballot, it must be postmarked by Monday, June 25.   Voting in Person: Polls will be open on Tuesday, June 26 from 12:00 PM - 9:00 PM except for Dutchess County, where polls will be open from 6:00 AM - 9:00 PM. Look up your polling place here.   Please contact me at Brit@patryanforcongress.com or 845-481-3638 if you have any questions regarding absentee voting, finding your polling location, or any other voting-related issues.   Vote on Tuesday, June 26!   Brit Bender Field Director Pat Ryan for Congress

Introducing myself. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE MAURA SULLIVAN.

Hi David. I'm Maura, and I wanted to introduce myself.

After serving our country on the front lines as a U.S. Marine, I spent 6 years in the Obama administration both at the VA and the Pentagon. I've seen firsthand that who we put in office really matters. That's why I'm running for Congress in New Hampshire's 1st district.

New Hampshire's 1st district is one of the last true swing districts in the country. It has gone back and forth every two years from Democrat to Republican, and the current representative is retiring this year. Keeping this seat blue will be key to Democrats taking back the house in November. I can do it -- but I need your help.

I can’t sit back while so much is at stake for our communities and our country. I feel called to step up to fight tirelessly on behalf of the people of New Hampshire.

Thank you,
Maura Sullivan.

Families belong together, David. HILLARY CLINTON, ONWARD TOGETHER.

David -- Since I reached out to ask this community to step up and support the groups working to protect and reunite families that have been separated at the border, you’ve raised more than $1 million dollars that will be split between the teams at the American Civil Liberties Union, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Human Rights First, Kids in Need of Defense, La Union del Pueblo Entero, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, United We Dream Action, We Belong Together, and the Women’s Refugee Commission. To each and every person who made a donation, no matter how big or small: Thank you. You may have heard about the White House's just-announced executive order. It will mean more families and children are kept in detention centers and jails for longer -- and it doesn't offer a plan to reunite families already separated. This is not a solution. Right now, protests, marches, and other events are being organized across the country for Saturday, June 30th to demand our government stop treating these children and their parents like criminals -- take a moment to find one near you, then say you’ll join millions of Americans in standing against this cruel practice. One mother unable to find their infant or one child being kept in a cage would be unacceptable. What’s happening right now is a crisis so overwhelming that it can be difficult to know how best to help, but your voice is needed now more than ever. Please sign up for a rally in your community -- or to host an event of your own -- and take a stand on behalf of immigrant families: Find an event Thank you, Hillary