To whom it is supposed to concern.
I would like to welcome you back from your vacation and point out the fact that the last session of Congress spent less time, than any in recent memory, in Washington. This session has been scheduled to spend even less time doing the work of governing (repesenting We the People) and allowing you even more time to raise funds, so it will be even more important to try to be effective while you are in D.C. Please understand that your opinions and votes matter, perhaps more than you know.
Regarding HB 69, Ending Wildlife Protections. Wildlife is the closest thing we have to a canary in a coal mine. The species that are threatened by habitat loss, human assault and ecological poisoning frequently indicate the health and quality of the environment. Scientists have known this for over a hundred years. The protections that we have created since the early seventies have led to several come backs of indicator species and it is irresponsible to neglect the care of the planet for short term benefit. Fattening your campaign coffers at the expense of the natural environment is not only short sighted but dangerous for humanity generally and the survival of our species as well.
HB 83 Sanctions against Sanctuary Cities. Under the well-established rule of law, any law broken to stop the commission of a greater crime is defensible. The Necessity Defense has been repeatedly used to protect otherwise law abiding individuals when they take the heroic act of preventing even more heinous crimes from being committed. The general public has seen the results of taking children from their parents, punishing those who are gainfully employed and actively in pursuit of the "American Dream". The American people want nothing to do with bringing the pain and dislocation punitive measures have on families or those who have been living among us and abiding by our laws, in some cases for decades. Sanctuary cities are a form of local control that must be afforded the population. Cracking down on municipalities that feel the moral obligation to help their neighbors can only have dire consequences.
HB 147 Criminalizing Abortion is not only historically proven to be unconstitutional, but ignores the fact that a large number of abortions have been prevented through education, the removal of the stigma placed on unwed mothers and the greater availability of birth control services. I was the first in my family to survive illegal abortion. The amount of suffering and negative impact on womyn's health caused by making this surgical procedure illegal is immeasurable. Although not a single person I have ever met is pro-abortion, the implications of removing choice from any person regarding their health and welfare is beyond the reach of government.
This bill is also tied, wrongly so, to HB 354 Ending funding of Planned Parenthood. Womyn's health services need to be available and free of charge, especially for those who are living in rural areas, poor or poorly educated because Planned Parenthood has helped to prevent far more abortions than they have ever facilitated. The only negative that I have personally witnessed within their organization is the siege mentality of those who work there because they are continuously under assault from so-called X-tian terrorists. I would like you to introduce, or support, legislation that includes any crime against Planned Parenthood in the category of hate crime. Those who oppose the provision of low-cost and free health services and education (the vast majority of work that this organization does) are using their personal, often religious, beliefs as a tool for violence and hate. These are the kinds of crimes are the most heinous and inhumane.
HB 370 Repealing the ACA (Affordable Care Act) will throw tens of millions of Americans back into the status of being uninsured. I have spent my entire life uninsured, except for workplace injuries and at nearly fifty five years old have finally gotten health care coverage for the first time through the ACA. Our family of two would have to pay over thirteen hundred dollars per month to receive health care coverage without the ACA. That is more than we pay for housing and food combined! I resent the fact that we do not yet have Single Payer coverage. It was an embarrassment when the Clinton Administration tried to reform health care and if we had gotten single payer back then, trillions of dollars of unnecessary cost increases could have been avoided. As much as I dislike the fact that the ACA amounts to nothing more than corporate welfare for insurance companies, until we have a plan to implement single payer, it is perhaps the best we can hope for in that it helps people receive care that otherwise could not afford it.
HB 610 Increasing the availability of school vouchers has been proven to not only reduce the performance of students on standardized tests, but increase the costs of education generally. We need to face the facts. This legislation is designed to further undermine the educational system. Many want the public schools to fail so they can have a good reason to only fund private schools. The fact that we allow federal dollars to flow to institutions indoctrinating students into a particular religions is a violation of Constitutional protections that prohibit mingling of church functions and state functions. As a taxpayer, I resent being made to pay for private schools that not only are allowed to pick and choose their students, but to push particular agendas, especially if they are either intellectually inept, unscientific or outright lies.
HB 785 The National Right to Work takes the lowest form of attack on the American family. Trade unions have brought us so many benefits that it would be impossible to enumerate them here. Those who study trade unions find that the highest standards of living we Americans have ever enjoyed were during the time when the highest number of us were represented by trade unions. Pushing to make us all wage slaves, exploited by our owners, in constant competition to be willing to work the hardest for the least wages ignores the fact that people who travel around the country absolutely hate having to work with people in right to work states. Because most just don't care to do an honest day's labor because they know full well that they will not be earning an honest day's wage.
In reference to HB 808 Sanctions against Iran, our last President got verifiable agreements with the nation of Iran. Reneging on those diplomatic advances only proves to the world that our word means nothing. Imposing sanctions on a nation that has only recently seen the light, so to speak, is counterproductive in the extreme. Nuclear proliferation needs to be of the highest priority and trying to punish nations to keep them from doing the right thing only assures that they will make poor choices in the future. The American people are beloved by the people of Iran, they are cosmopolitan, well-educated and believe it or not, in favor of a nuclear free nation. When our government acts as if their nation is a rogue state, it only proves that the people we trust with making laws are out of touch with both history and current reality. Far too much effort has been made in reclaiming the hearts and minds of the people of Iran to throw away for a wrong-headed belief that they are somehow enemies of our nation.
HB 861 Elimination of the EPA. When Richard M. Nixon created the EPA and signed the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, it was because of massive public outcry. We the people do not want a return to pre-1970 environmental conditions and this bill would force that upon our nation. I live along a river that had floating mats of algae and fecal waste when I was a child. My home would be worth less than half what it is today if those conditions returned. The health of hundreds of millions would be threatened by the elimination of EPA. I am over fifty years old and have seen that every time we attempt to reduce pollution, jobs are created. Additionally, as we create a more habitable planet and our standards of living increase. The lies being told in an attempt to reduce regulations on corporations undermine our health welfare and quality of life.
Finally, HB 899 calling for the elimination of the Department of Education is one of the saddest aspects of the current Congress. Codifying ignorance may seem like a good idea to people who do not think, or prefer not to be questioned, but it is both wrong-headed and deceitful to millions of young people coming up at this time. When I was young, I thought that getting federal dollars out of education was a good idea until I began to understand how parochial education would become. Having basic national standards is not only good but essential when we have a mobile society that seeks upward mobility. Allowing regions or individual states to educate their children in ways that undermine their ability to perform in other parts of the country is short-sighted and immoral. Even with federal oversight and standards, there is still difference between the various states that allows some students to fall through the cracks. I know because I moved around a lot as a school-aged child. In the states and regions that want to opt out of requirements imposed by the federal government, they should be allowed to pay for their own alternative methods or ideas about what education could or should look like, but raising the next generation to think, study data critically and to express themselves so that others can understand them is too important not to warrant federal involvement.
I do not expect a response to this letter, but I will be watching your voting record to understand how you personally feel about these issues.
May you always be guided by good conscience and compassion,
Tony C. Saladino
I would like to welcome you back from your vacation and point out the fact that the last session of Congress spent less time, than any in recent memory, in Washington. This session has been scheduled to spend even less time doing the work of governing (repesenting We the People) and allowing you even more time to raise funds, so it will be even more important to try to be effective while you are in D.C. Please understand that your opinions and votes matter, perhaps more than you know.
Regarding HB 69, Ending Wildlife Protections. Wildlife is the closest thing we have to a canary in a coal mine. The species that are threatened by habitat loss, human assault and ecological poisoning frequently indicate the health and quality of the environment. Scientists have known this for over a hundred years. The protections that we have created since the early seventies have led to several come backs of indicator species and it is irresponsible to neglect the care of the planet for short term benefit. Fattening your campaign coffers at the expense of the natural environment is not only short sighted but dangerous for humanity generally and the survival of our species as well.
HB 83 Sanctions against Sanctuary Cities. Under the well-established rule of law, any law broken to stop the commission of a greater crime is defensible. The Necessity Defense has been repeatedly used to protect otherwise law abiding individuals when they take the heroic act of preventing even more heinous crimes from being committed. The general public has seen the results of taking children from their parents, punishing those who are gainfully employed and actively in pursuit of the "American Dream". The American people want nothing to do with bringing the pain and dislocation punitive measures have on families or those who have been living among us and abiding by our laws, in some cases for decades. Sanctuary cities are a form of local control that must be afforded the population. Cracking down on municipalities that feel the moral obligation to help their neighbors can only have dire consequences.
HB 147 Criminalizing Abortion is not only historically proven to be unconstitutional, but ignores the fact that a large number of abortions have been prevented through education, the removal of the stigma placed on unwed mothers and the greater availability of birth control services. I was the first in my family to survive illegal abortion. The amount of suffering and negative impact on womyn's health caused by making this surgical procedure illegal is immeasurable. Although not a single person I have ever met is pro-abortion, the implications of removing choice from any person regarding their health and welfare is beyond the reach of government.
This bill is also tied, wrongly so, to HB 354 Ending funding of Planned Parenthood. Womyn's health services need to be available and free of charge, especially for those who are living in rural areas, poor or poorly educated because Planned Parenthood has helped to prevent far more abortions than they have ever facilitated. The only negative that I have personally witnessed within their organization is the siege mentality of those who work there because they are continuously under assault from so-called X-tian terrorists. I would like you to introduce, or support, legislation that includes any crime against Planned Parenthood in the category of hate crime. Those who oppose the provision of low-cost and free health services and education (the vast majority of work that this organization does) are using their personal, often religious, beliefs as a tool for violence and hate. These are the kinds of crimes are the most heinous and inhumane.
HB 370 Repealing the ACA (Affordable Care Act) will throw tens of millions of Americans back into the status of being uninsured. I have spent my entire life uninsured, except for workplace injuries and at nearly fifty five years old have finally gotten health care coverage for the first time through the ACA. Our family of two would have to pay over thirteen hundred dollars per month to receive health care coverage without the ACA. That is more than we pay for housing and food combined! I resent the fact that we do not yet have Single Payer coverage. It was an embarrassment when the Clinton Administration tried to reform health care and if we had gotten single payer back then, trillions of dollars of unnecessary cost increases could have been avoided. As much as I dislike the fact that the ACA amounts to nothing more than corporate welfare for insurance companies, until we have a plan to implement single payer, it is perhaps the best we can hope for in that it helps people receive care that otherwise could not afford it.
HB 610 Increasing the availability of school vouchers has been proven to not only reduce the performance of students on standardized tests, but increase the costs of education generally. We need to face the facts. This legislation is designed to further undermine the educational system. Many want the public schools to fail so they can have a good reason to only fund private schools. The fact that we allow federal dollars to flow to institutions indoctrinating students into a particular religions is a violation of Constitutional protections that prohibit mingling of church functions and state functions. As a taxpayer, I resent being made to pay for private schools that not only are allowed to pick and choose their students, but to push particular agendas, especially if they are either intellectually inept, unscientific or outright lies.
HB 785 The National Right to Work takes the lowest form of attack on the American family. Trade unions have brought us so many benefits that it would be impossible to enumerate them here. Those who study trade unions find that the highest standards of living we Americans have ever enjoyed were during the time when the highest number of us were represented by trade unions. Pushing to make us all wage slaves, exploited by our owners, in constant competition to be willing to work the hardest for the least wages ignores the fact that people who travel around the country absolutely hate having to work with people in right to work states. Because most just don't care to do an honest day's labor because they know full well that they will not be earning an honest day's wage.
In reference to HB 808 Sanctions against Iran, our last President got verifiable agreements with the nation of Iran. Reneging on those diplomatic advances only proves to the world that our word means nothing. Imposing sanctions on a nation that has only recently seen the light, so to speak, is counterproductive in the extreme. Nuclear proliferation needs to be of the highest priority and trying to punish nations to keep them from doing the right thing only assures that they will make poor choices in the future. The American people are beloved by the people of Iran, they are cosmopolitan, well-educated and believe it or not, in favor of a nuclear free nation. When our government acts as if their nation is a rogue state, it only proves that the people we trust with making laws are out of touch with both history and current reality. Far too much effort has been made in reclaiming the hearts and minds of the people of Iran to throw away for a wrong-headed belief that they are somehow enemies of our nation.
HB 861 Elimination of the EPA. When Richard M. Nixon created the EPA and signed the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, it was because of massive public outcry. We the people do not want a return to pre-1970 environmental conditions and this bill would force that upon our nation. I live along a river that had floating mats of algae and fecal waste when I was a child. My home would be worth less than half what it is today if those conditions returned. The health of hundreds of millions would be threatened by the elimination of EPA. I am over fifty years old and have seen that every time we attempt to reduce pollution, jobs are created. Additionally, as we create a more habitable planet and our standards of living increase. The lies being told in an attempt to reduce regulations on corporations undermine our health welfare and quality of life.
Finally, HB 899 calling for the elimination of the Department of Education is one of the saddest aspects of the current Congress. Codifying ignorance may seem like a good idea to people who do not think, or prefer not to be questioned, but it is both wrong-headed and deceitful to millions of young people coming up at this time. When I was young, I thought that getting federal dollars out of education was a good idea until I began to understand how parochial education would become. Having basic national standards is not only good but essential when we have a mobile society that seeks upward mobility. Allowing regions or individual states to educate their children in ways that undermine their ability to perform in other parts of the country is short-sighted and immoral. Even with federal oversight and standards, there is still difference between the various states that allows some students to fall through the cracks. I know because I moved around a lot as a school-aged child. In the states and regions that want to opt out of requirements imposed by the federal government, they should be allowed to pay for their own alternative methods or ideas about what education could or should look like, but raising the next generation to think, study data critically and to express themselves so that others can understand them is too important not to warrant federal involvement.
I do not expect a response to this letter, but I will be watching your voting record to understand how you personally feel about these issues.
May you always be guided by good conscience and compassion,
Tony C. Saladino
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