This is a 100% volunteer effort brought to you by a handful of progressive Democrats and Independents who share a vision of an informed electorate.  We want to offer a big thank you to the Demcast and Pennsylvania Indivisible organizations who host our report and help us share it out to the residents of our Commonwealth!

Indivisible Legislative Scorecard 

The Indivisible movement is focused on four key principles – equality, justice, compassion and inclusion. Accordingly, we score legislation that reflects those values:

• Ballot access, voting rights, campaign finance and ethics
• Civil rights, equality under the law and addressing systemic inequities
• Reinforcing and strengthening democratic norms, processes, and oversight
• Addressing economic inequality

This week we scored votes on the For the People Act (H.R. 1) and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (H.R. 1280). As broadly applicable legislative packages that will address system problems affecting our society and democracy, these votes received the maximum weight.

Lawmaker	Score	Change from last score
🔴 PA-01’s Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick	26.7%	-17.7%
🔵 PA-02’s Rep. Brendan Boyle	100.0%	0
🔵 PA-03’s Rep. Dwight Evans	100.0%	0
🔵 PA-04’s Rep. Madeleine Dean	100.0%	0
🔵 PA-05’s Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon	100.0%	0
🔵 PA-06’s Rep. Chrissy Houlahan	100.0%	0
🔵 PA-07’s Rep. Susan Wild	100.0%	0
🔵 PA-08’s Rep. Matt Cartwright	100.0%	0
🔴 PA-09’s Rep. Dan Meuser	0.0%	0
🔴 PA-10’s Rep. Scott Perry	0.0%	0
🔴 PA-11’s Rep. Lloyd Smucker	0.0%	0
🔴 PA-12’s Rep. Fred Keller	0.0%	0
🔴 PA-13’s Rep. John Joyce	0.0%	0
🔴 PA-14’s Rep. Guy Reschenthaler	0.0%	0
🔴 PA-15’s Rep. Glenn W. Thompson	0.0%	0
🔴 PA-16’s Rep. Mike Kelly	0.0%	0
🔵 PA-17’s Rep. Conor Lamb	100.0%	0
🔵 PA-18’s Rep. Mike Doyle	100.0%	0

We will eventually be scoring our pair of Senators as well, but they have only had two votes to score so far, on impeachment and on this weekend’s COVID Relief bill.  Once they have three scorable votes their information will be included. 

Quick Links

Votes of Interest

The House Passes Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform, For the People

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Bill Passes the House

The American Rescue Plan for COVID Relief passes the Senate

The “Vote-a-Rama” Amendment process

Biden Cabinet Nominee #11 – Education

Unanimously passed legislation

Quotes of Interest

Our MoCs talk about their votes on H.R. 1: For the People Act

Our MoCs talk about H.R. 1280: The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

Casey Quotes of the Week

Toomey Quotes of the Week

Fitzpatrick in the News

The 03/03/21 Fitzpatrick interview with Dom Giordano

Call to Action: Call your House member about COVID Relief

Votes of Interest

The House Passes Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform, For the People 

House Vote on H.R. 1: For the People Act of 2021

H.R. 1, the For the People Act, is the central legislation of this 117th Congress.  The package will protect voter access to the ballot in the face of attacks on the franchise in states where the legislature is controlled by the GOP.  It will increase transparency for donations and it codifies new ethics standards for our lawmakers.  The bill’s primary sponsor, Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Maryland), outlined the key points of H.R. 1 on his website:

CLEAN AND FAIR ELECTIONS

• Improve Access – H.R. 1 expands access to the ballot box by taking aim at institutional barriers to voting, including cumbersome voter registration systems, disenfranchisement and limited voting hours. H.R. 1 will create automatic voter registration across the country, ensure that individuals who have completed felony sentences have their full voting rights restored, expand early voting and enhance absentee voting, simplify voting by mail, reduce long lines and wait times for voters and modernize America’s voting system. 
• Promote Integrity – H.R. 1 commits Congress to build the record necessary to restore the Voting Rights Act, as embodied by the House-passed H.R. 4. It also commits Congress to deliver full congressional voting rights and self-government for the residents of the District of Columbia, which only statehood can provide, prohibits voter roll purges like those seen in Ohio, Georgia and elsewhere and ends partisan gerrymandering to prevent politicians from picking their voters.
• Ensure Security – H.R. 1 ensures that American elections are decided by American voters, without interference, by enhancing federal support for voting system security, particularly with paper ballots and also by increasing oversight of election system vendors and by requiring the development of a national strategy to protect U.S. democratic institutions.

END THE DOMINANCE OF BIG MONEY IN OUR POLITICS

• Guarantee Disclosure – H.R. 1 shines a light on dark money in politics by upgrading online political ad disclosure and requiring all organizations involved in political activity to disclose their large donors. H.R. 1 also breaks the so-called ‘nesting-doll’ sham that allows big-money contributors and special interests to hide the true funding source of their political spending.
• Empower Citizens – H.R. 1 strengthens the political power of hardworking Americans by creating a multiple matching system for small donations. This innovative, 21st-century system of citizen-owned elections will break the stranglehold of special interests on Congress and lay the groundwork for an agenda that meets the needs of the American people. The voluntary multiple matching system will be completely paid for by a new surcharge on corporate law breakers and wealthy tax cheats. That way, the individuals and corporations who break the public trust – like Wells Fargo, which created fake bank accounts for unwitting customers, or Volkswagen, which lied about harmful carbon emissions from its vehicles, or Facebook, which violates Americans’ privacy, or Purdue Pharma, which fueled the opioid crisis – bear the cost of building a more just and equitable democracy. H.R. 1 also reaffirms Congress’ authority to regulate money in politics, pushing back on the Supreme Court’s wrong-headed Citizens United decision.
• Strengthen Oversight – H.R. 1 ensures that there are cops on the campaign finance beat that will enforce the laws on the books. H.R. 1 tightens rules on super PACs and restructures the Federal Election Commission to break the gridlock and enhance its enforcement mechanisms. It also repeals Mitch McConnell’s riders that prevent government agencies from requiring commonsense disclosure of political spending.

ENSURE PUBLIC SERVANTS WORK FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST

• Fortify Ethics Law – H.R. 1 breaks the influence economy in Washington and increases accountability by expanding conflict of interest law and divestment requirements, slowing the revolving door, preventing Members of Congress from serving on corporate boards and requiring presidents to disclose their tax returns. 
• Impose Greater Ethics Enforcement – H.R. 1 gives teeth to federal ethics oversight by overhauling the Office of Government Ethics, closing loopholes for lobbyists and foreign agents, ensuring watchdogs have sufficient resources to enforce the law and creating a code of ethics for the Supreme Court.

Vote date: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Vote Tally: 220-210

Party Breakdown: All 209 Republicans present voted NO for the bill, and they were joined by one Democrat, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi. The remaining 220 Democrats all voted YES.

Additional Reading:

• “Targeting State Restrictions, House Passes Landmark Voting Rights Expansion,” from the New York Times
• “The House Passes a Major Voting Rights Bill—and Creates a Helluva Battle in the Senate,” from Mother Jones
• “House Democrats’ massive voting rights bill, explained,” from Vox

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Bill Passes the House

House Vote on H.R. 1280: George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act bans chokeholds, limits qualified immunity for police officers, and creates a national registry for police officer misconduct. It would implement a national standard for use of force in police departments. The militarization of local police departments will be halted by limiting the transfer of military equipment to police forces. The bill will give states grants so that their attorneys general can lead data collections efforts on police interactions and use of force. And the US Attorney General will be tasked with creating a national accreditation for police officers. The House Judiciary Committee provided this useful fact sheet for your review if you would like to learn more.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), made the following statement about the bill:

This George Floyd Justice in Policing Act is a crucial overhaul of community-police relationships. It will reinforce justice and fairness for all parties involved, and families will get justice, and we will be able to have an American police community that will be a living example of their oath to protect and serve.

And Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California), also of the CBC, added:

I had many painful conversations—as all Black families do—about what to do to make sure their encounters with the police were not deadly. The trauma around these fears is lifelong and should not be normalized.  Far too many Black and Brown people have had their lives cut short because of a rotten system. This bill is the first step towards justice for so many families who have been traumatized and torn apart due to wrongful, unchecked, aggressive policing.

Much of the messaging from the GOP about the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act involves MoCs framing this bill as a prong of the Defund the Police movement. You will see examples of this in our lawmaker statements section.

Vote date: Wednesday, March 3, 2021 Vote Tally: 220-212

Party Breakdown: Only 2 of the 221 Democrats voted NO – Jared Golden of Mane and Ron Kind of Wisconsin; the remaining 219 Democrats voted YES. On the Republican side, Lance Gooden of Texas voted YES, but later reported to the press that he pressed the wrong button accidentally. The other 209 Republicans pressed the NO button.

Additional Reading:

• “Only Republican to vote for police reform bill ‘accidentally pressed the wrong… button’,” from The Hill
• “House Approves Police Reform Bill Named After George Floyd,” from NPR
• “Democrats’ police reform bill faces opposition in the Senate — but that’s only the first hurdle,” from PBS News Hour

he American Rescue Plan for COVID Relief passes the Senate

Senate Vote on H.R.1319: American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

We’ve covered COVID relief here extensively in the past weeks of this 117th Congress, so we will refrain from outlining the contours of the American Rescue Plan again.  However, CNN provided a useful rundown of the ways that the Senate version differs from what the House passed a week ago:

The bill won’t include:

• An increase to a $15-an-hour minimum wage.
• Funding for the bridge from upstate New York to Canada
• Money for the extension of the railway system outside of San Francisco

The bill will also change:

• The income threshold for who is eligible to get Covid relief checks will be different. Once an individual makes $80,000, they won’t get any relief check; in the House bill, that cutoff was $100,000. An individual making $75,000 a year will get the full $1,400 and it will be phased out up to $80,000.
• Includes more money for rural hospitals
• More funding to expand broadband
• More money for FEMA to help the homeless
• A slightly revised state and local formula that will help smaller population states and boosts the minimum they will receive.

As this bill was introduced using the reconciliation process, the Senate floor was open to a nearly unlimited amendment process, called a “vote-a-rama.”  We have recapped the highlights of the vote-a-rama below.

The “Vote-a-Rama” Amendment process

The amendment process is always the most interesting part of the legislative process, and that is doubly true for Reconciliation vote-a-rama sessions. Amendments need to receive 50% +1 (a simple majority) to pass. A tie results in a rejected amendment.

As of March 6th, there were 469 amendments offered by Senators. We will limit ourselves, though, to looking at only those that received floor votes or were approved via voice vote. In the text below, the link for the amendment number takes you to the text of the amendment, and the link for the vote result takes you to the roll call information from the clerk of the Senate. 

First up are the amendments that failed. Assume that Senator Bob Casey voted NO and Senator Pat Toomey voted YES unless otherwise indicated:

• Amdt. 902, from Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa – “To provide funding for payments for losses of crops due to disasters.” Failed 45-54. Casey voted NO and Toomey voted NO.
• Amdt. 944, from Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska – “To distribute funds for public transportation urbanized area formula grants through the existing formulas.” Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 968, from Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas – “To ensure that the 2021 Recovery Rebates are not provided to illegal immigrants.” Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 969, also from Sen. Cruz – “To provide children with an option for in-classroom education instruction if the child’s local public school does not commit to re-opening to 5-day-a-week, in-classroom instruction for the remainder of the current school year and the 2021-2022 school year.” Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 996, from Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee – “To strike section 9831,” a portion of the bill that sets minimum Medicare payments in urban areas. Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 1010, from our own Sen. Pat Toomey – “To strike a provision providing payments to farmers for purposes unrelated to COVID-19.” Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 1014, from Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky – “To strike provisions relating to nonprofit entities for the paycheck protection program.” Failed 47-51. Casey voted NO and Toomey did not vote.
• Amdt. 1026, from Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida – “To amend the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.” Failed 48-51.
• Amdt. 1030, from Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina – the Senate Clerk only has the designation “to improve the bill” and no links to the debate section of the Congressional record, so we have no info to provide on this one, sorry! Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 1154, from Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas – “To increase the availability of amounts for the Veterans Community Care Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.” Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 1161, from Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana – “To improve the bill regarding emergency assistance to non-public schools.” Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 1331, from Sen. Mike Lee of Utah – “To limit the expansion of premium assistance for households above 500 percent of the federal poverty line.” Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 1364, from Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah – “To provide relief for State and local governments based on demonstrated need.” Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 1369, from Sen. Lindsey Graham – Sorry, this is another “to improve the bill” item with no text or links to the portion of debate where we might get info for you about it. Failed 48-51. Casey voted NO and Toomey voted NO.
• Amdt. 1381, from Sen. Lee – “To modify the provisions relating to the child tax credit and to strike the provisions relating to dependent care assistance.” Failed 49-50.
• Amdt. 1383, from Sen. Todd Young of Indiana – “To strike the provision establishing the Emergency Federal Employee Leave Fund and appropriate $300,000,000 for chemical screening devices for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.” Failed 48-50.
• Amdt. 1395, from Sen. Rick Scott of Florida – “To fund the procurement of HC-130J aircraft by the Coast Guard, and to provide an offset by striking National Railroad Passengers Corporation grant funding for the Northeast Corridor. Failed 47-51.

That leaves us with seven amendments that were approved, and are now a part of the American Rescue Plan, followed by the final vote to close down the amendments process:

• Amdt. 891 was offered by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. It is a compendium of all the changes that the Senate made in the version of the bill that the House passed. This is the result of the week of negotiations that has passed since the House first voted on H.R. 1319. It was passed by a voice vote, so we assume it has the support of all senators.
• Amdt. 1092, from Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio – “To reduce unemployment compensation provisions.” This passed, 50-49. Casey voted NO and Toomey voted YES. West Virginia’s Joe Manchin joined with the Republicans to pass this amendment.
• Amdt. 1233, from Sen. Lisa Murkowski – “To use $800,000,000 of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund to identify and provide homeless children and youth with wrap-around services in light of the challenges of COVID-19 and other assistance.” This passed via voice vote, so it had the support of both of our senators.
• Amdt. 1342, from Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas – “To provide an effective date for the modification of revenue requirements for proprietary institutions of higher education.” This also passed via voice vote, so it had the support of both of our senators.
• Amdt. 1344, from Sen. Maggi Hassan of New Hampshire – “To provide for a safe return to in-person instruction.” This passed, 51-48. Casey voted YES and Toomey voted NO.  
• Amdt. 1378, from Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon – Sorry, this is another “to improve the bill” item with no text or links to the portion of debate where we might get info for you about it. This passed, 50-49. 
• Amdt. 1391, from Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia – “To extend the authority for Federal contractors to reimburse employees unable to perform work due to the COVID-19 pandemic from March 31, 2021, to September 30, 2021.” This passed 93-6. Casey voted YES and Toomey voted YES. 

It’s pretty amazing that the Senate staff can get as much amendment text and voting info up onto the Congressional website as quickly as they do. Your MoCTrack editor wrote this up less than 18 hours after it passed, and only 4 of the hundreds of amendments were not fully fleshed out. That’s fast work!

FINAL BILL Vote date: Saturday, March 6, 2021 Vote Tally: 50-49

Party Breakdown: This was a party line vote. All Democrats and Independents present voted YES. All Republicans present voted NO. Vice President Harris was not needed in the Senate chamber to break a tie on this vote, as Republicans Dan Sullivan of Alaska was not present to vote.

Additional Reading:

• “Democrats’ final effort to pass the $1.9 trillion relief hasn’t been easy. Here’s what happens next,” from CNN Politics
• “Senate passes Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill after vote-a-rama,” from CBS News
• “Senate passes $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, including $1,400 stimulus checks, with no Republican support,” from NBC News

Senator Casey voted YES and Senator Toomey voted NO.

Biden Cabinet Nominee #11 – Education 

Senate Confirmation Vote on Miguel A. Cardona to be Secretary of Education

Before his cabinet nomination, Miguel Cardona was a former public school teacher who rose through administrative ranks to become the leader of Connecticut’s state public education system. As President Biden announced that it was the goal of his administration to get America’s schools open within 100 days, Secretary Cardona’s priority for the early days of his tenure in the cabinet is crystal clear. 

Right after his confirmation he returned to Connecticut with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden to do a series of events aimed at re-opening school safely, and was joined by the leaders of the nation’s largest teachers unions, Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers and Becky Pringle of the National Education Association.

Cardona just did an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition where he discussed the challenges of reopening our nation’s schools.  He said:

We know that there has to be a culture of trust, understanding, transparency. Those are all prerequisites to those technical strategies of convening the experts, sharing best practices, you know, the handbooks. It’s really making sure that there’s an understanding and a level of trust and comfort to reopen schools safely. And I think that’s really why the American Rescue Plan is important, because it’s going to ensure that we have those technical strategies, the ability to modify schools and provide the PPE that are needed. It gives us an opportunity to really address that digital divide once and for all and provide the long term needs. This is not just about turning on the lights, not just about unlocking the doors and letting students in. This is about recovering and making sure we’re providing that important social-emotional development and support that our students need after experiencing a trauma like we just faced.

Vote date: Monday, March 1, 2021 Vote Tally: 64-33

Party Breakdown: All of the Democrats and Independents voted YES, along with 14 Republicans.  The remaining 33 Republicans voted NO.

Additional Reading:

• “Miguel Cardona confirmed as education secretary,” from CNN Politics
• “Cardona seeks to pivot from DeVos era at Education,” from The Hill
• “New Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Wants Schools Open ‘As Soon As Possible’,” from NPR

Senator Casey voted YES and Senator Toomey voted NO.

Unanimously passed legislation

The following bills were passed through unanimous consent or voice vote (which presumes unanimity, as any member can object to the voice vote and ask for a roll call). This list excludes bills related to post offices, stamps, memorials, awareness weeks and other ceremonial activities.

• S.164 – Advancing Education on Biosimilars Act of 2021
• S.578 – FASTER (Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education, and Research) Act of 2021
• S.579 – A bill to make a technical correction to the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act of 2019
• S.590 – CONFUCIUS (Concerns Over Nations Funding University Campus Institutes in the United States) Act

Quotes of Interest

Our Senators on their American Rescue Plan COVID Relief bill Votes

🔵 Senator Bob Casey, @SenBobCasey, 03/04/21:

“As the Senate considers the American Rescue Plan, we’re going to see Republicans attempt to derail the relief that the American people desperately need with BS amendment votes. I won’t fall for it and play their game.

I will be voting to defeat poison pill amendments that are only designed to create false political ads and delay critically needed relief. Passing this legislation will get money in Americans’ pockets, vaccines in their arms and their kids back to school.

We need to get this done right now, without delay.”

🔴 Senator Pat Toomey, from his official website, 03/03/21:

“$270 million for the National Endowment of the Arts and [National Endowment of the] Humanities: oh, that’s COVID related, thank goodness that’s there. $91 million for outreach to student loan borrowers: I don’t even know what that means. $50 million for environmental justice grants: I have no idea what that means. But this one is really rich: there’s about $4 billion for ‘socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.’ I say ‘about $4 billion’ because it says ‘such funds as may be necessary.’ And here’s what the money is for: it’s going to pay off 120 percent of the debt of these farmers and ranchers. 120 percent.”

Our MoCs talk about their votes on H.R. 1: For the People Act

🔴 PA-01’s Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, @RepBrianFitz, 03/03/21:

“Today the House votes on HR 1 which authorizes the use of your taxpayer dollars to fund campaign salaries, negative TV ads and mailers, and healthcare services for candidates. At a time when we need to restore faith in elections, this bill does just the opposite.”

🔵 PA-02’s Rep. Brendan Boyle, via his official website, 03/03/21:

“We are a nation of immigrants, but in far too many places, some of our newest American citizens face insurmountable hurdles when it comes to casting a vote in an election. Once anyone becomes eligible to vote as a citizen, we should make it as easy as possible for that person to participate in our democracy as a voter. My amendment to H.R. 1 will ensure that as new Americans are sworn-in during naturalization ceremonies, they will have all of the resources and information they need to be an educated, informed voter.”

“H.R. 1 will protect our right to vote, ensure the integrity of our elections, crack down on lobbyists and Washington insiders, hold elected officials accountable, and end the era of big, secret, special-interest money in politics. This historic reform effort will put an end to decades of dysfunction in Washington, return power back to the American people, and put our country on an inspired path toward a more equitable, just, and prosperous future.”

🔵 PA-03’s Rep. Dwight Evans, @RepDwightEvans, 03/03/21:

“Today, I’m voting for #HR1 – the most comprehensive democracy reform bill in a generation! It would create a pathway to:

✅Make voting easier

✅The end of big money in politics

✅Ensuring public servants work for the public interest

Learn more here”

🔵 PA-04’s Rep. Madeleine Dean, @RepDean, 03/03/21:

“As we vote on #ForThePeopleAct, I am reminded of the words of Rep. John Lewis:

‘My dear friends: Your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.’

Our vote is our voice and I’ll be voting yes to protect it.”

🔵 PA-05’s Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, @RepMGS, 03/04/21:

“Last night we answered America’s call to return power to the people by passing #HR1.

Proud that it includes my bills to: 

→Increase access to drop boxes

→Increase transparency of inaugural funds

→Make voting more accessible for people with disabilities and college students”

🔵 PA-06’s Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, via her official website, 03/03/21:

“Our democracy is at its strongest when people participate. H.R. 1 takes a crucial step towards realizing the vision our Founders had: a country by and for the people. I’m proud to help usher this bill through the House once again.

Securing our country means securing our elections. My Stop Supporting Foreign Interference in Our Democracy Act makes it easier to prosecute Americans who knowingly provide assistance of any kind to foreign powers attempting to interfere in our elections. This legislation is crucial to our national security, and I’m proud to have it included in our For the People Act.”

🔵 PA-07’s Rep. Susan Wild, @RepSusanWild, 03/03/21:

“#PA07 —& the American people— deserve this bill. Proud to do my part for #HR1.

I just voted YES for:

✅Keeping big money out of politics

✅Expanding voter protections

✅Strengthening ethics laws

✅Cracking down on corruption

✅Limiting the influence of lobbyists”

🔵 PA-08’s Rep. Matt Cartwright, @RepCartwright, 03/03/21:

“PASSED in the House: The #ForThePeople Act.

This bill is about putting the American people back in control of our democracy.

No matter what party you belong to or who you voted for recently, reforms like rooting out corruption and exposing dark money would benefit all of us.”

🔴 PA-09’s Rep. Dan Meuser, @RepMeuser, 03/04/21:

“H.R.1, the bill the House voted on last night, will create more uncertainty in our elections and is filled with terrible provisions, including allowing for taxpayer funded campaigns. Please see my weekly update video below to learn more about this federal government power grab.”

🔴 PA-10’s Rep. Scott Perry, via his Facebook page, 03/03/21:

“KEEPING IT SWAMPY — The same Declaration of Independence that established America as a country based on unalienable rights also established us as a nation based on government by the consent of the governed. The bill (HR 1) that Speaker Pelosi brought to the floor today – which she claims is her party’s top legislative priority – steals power from the People, infringes on the First Amendment, and consolidates power for Democrats. This isn’t the election reform we need.  This is an unconstitutional power grab to establish a single ruling party — the Democrats, without objection, opposition, or dissent. I will be voting NO.  #doublestandards #HR1 #DrainTheSwamp #ElectionIntegrity”

🔴 PA-11’s Rep. Lloyd Smucker, via his official website, 03/03/21:

“Rep. Smucker Opposes Pelosi’s “For the Politicians Act” – At a time when we should be working to restore faith in our nation’s elections, House Democrats have chosen to advance legislation to nationalize and centralize election administration in Washington, D.C. This legislation would require taxpayer funding of campaigns and elections by creating a 6-1 federal match for contributions under $200 while at the same time limiting free speech. Despite the fact that state legislatures across the country are working to improve election administration efforts, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats are trying to force “one-size-fits-all” election law mandates from Washington. H.R. 1 is another example of Democrats in Washington taking a partisan approach that prioritizes politicians, not the people.

I offered my Voter Confidence Act as an amendment to H.R 1. Unsurprisingly, hyper-partisan House Democrats on the Rules Committee rejected my commonsense and reasonable proposal to restore faith in our elections. My legislation is an effort to rebuild voters’ trust in our electoral process by disseminating best practices and bringing together expert voices from across the nation. Reestablishing voter confidence should not be a partisan exercise, but House Democrats have demonstrated they have no interest in working across the aisle. They are relentless in their disastrous efforts to solidify their own power and expand the control and reach of the federal government.”

🔴 PA-12’s Rep. Fred Keller, via his official website, 03/03/21:

“Tonight, Congress voted on yet another hyper-partisan bill which Speaker Pelosi calls the “For the People Act.” This bill can more accurately be called the “For the Politicians Act,” because it is designed to centralize power in Washington, D.C., use public funds—including American tax dollars—for political attack ads, and take away the rights of state legislatures to determine election procedures. This bill follows job-killing Executive Orders, a reckless $1.9 trillion progressive bailout, and legislation attacking religious freedoms, proving that Washington Democrats are more interested in advancing political messaging bills than working in a bipartisan manner on behalf of the American people.”

🔴 PA-13’s Rep. John Joyce, via his official website, 03/03/21:

“Instead of crushing the COVID-19 pandemic, Speaker Pelosi and Washington Democrats are focused on winning elections at taxpayers’ expense. H.R. 1 is a blatant power grab that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrats designed to protect their majority. This scheme would mandate a federal takeover of elections, centralize election administration in Washington, DC, and make permanent universal ‘pandemic-style’ mail-in voting that undermines trust in our elections. It also would undercut Americans’ vital First Amendment freedom and even force taxpayers to fund politicians’ campaigns – including divisive attack ads and robocalls. The American people want free, fair, secure, and transparent elections. Now more than ever, we need bipartisan election security solutions – not a partisan ploy to further corrode Americans’ faith in the electoral process.”

🔴 PA-14’s Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, via his official website, 03/03/21:

“H.R. 1, Congressional Democrats’ most pressing priority, is nothing more than a top-down federal power grab that federalizes our elections and ensures a permanent Democrat majority.

Our Constitution grants state legislatures the primary role in establishing election law and administering elections, but H.R. 1 upends that constitutional balance by undermining voter ID laws, forcing states to permanently expand mail-in voting, legalizing ballot harvesting, and stealing federal funding from crime victims to divert it to political campaigns. Additionally, this bill stifles free speech by empowering President Biden’s IRS to target conservative organizations and deny them tax-exempt status, and increases our vulnerability for foreign election interference at a time when we should be increasingly vigilant about hostile regimes seeking to undermine our democracy.

Democrats in Washington are trying to masquerade this reckless, partisan power grab as ‘election reform.’ They need to stop focusing on schemes to amass power for themselves and start building faith in our election system with election security measures.”

🔴 PA-16’s Rep. Mike Kelly, via his official website, 03/03/21:

“At a time when Americans are urging their elected leaders to strengthen ballot integrity and restore trust in our voting systems, Nancy Pelosi is pushing legislation that centralizes control of elections in Washington D.C., allows for California-style ballot harvesting, uses taxpayer money for political campaigns, and undermines the First Amendment. This bill is for politicians, not the people.”

🔵 PA-17’s Rep. Conor Lamb, @RepConorLamb, 03/03/21:

“Tonight I voted for two important bills: H.R. 1 to protect voting rights & H.R. 1280 the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Both bills passed & are now headed to the Senate. #PA17”

🔵 PA-18’s Rep. Mike Doyle, @USRepMikeDoyle, 03/02/21:

“For decades voter suppression, extreme partisan gerrymandering, and special interests have skewed elections in favor of the status quo for the wealthy & powerful. #HR1, the #ForThePeople Act will change this, making it easier to vote. Find more info here: https://hr1-cha.house.gov”

Our MoCs talk about H.R. 1280: The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

Editor’s Note: This vote was originally scheduled for later in the week, but was rushed onto March 3rd due to security concerns involving Qanon March 4th, resulting in the closing of the House for that day. Many supportive lawmakers did not end up sharing social media posts on this bill due to the last minute scheduling change.  The absence of a new statement on the Justice in Policing Act should not be interpreted as a lack of support by some of our Democratic MoCs.

🔴 PA-01’s Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, via his official website, 03/03/21:

“Last year, in the wake of eroding police-community relations, and as the sole FBI Agent in Congress, I sought to take on a leadership role in bridging that gap and taking steps to bring forth much-needed healing to the communities of our nation. In that regard, along with several of my colleagues, we agreed to send HR 7120 to the Senate—legislation that called for needed reform, but legislation that we were also aware had several flaws, mainly regarding qualified immunity.

On July 1, 2020, I spoke on the House Floor to make clear the imperative need for these changes to be acted upon before this process continued to move forward. In the following months, my colleagues and I in the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus worked tirelessly and in good faith to put together a police reform package proposal that would garner strong, bipartisan, bicameral support, as it supported our law enforcement and also enacted meaningful reforms that would heal police-community relations. After much thoughtful and diligent bipartisan work, we were confident and ready to bring our proposal to the Floor so that we could address and resolve this issue once and for all.

Yet, once again, despite all of our work, House leadership is ignoring our bipartisan fixes and choosing to put forth legislation that seeks to erode and do away with qualified immunity altogether. If this legislation is recklessly implemented, there is no question that it would, in turn, do significant damage to the law enforcement profession and ultimately make communities across our nation less safe. As a lifelong FBI Agent and staunch, fervent supporter of law enforcement, I simply cannot allow this to take place.

This legislation has failed to implement the needed fixes to protect the brave women and men of our law enforcement, who risk their lives every day to keep us safe. To all of our law enforcement heroes, please know that I continue to have your back and will do everything in my power to protect you from any efforts to undermine you, your families, and your honorable profession of public and community service. Our community appreciates you, is grateful for you, and loves you for your incredible service to not only us, but to our country. To House Leadership: when you are ready to come to the table, we look forward to working with you and actually solving the problem. No longer can we advance purely partisan, impractical ideological proposals; we must build a bridge and unite to put forth a unified solution.”

🔵 PA-03’s Rep. Dwight Evans, @RepDwightEvans, 03/03/21:

“Tonight I will vote for the George Floyd #JusticeinPolicing Act, which would:

✅Ban chokeholds;

✅End the use of no-knock warrants; and

✅End the transfer of made-for-war weapons to local police departments

More details here”

🔵 PA-04’s Rep. Madeleine Dean, @RepDean, 03/04/21:

“Any man’s death diminishes me — diminishes all of us.

Justice in Policing Act is not an anti-police bill, it begins a long overdue process of accountability so that no one lives in fear of the police.

Black Americans have suffered long enough.

#JusticeInPolicing”

🔵 PA-05’s Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, @RepMGS, 03/04/21:

“I voted YES because police officers must be accountable to the communities they serve. I am committed to curbing police brutality, ending racial profiling, and saving lives. #JusticeInPolicing #BlackLivesMatter”

🔵 PA-06’s Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, via her official website, 03/03/21:

“I was proud to once again cosponsor and pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This legislation marks an important and historic step towards addressing racism in our criminal justice system. For too long, Black lives have been lost to police brutality. Today, we take an important step towards combating the systemic racism in our criminal justice system.”

🔴 PA-09’s Rep. Dan Meuser, @RepMeuser, 03/04/21:

“Late last night, Democrats voted to impose millions of dollars in new regulations on police departments without providing any funding for them to comply.

Instead of working towards a solution on commonsense reforms, they are more concerned with appeasing their far-left base.”

🔴 PA-10’s Rep. Scott Perry, via his Facebook page, 03/03/21:

“NO DEFUNDING POLICE — Any policing bill must start with appreciating the dedication and devotion of the men and women of law enforcement who keep our communities and Nation safe.  It must also condemn calls to “defund,”“disband,” “dismantle,” or “abolish” the police.  HR 1280, set to pass tonight, does neither. 

What’s more, this bill requires 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide – and Taxpayers – to incur an unfunded mandate, with additional costs due to data collection procedures and training.  Based on information from the FBI and law enforcement associations nationwide, the nonpartisan CBO expects that over 6,000 agencies would need to upgrade or invest in new technology to comply with the new reporting requirements. 

The consequences of HR 1280 are clear: it will drain resources from important public safety activities. Law enforcement officers will have to spend time behind a desk, reporting data to Washington. Make no mistake:  IT DEFUNDS THE POLICE.  For these reasons and more, I will be voting NO. #BackTheBlue”

🔴 PA-12’s Rep. Fred Keller, @RepFredKeller, 03/05/21:

“This week, Democrats took a dangerous step towards defunding the police by passing legislation that would cost departments hundreds of millions to comply with unfunded mandates. That’s unacceptable.

I will always #backtheblue!”

🔴 PA-13’s Rep. John Joyce, via his official website, 03/03/21:

“Tonight, Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats’ brought yet another piece of radical legislation to the House Floor that would defund the police and dismantle the justice system. Equal justice under law is a cornerstone of our democracy. I am a strong defender of our law enforcement heroes and support bipartisan reforms to better equip these brave Americans to do their job. To be certain, I will oppose all efforts to defund the police and will continue to back the blue.”

🔴 PA-14’s Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, @GReschenthaler, 03/03/21:

“Dems had an opportunity to embrace bipartisan police reform. 

Instead, they abandoned our nation’s police and the safety of our communities. 

@RepPeteStauber’s JUSTICE Act expanded accountability and transparency in policing while giving law enforcement the resources they need.”

🔴 PA-16’s Rep. Mike Kelly, via his official website, 03/03/21:

“Kelly Again Opposes Partisan Police Reform Bill that Would Make Communities Less Safe – The vast majority of law enforcement officers do a difficult job well and deserve our support, but this legislation does the opposite. Democrats have once again refused to work on bipartisan solutions to address police misconduct, instead choosing to undermine police officers who are working tirelessly to keep our communities safe.”

🔵 PA-17’s Rep. Conor Lamb, @RepConorLamb, 03/03/21:

“Tonight I voted for two important bills: H.R. 1 to protect voting rights & H.R. 1280 the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Both bills passed & are now headed to the Senate. #PA17”

🔵 PA-18’s Rep. Mike Doyle, @USRepMikeDoyle, 03/03/21:

“Tonight, the House passed the #GeorgeFloyd  #JusticeInPolicing Act, legislation to address racial profiling and police brutality. Learn more about this landmark legislation here: https://justiceinpolicing.us/#/”

Casey Quotes of the Week 

Courtesy of contributor Linda Houk

Casey on protecting nursing home workers & residents

“The challenge this terrible virus poses is unprecedented and requires an immediate and extraordinary response…. That is why my colleagues and I are advancing strategies to give states what they need — funding for ‘strike’ teams to help address staffing shortages in nursing homes and assist with vaccinations in these settings. We have an obligation to protect our most at-risk citizens.” 

—from an article in the Times Leader, titled “Casey introduces legislation to protect nursing home residents and workers”

Casey on COVID Relief

“If I had to boil it down to three words it would be vaccinations, schools, and people…. State government can’t do it, they have to balance the budget. Local county government can’t do it. The private sector can’t do it. We have to do this.”

—from an article in WFMZ 69 News, titled “Toomey, Casey weigh in as efforts to move $1.9T stimulus bill forward in Senate hits bump in the road”

Toomey Quotes of the Week 

Courtesy of contributor Linda Houk

Toomey on worker wages

“In America, for all the problems we have, life is better today than it has ever been for the vast majority of people. It’s misleading to focus exclusively on wage gains of workers. What matters is living standard…. A Cato Institute study found that the amount of time an unskilled worker has to work in order to purchase a basket of everyday items declined by 72% from 1979 to 2019,”

—from an article on Yahoo News, titled “Why Senator Sherrod Brown wants higher taxes on ‘corporate freeloaders‘”

Toomey on Reopening 

“If governors aren’t shutting down these industries, they’ll come back. That’s what we need. We need to reopen our schools. We need to end the lockdown.” 

— from an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette titled “Toomey angered by Democrats’ COVID-19 bill as divided Senate holds lengthy session”

Fitzpatrick in the News 

Research courtesy of contributor CC

“H.R. 1 sets us back.  H.R. 1 should not be called ‘For the people.’ It should be called ‘For the politicians.'” 

— from a Bucks County Courier Times  article titled “Fitzpatrick votes against law to expand voting access, end gerrymandering, dark money” 

“What this body is doing today … you’re further eroding trust in the system, and that’s a real shame because we have an opportunity to fix this.” 

— from a Levittown Now article titled “Congressman Votes Against Law Enforcement Reform Bill, Voting & Election Legislation” 

“In the middle of the night, with less than 9% of funding directly related to defeating COVID, House Leadership decided to push partisan priorities. We must come together as we did in December & unite to put together the best possible package for our communities.” 

— from a Bucks County Courier Times article titled “Fitzpatrick votes no on $1.9T COVID relief bill; DCCC responds with ad”

That same article also provided this fact check of one of the talking points Congressman Fitzprick used to justify his NO vote:

“For too long, the challenges facing our nation’s firefighters and emergency medical responders have gone unnoticed and untreated. We must, and we can do more to ensure our first responders have the tools and resources they need to address mental and behavioral health needs.”

“Our nation’s firefighters and emergency medical responders are heroes who risk their lives each day protecting and serving our communities. They routinely witness and experience catastrophic damage, significant injuries, and tragic loss of life, often leading to traumatic stress, mental health issues, and at times, even vulnerability to suicide. [This bill] will support the health and mental well-being of all our hero first responders across the country.” 

— from a Ripon Advance blog post titled “Fitzpatrick bill ensures first responders, healthcare providers receive mental health support” 

“There are very few issues you can say this about – that they impact the environment, economy, national security, public safety, and that are bipartisan. Infrastructure checks all five of those boxes.

It is vitally important that we build a bridge and put together bipartisan legislation that is both responsive to local needs and worthy of the public’s trust. Infrastructure investment can and will deliver real benefits to every American and additionally, has the unique power to unite us as a nation” 

— from a Levittown Now article titled “Congressman Supports Infrastructure Investment, Meets With President Biden” 

The 03/03/21 Fitzpatrick interview with Dom Giordano

Congressman Fitzpatrick participated in a nearly 17 minute Interview on the Dom Giordano show on WPHT 1210. The link to that audio can be found on a page with a number of other lawmaker interviews, with the title ”Giordano to Toomey: What Are Your Thoughts On PA RNC’s Censure Discussions?” But if you scroll far down enough on that page, you can find the audio link on the Fitzpatrick interview.

The audio player is prefaced with the following text:

“Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick On Growing Prevalence Of Cancel Culture

Rep.Brian Fitzpatrick rejoins the Dom Giordano Program to discuss multiple issues playing out in the United States Congress. First, Fitzpatrick takes an overall look at the decisions made by the Biden administration, explaining his position on both the stimulus debate, and the prevalence of cancel culture. Also, Fitzpatrick discusses H. R. 1, which authorizes the use of taxpayer dollars to fund campaign salaries, negative TV ads and mailers, and healthcare services for candidates. Fitzpatrick notes that at a time when it’s incredibly important to restore faith in elections, H.R. 1 does the exact opposite.”

MoCTrack contributor CC did the work to create a transcript of Rep. Fitzptrick’s answers.  Each comment below is included with a time stamp, so that if you care to listen to the audio of the interview, you can hear the response. Please note, sometimes radio stations will replace the ads at the start of these audio links, so the time marker can change between listenings. The time marker we note below reflects where it was when we listened, and it should put you within 10-20 seconds of the transcript quote if the radio station changes their advertising.

Fitzpatrick on H.R. 1, the For the People Act – 2:52

“Unfortunately it’s the state of politics we’re in right now where truth has very little bearing. It’s unfortunate. It’s what we’re up against. We’re a few months removed from the past election and they’ve already started in. It’s the nature of being in a district like ours where you’re just constantly under assault by non-facts and fallacies but, you know, we’re fighting for a bigger cause here. We’ve got to win the house back next year. An awful lot’s at stake, as I’m sure you know.”

Fitzpatrick on his priorities in office, including “cancel culture” – 4:02

The big issues that I personally think we need to be addressing, and it’s what I’m hearing—election integrity, for one— voter ID, signature match, 8 p.m. election day deadline for ballots with the exception of military ballots, clean up the voter rolls to make them more accurate, to reflect people moving in and out, people passing away, getting rid of the—quote, unquote—live ballots that some states have … Nevada and New Jersey …. Eliminating ballot harvesting, like they have in California. All these things undermine peoples’ faith in the elections and confidence, and we have to fix that. 

Holding China accountable, to start with the 2022 Bejing Olympics, which I think ought to be moved.

Border security — we’re seeing that crisis as a direct result, by the way, of really bad decisions the administration has made in regard to reversing the previous administration’s policies, going back to a catch-and-release posture, which is awful, sends the wrong message….

Big tech abuses—I hear that a lot— and then you know the censorship and cancel culture, which Dr. Seuss is the most recent victim of. These are the things I’m hearing the most about. I think what we need to focus on not just as a conference but the Congress, because these are serious concerns.

There was a poll that came out yesterday, Dom, by Harvard that 64% of the public believes that cancel culture is a threat to freedom of speech including close to half the Democrats that were polled. So this is not even a partisan issue. Censorship is an issue across the board. Everybody ought to be concerned about it because this is not a partisan issue, this is a freedom of speech issue, and if they can cancel Republicans they can cancel Democrats of anything in between. 

Fitzpatrick on H.R. 1 again – 6:35

“I will tell you this, Dom, and I’ll never, out of respect to my colleagues I’ll never mention them by name, but I can tell you that the moderate Democrats in the Democrat caucus are furious right now with their leadership, that they are putting these bills through. So HR 1 is gonna pass a straight party line vote, there won’t be a single Republican voting for it. We all believe in transparency, which a small piece of this bill addresses. What we don’t believe is centralized control in Washington, DC, of elections. We don’t believe in undermining voter ID, we don’t believe taxpayer-funded campaign salaries and expenses, taxpayer funded negative TV ads and mailers. 

There’s so much in this bill, Dom, that is awful—and at a time when we all ought to be focused, including the Democrats, by the way—they should not want this situation to perpetuate in our country where close to half of the voters don’t trust the election process. And this is not, by the way, relitigating anything in 2020. That’s not… this is a forward-looking thing, to just realize and understand and I hear it all the time in Bucks County and if I’m hearing it in Bucks County I’m hearing it even more probably throughout the country—that people are very concerned about this. They don’t understand why signatures don’t have to match. That doesn’t make any sense to them. They don’t understand why we don’t have photo ID, and I will tell you this, Dom, another colleague of mine in the Democrat caucus came up to me the other day on the floor and said, I don’t understand why our party (meaning the Democratic party) is opposed to photo ID. If the issue is that certain people can’t afford it, then we’ll make it free of charge to people that can’t afford it. You need photo identification to fly, to get into the Republican and Democrat conventions, to do everything. And if it’s going to eliminate any shadow of a doubt many of these voters have, why wouldn’t we get on board with that? That’s what I don’t understand.”

Fitzpatrick on mail-in voting – 9:05

Well it’s especially a problem when it comes to states that mail out quote-unquote live ballots, meaning it’s not an application that you apply for and get one much like absentee voting, where they just send, automatically send to any registered voter a ballot, which the voter registration can never be up-to-the-second accurate—people die and people move every day, so it’s a bad process and we’ve heard count… a lot of stories of people getting other people’s ballots mailed to them. That creates a massive impression and perception of looseness in our election laws and it undermines peoples’ confidence in the outcome, so we gotta fix that. I personally think, Dom, that the best system is what they have in Florida. They have basically excus-free absentee voting, where you can early vote, you can mail in your vote, but there’s guard rails around the system. There’s checks in the system. And isn’t it amazing that a state the size of Florida was able to deliver their verdict on election night. They got all their votes counted and cast and declared by 11 p.m. and they did it right and they have early voting and excuse-free absentee voting, but they have guardrails around the system so people in Florida actually trust the process.

Fitzpatrick on Antifa and Domestic Terrorism – 10:36

“I’ve been calling on the Department of Justice and the administration, including the former administration, to declare antifa a domestic terrorism organization for years now. Now there’s more than meets the eye there. When you declare an entity a domestic terror organization, it goes to the Foreign Acts, which deal with money laundering and things like that. But what I will tell you is that the FBI in the definition of domestic terrorism, it includes any fringe extremist groups whether they be on the far right or the far left. So just like we need to investigate far right groups, white supremacist groups, we also need to investigate far left groups like antifa—they are both a threat. Any type of terror organization that’s domestic in nature as opposed to the international groups like ISIS and Al Qaeda, Boko Haran and Al Shabab…unintelligible piece… and Hamas and Hebollah, we have domestic type groups that also pose a threat that are on the political fringes, and antifa should not be given a pass.

I completely disagree with President Biden when he says that they’re an idea, they’re not an idea. They are a real organization. Are they loosely structured? Yes, they are. They’re not as tightly outfitted and they don’t have a clear chain of command like some of these other groups do, but that’s, that just means that they’re tougher to investigate….”

[Dom Giordano inserts that “they are anarchists”]

“Correct. And it’s a little bit tougher to follow the money flow because following the money is always the key to finding who the leadership is and what they’re plans are, and it’s more of a challenge when you don’t have a clearly defined, identified chain of command, but it’s still something that needs to be investigated and I hope the FBI continues to do that.”

Fitzpatrick on Voting Against the COVID Relief bill – 13:40

“Yeah I mean we voted for a number of bipartisan covid-relief packages, I voted also when the previous administration had asked for direct stimulus checks to be up to $2,000, I voted on the floor for that in December. The whole issue is that we need targeted relief. We don’t have a money tree in Washington where we can just pass out money indiscriminately. And every dollar that we spend that’s not targeted, is a dollar that’s taken away from those who do need it. And that’s the choices here. It’s not that we can just throw money around to a subway in Silicon Valley or a bridge going from New York to Canada—that’s not covid related. So when people driving in the car they hear there’s a covid relief package, Yes, we need covid relief, I agree with that, but it’s being packaged as covid relief but if you unpack it and unwrap it, there’s a lot in there that’s not covid relief, and there’s got to be people down here in DC, Dom, who are responsible and not just giving things away like it’s Christmas 12 months out of the year. 

These are real tax dollars that are being given to the government by the hardworking people who’ve already had a very challenging year from an economic standpoint. We have to be prudent with how we spend it. Should we get it to the people that need it? 100%. 1,000%, we should. But when we start putting in subway systems in Silicon Valley to the tune of a hundred and fifty million dollars, there is nothing covid-related about that, and that’s one example. If you have an hour, I could go through a ton of things in that bill that were problematic.”

The argument that I’ve made to my colleagues, every dollar that you spend that is not targeted, you are taking away from people and entities and businesses that desperately need it. And that’s how we have to view this.”

Fitzpatrick on What’s Next for him – 16:00

“Obviously election integrity is very important, Dom, because…and again I want to re-emphasize that this is not backwards-looking to 2020, this is forward-looking to every future election. We can not have a situation in our country where close to half of our voters don’t trust the process. We cannot accept that. That’s bad for everybody. And China is a huge problem that we gotta stay on top of. Big tech abuses, censorship and border security. We now have a self-inflicted crisis on the border because of the decisions this administration is making that are creating a crisis and we gotta fix that.”

Fitzpatrick on School Reopenings – 17:00

“Obviously it’s a concern for everybody. What I think the solution is which many states have done is get out teachers vaccinated and make sure we have safe protocols in the schools where parents that, once teachers are vaccinated, we therefore take care of the safety of the teachers and when it comes to the students, you know if parents want to send their kid to school and they feel comfortable and the school has a situation that they’re following safe protocols, then they should have the right to do that, if parents maybe have immune-compromised people at home and they’d rather their child learn remotely, just give the parents the choice—that’s the issue”

Call to Action: Call your House member about COVID Relief

The following message came out from Indivisible National this week:

After hours of delays from Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats have finally passed the American Rescue Plan. As if the American people haven’t suffered enough waiting for COVID-19 relief, Republicans pulled out all the stops to obstruct the bill’s passage. Senator Ron Johnson even went as far as arbitrarily forcing the Senate clerk to read all 500-plus pages of the bill for no other reason than to make the process as painstaking for Democrats as possible. 

The Senate stripped down several crucial elements out of the original bill, which is a frustrating missed opportunity, but this crisis demands we get this bill across the finish line. The timing and outcome of this vote is too important — unless a COVID-19 relief package passes before the March 14 deadline, 11.4 million Americans will lose their benefits, which weren’t enough to begin with.

House Democrats must work quickly and fight to provide the most robust, inclusive aid package possible. There’s no time to waste — call your representative and ask them to pass the American Rescue Plan as quickly as possible.

Senator Johnson wasn’t alone in his shameful display. Throughout this process, Republicans have made it clear that they never intended to engage with serious negotiations and have instead sought to obstruct and water down President Biden’s proposal. Simply put, they believe the American people deserve less, despite the fact that the virus is still raging, over ten million Americans are out of work, and over one hundred thousand small businesses remain closed. 

We want to be clear: this bill should be considered the floor, not the ceiling. Any efforts to provide less aid to fewer people, including restricting benefits to immigrants and mixed-status families, are out of touch with reality. 

We hope you’ll join us to make calls to your representative until the House passes Biden’s American Rescue Plan. 

You can use the Pennsylvania Indivisible resource that has all of your Member of Congress’s methods of contact (phone, fax, website and Twitter) in one location, or use the Indivisible National tool for connecting you with your lawmaker, available here.  Whatever way you choose to contact them the message is simple.

“I support the American Rescue Plan COVID relief,

and I would like to see you support it as well.”

The vote is scheduled for March 9th, so PLEASE get your calls in on Monday or Tuesday AM.

This report is brought to you by the Pennsylvania  MoCTrack team… 

CC Linda Houk

Gary Garb Kierstyn Piotrowski Zolfo We like to use the start of a new Congress to try out new things and change the report around a bit. For this 117th Congress we are aiming for a tighter, shorter but more info-packed report.  If you like the changes or miss an old section, do let us know! Please email KierstynPZ@gmail.com and put “MoCTrack Comments” in the subject. Thanks!