{"articles":[{"id":18730,"title":"The DC: Overturning Citizens United, and... 🌵 Should we close our national parks during shutdowns?","html_content":"

by Causes | 1.8.19

Welcome to Tuesday, residents of the nifty fifty...

Tonight, President Donald Trump is expected to address the nation on the \"humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border.\"

Trump will follow up his first national address with a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday.

Trump and congressional Democrats are at an impasse over funding for the president's southern wall. Trump is demanding $5.7 billion in federal funding to build the wall, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have rejected providing any money for the barrier.

With the shutdown entering its 18th day on Tuesday, is it time for Trump and Democrats to cut a deal on border security funding?

On the Radar

\nIn a departure from previous government shutdowns, the Trump administration decided to leave national parks open though the Interior Department halted a majority of its operations. This has resulted in widespread reports of degradation in parks, including visitors scattering garbage on roads, a build-up of human waste, illegal off-roading, increases in artifact theft at Civil War battlefields, and people letting their dogs run off-leash in areas rich with bears. Former Park Service Chief Jonathan Jarvis said that keeping national parks open during the shutdown \"is equivalent to leaving the Smithsonian museums open without any staff to protect the priceless artifacts.” Should the U.S. close its national parks during the shutdown?\n

\nWith the White House’s Syria strategy shifting away from a near-term withdrawal toward a drawdown that won’t start until key criteria are met, both chambers of Congress are set to take up bills this week aimed at increasing pressure on the Assad regime to end the conflict. The Senate will vote today on a bill ― the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act ― that contains four measures that received bipartisan support in the last Congress, including the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act. Read about the four measures, then tell your reps: Should Congress pass these bills related to Syria?\n

Under the Radar

\nOn Sunday, the U.S. military and President Trump confirmed that an airstrike in Yemen last week had killed one of the suspected bombers of the USS Cole in 2000. Jamal al-Badawi, an al-Qaeda commander, was on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) most wanted list for his role in the attack. There was no collateral damage from last week’s airstrike, according to military officials. The Trump administration is not unique in its use of airstrikes. In 2016 alone, the Obama administration dropped at least 26,171 bombs. But just because (D)s and (R)s both do it doesn't necessarily make it correct. Do you support the use of airstrikes overseas to kill terrorists?\n

\nA bipartisan group of House members have introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. The Democracy for All Amendment was introduced days before the ninth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United case which allowed corporations and unions to spend freely in federal elections. \"Years after the Citizens United decision, election spending has exploded into billion-dollar races that corrupt our elections by drowning out the voices of American voters,\" Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) said in a statement. But David Keating, president of the Institute for Free Speech, a conservative nonprofit, said that voters aren't sufficiently educated in what a repeal would do. Read both sides of the argument then tell your reps: Do you support passing a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United?\n

Your Gov at a Glance 👀

The White House: President Trump in D.C.

At 9:00pm EST, the president will deliver an address to the nation about the humanitarian and security crisis at the southern border.

The House of Representatives: In

\nVoting on a bill to reauthorize a program securing high-risk chemical facilities from terrorist attacks.
\nVoting on a bill to extend a program supporting the use of Medicaid for home- and community-based long-term care.
\nVoting on a bill to reauthorize federal programs combating pandemics and bioweapons.

The Senate: In

\nTaking a procedural vote on a bill to impose new sanctions on the Assad regime, strengthen U.S. security alliances with Israel & Jordan, and combat the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement.

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Should a Program Supporting the Use of Medicaid for Home- and Community-Based Long-Term Care Be Extended?

(Follow Karyn's comment here.)

(Follow Shirley's comment here.)

But wait, there's more!

And, in the End…

Wondering what's happening This Week In Congress?

Lawmakers will return to the Capitol today with Middle East policy on the agenda and lingering uncertainty about when Trump and congressional Democrats will reach a deal to end the ongoing partial government shutdown.

Tonight, the Senate will hold a procedural vote on a bill addressing several aspects of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. It’d increase sanctions on the Assad regime in Syria, strengthen America’s security alliances with Israel and Jordan, and aim to counteract the anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Votes to limit debate on the bill and its final passage would likely occur later in the week.

For a full preview of This Week In Congress, click here.

What did you bring to the office for Show and Tell at Work Day? I work from home and am showing myself dust, a colony of mold in a teacup, and a codependent cat,

—Josh Herman

Talk to us via email at contact [at] countable.us. And don’t forget to keep in touch @Countable.

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