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Congress – RI Future http://www.rifuture.org Progressive News, Opinion, and Analysis Sat, 29 Oct 2016 16:03:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.25 South Kingstown biology teacher Jeff Johnson challenges Langevin http://www.rifuture.org/jeff-johnson-congressional-run/ http://www.rifuture.org/jeff-johnson-congressional-run/#respond Wed, 26 Oct 2016 10:56:57 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=68853 Continue reading "South Kingstown biology teacher Jeff Johnson challenges Langevin"

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jeff-johnsonJeff Johnson was my high school biology teacher at South Kingstown High School. Students like me know him as the teacher who consistently dresses poorly and reads poetry out loud for fun. In many ways, he lives a life of absolutes. His desk is eternally messy; his glasses are always missing. His vocabulary and control over language are often awe-inspiring; his typing speed, not so much. He is universally loved by his students. He is fiercely intelligent and curious. But most importantly, he is so incredibly caring, not only to his students and to his family but also to our planet and to all its citizens.

Mr. Johnson has spent the past three decades fighting for the people and the issues politicians don’t care to talk about. Since the 1970s, Mr. Johnson has been engaged in the fight against climate change, and in March 2016, he helped organize a Climate March in South Kingstown. In the late 1990s, Mr. Johnson became heavily involved in the protests against the inhumanity of the American sanctions on Iraq which killed an estimated 500,000 children. Opposed to the Iraq War from the beginning, Mr. Johnson, alongside thousands of people, participated in the Iraq War demonstration in NYC on February 15, 2003. Over the years, Mr. Johnson has brought to the high school activists like Ralph Nader and the late Howard Zinn to speak on issues ranging from climate change to perpetual war.

But even with all of these things going on, Mr. Johnson always finds time to help his students. When I was at the high school, Mr. Johnson was always helping someone after school, whether it was with biology concepts, family problems, writing an essay or a science fair project. These conversations would go well into the afternoon, sometimes into the night. And it was one of these late afternoon conversations that sparked the idea for this campaign.

Today, his campaign is run by the volunteer work of a dozen of his students (current and former). We have spent countless hours working on a campaign platform (available online) that covers everything from agricultural policy to social security reform. We have been kicked out of libraries while collecting signatures outside. We have marched through torrential rain holding deteriorating cardboard box anti-war signs in our arms. We have designed a bumper stickers and yard signs, brochures and a website. We do this because we have talked to Mr. Johnson; we have gotten to know what a passionate man he is; and we really believe that he has the ability to affect change, meaningful change, where Mr. Langevin hasn’t in his decade and a half.

To Mr. Johnson, and perhaps to his campaign’s detriment, the election isn’t just about winning and a job in Congress— it is about his students. “The reason why I got into politics was because I was always talking about issues like climate change, but if all you do is talk about them, all you do is depress kids,” he told me earlier today in his classroom, “I felt like I had to do more than a hollow, academic exercise. It had to be a tangible part of my life. I was tired of feeling guilty.” This same feeling motivated Mr. Johnson to run in 1994, 1998 and then again in 2000 for statewide office. In 1994, Mr. Johnson ran for Lieutenant Governor as a Green, receiving about 6% of the vote. To date, no statewide election has matched that vote share result for a Green candidate.

Mr. Johnson is a candidate who will not represent corporate greed and war. He will never take money, as Mr. Langevin has, from defense contractors: General Dynamics, Raytheon and Northrup Grumman. He will not be passive as climate change ravages our world— he will be practicing civil disobedience with the activists— he will be getting arrested on the streets so that people will pay attention. Mr. Johnson is a person who understands the plight of the “American dream” and the American worker. He was the first person in his family to graduate from college, and today, he holds four degrees. He has worked as a submarine welder, a quahogger, a farmer, a prison dishwasher, a medical technician, a Ford assembly line operator, a gas station mechanic, a painter, a landscaper, a book editor and a paperboy. Nowadays, in addition to the high school, he commutes to Providence to work in DCYF group homes on weekends. Private sector, public sector, white collar, blue collar, Mr. Johnson has seen it all. He has seen for himself the struggle and hardship Americans must face every day.

This election season, we hang on the precipice. We must think carefully about whether we want to maintain this status quo of wage stagnation and environmental degradation. We must be open to alternatives, no matter our political affiliation or views. And more than anything, we must courageously vote our conscience after we have given all candidates a fair assessment. Mr. Johnson, I believe, offers alternatives to our status quo, alternatives that will leave a healthy planet for future generations, alternatives that will heal our economic system so that it is more equitable and fair for both the American people and those abroad.

If you want to read more about our campaign and our views, please visit out website. And check out our Facebook page!

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Langevin and Hamilton have surface similarities but deeper differences http://www.rifuture.org/langevin-hamilton/ http://www.rifuture.org/langevin-hamilton/#comments Wed, 07 Sep 2016 12:02:40 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=67653 Continue reading "Langevin and Hamilton have surface similarities but deeper differences"

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hamilton
John Hamilton

In many ways, Congressman Jim Langevin and upstart progressive challenger John Hamilton have a lot in common even as they compete in the Democratic primary for the second congressional district seat.

For example, they both think Langevin is a strong favorite to win.

“It’s an uphill battle,” Hamilton said. “He has a lot of money and he’s the incumbent. All the advantages go to the incumbent.”

Langevin said, “I’m hopeful and optimistic about it. I feel good about the race, but never overconfident.”

And both describe themselves as being progressive.

“I’m a progressive from way back,” Hamilton said, “which used to be known as a liberal.”

Langevin said, “If you look at my voting record I think I have a very progressive voting record.”

On policy matters, too, Langevin and Hamilton agree more often than they disagree. Both cited income inequality as the biggest issue facing America.

“To my view concentrated wealth at the top is the problem,” said Hamilton.

Jim Langevin
Jim Langevin

Langevin said, “We talk about fighting for a living wage and closing the income gap and trying to create an economic system that the vast majority of American families would benefit under, as opposed to the 1 percent, I’m a pretty consistent vote on all of those things.”

It’s the subtle differences in their responses that shows why Hamilton is challenging Langevin, despite conceding that “we’re both pretty good” when asked where the two candidates find agreement.

“I’m seeking to be a change agent in this election,” said Hamilton, who was inspired to run for congress by Bernie Sanders.

Langevin, the eight-term Democrat first elected in 2000, said, “It is my job to reflect the views of my constituents, the people I represent, and I hope I’ve been doing that effectively.”

Both are voting for Hillary Clinton in November, but Langevin is an avid supporter of hers and Hamilton, who served two terms in the state legislature in the early 1980’s, more reluctantly. He says he returned to politics only because “both parties are taking a wrong direction.” For 30 years, less-than-liberal Democrats helped Republicans and corporations ruin the American middle class, according to Hamilton.

“The Democratic Party took a wrong direction in the 1990’s,” he said. “We had the golden years of economics in America … and what happened? Well, we started cutting taxes for the very wealthy – the billionaires, the millionaires and the corporations – so we had less revenue to reinvest in our country. Then we started doing these trade agreements … and then we deregulated the banks, we did away with Glass Steagall, which was an important separation of investment and regular banking. I call those the triad of middle class destruction. We had job sucking trade agreements, we had bank deregulation and we had the trickle down economics and taxation that started with Reagan and then later in the Clinton era.”

On these finer points, Langevin and Hamilton only partially agree.

Both candidates oppose trade deals, in general, and the Trans Pacific Partnership, in particular. But there is a concerted difference in their words.

“I see TPP as nothing more than a corporate takeover of America and I consider anyone who votes for TPP to be voting against the United States of America,” Hamilton said.

Langevin was more measured, saying, “I’m not a supporter of that right now. I’m waiting to see what is going to be negotiated in terms of an agreement. I have not been impressed with many of the trade agreements in the past, including NAFTA, that have worked well for other countries, it seems, and corporations but hasn’t benefited American workers or American companies as much as it has overseas companies.”

They have stronger differences on reinstating the Glass Steagall, which historically prevented lending banks from also being investment banks but was repealed in 1999. It is a favorite policy prescription of  many progressives looking to reign in Wall Street..

“Not that I’m opposed to reinstalling the provisions of Glass-Steagall,” Langevin said, “but the Consumer Protection Division that we just created, I do want to give that a chance to work to see if that could be more effective.”

Both said gun safety and gender equality are important areas for Congress to act on next session. Hamilton is solidly pro choice and Langevin more pro life when it comes to abortion, but it’s hard to imagine legislation that would divide them as Langevin often votes against anti-abortion bills sponsored by Republicans. Langevin voted with Republicans last session on a bill that would have made it more difficult for Syrian refugees to come to the United States and Hamilton criticized him for it. But, for the most part, if Republicans control the House of Representatives again, which Langevin said seems likely, he and Hamilton would probably often vote the same way.

But there are big differences between Langevin’s style and Hamilton’s – and nowhere is that difference more acute than in their approaches to the proposed Burrillville power plant.

“That plant is not needed in Burrillville,” Hamilton said. “If there is any politician who hasn’t come out against it and stood with them against this power plant, they need to send that message that they are never getting their vote again.”

Langevin isn’t taking a position on the issue.

“I think everyone recognizes that we have to do more to meet our state’s energy needs and help bring down the cost of energy and some feel that the Burrillville power plant is something that will help in that area but we also have to mindful of the environmental impacts,” he said. “That’s why I support the whole process and fact finding that’s happening right now. Although it’s not a federal issue, it’s local and state, I’m certainly monitoring the issue very closely.”

Hamilton, whose first political awakening came when protesting against a proposed nuclear power plant in Charlestown in the 1970’s, called Langevin’s hands-off approach “unacceptable.” Remembering how they stopped the proposed nuclear power plant from being developed where Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge is today, he said, “John Chafee and Claiborne Pell did not remain neutral on the Charlestown nuclear power plant.”

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Senator Whitehouse is fighting ‘dark money’ in Washington http://www.rifuture.org/whitehouse-dark-money/ http://www.rifuture.org/whitehouse-dark-money/#respond Tue, 06 Sep 2016 23:16:01 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=67656 2016-09-06 Dark Money 006Saying that fighting dark money in politics is his “patriotic duty,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse sat next to Congressmembers David Cicilline and James Langevin in a “roundtable discussion” to highlight his work on the DISCLOSE Act, introduced by the Senator in June, which would “require disclosure of donations greater than $10,000 to organizations spending at least $10,000 in an election.”

“The American people want and deserve accountability in their elections,” said Whitehouse, “Unchecked secret corporate spending has tipped the scales of power away from ordinary Americans and in favor of big special interests. If Congress is going to make meaningful progress in the months and years ahead on important issues that matter to Rhode Islanders like addressing climate change, reforming our broken campaign finance system is the first step.”

Whitehouse’s DISCLOSE Act, which has been supported by Langevin and Cicilline in the U.S. House of Representatives, is part of the “We the People” legislative package to deal with secret corporate political spending, lobbyist influence, the revolving door, and other facets of the campaign finance system. Whitehouse touted the suite of legislation as a solution to the corporate spending blocking meaningful legislative action on issues like ensuring economic security for the middle class and addressing climate change.

It seems that Whitehouse mentioned climate change and chose Save the Bay’s headquarters in Providence as the location of his round table discussion because, as the Senator said in response to Meghan Kallman, chair of the RI Sierra Club, “I think it’s pretty safe to say, that at a national level, the climate battle is the campaign finance battle. They’re totally married together into one thing.”

2016-09-06 Dark Money 003Notably, there were protesters outside Save the Bay holding signs reminding their elected representatives about both Invenergy’s proposed $700 million fracked gas and diesel oil burning power plant and National Grid’s proposed LNG liquefaction facility for Fields Point in the Port of Providence, a stone’s throw away. They were there to remind elected officials that their jobs in Washington do not absolve them from taking positions on local issues. None of the elected leaders in the room, aside from State Senator Juan Pichardo, who has publicly taken a stand against the LNG plant in Providence, have thrown their considerable political weight behind the opposition to these projects.

“This is a national package, [but] many many many issues are local,” said Kallman, “We’re watching Dakota. We’re watching Burrillville. We’re watching Fields Point… We have something of a disconnect between what’s happening on the national level and where the front line battles are being fought.”

2016-09-06 Dark Money 004The influence of corporate spending on elections since the 2010 Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court is a major concern to all who attended the event. Citizens United unleashed a previously restricted torrent of special interest money into the political system.  More than $1.5 billion in unlimited contributions, including more than $500 million in secret contributions, have been poured into federal elections since the decision was issued.

“It didn’t take long after Citizens United for secret money has find its way to the shores of Rhode Island,” said John Marion, Executive Director of Common Cause Rhode Island. “We know that Rhode Islanders don’t want unlimited undisclosed money in our elections. We are fortunate to have a congressional delegation that has taken this issue seriously and has offered real solutions for the problems posed by big money in our politics.”

“Senator Whitehouse is a national leader fighting to make our elections and government work for everyday people again through the We the People Act,” said Aquene Freechild, campaign co-director of Public Citizen‘s Democracy Is For People Campaign. “He’s pushing the current congressional majority to snap out of their campaign cash-induced paralysis and stand up to the tiny but influential donor class: by overturning Citizens United, disclosing all spending in elections, and slamming shut the revolving door that transforms public servants into corporate shills.”

Also in attendance at the roundtable discussion were RI Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, RI State Representative Art Handy, state director of Clean Water Action Jonathan Berard, Save the Bay’s Topher Hamblett and Dean Michael J. Yelnosky of the Roger Williams University School of Law. You can watch the rest of the video from the event below.

2016-09-06 Dark Money 0052016-09-06 Dark Money 001

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Cicilline bill would reduce college student loan debt http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-making-college-more-affordable/ http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-making-college-more-affordable/#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2016 14:15:15 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=67384 Continue reading "Cicilline bill would reduce college student loan debt"

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cicilline college debtCongressman David Cicilline will file a new bill in September that will address the student loan debt crisis facing America, he announced at a press conference today.

“Millions of young Americans are being forced to either take on massive amounts of debt or give up on the pursuit of a college degree,” Cicilline said. “This is completely wrong. Higher education must be accessible and affordable to all who are willing to work hard, and not a privilege for the wealthy.”

The legislation is being called the Making College More Affordable Act. Watch the round table discussion Cicilline organized about the issue.

“It reforms and simplifies our broken student loan system and moves us closer to making college a right for everyone, not a privilege for a few,” Cicilline said. “The Making College More Affordable Act will ensure that more young people have access to college education and the resources they need to get ahead.”

The bill will “address the root causes of this problem through a five-point approach,” according to a news release from Cicilline’s office. See fact sheet here.

1) Creates an automatic payroll deduction, thereby simplifying the payment process by deducting monthly payments in the same way that Social Security contributions are deducted today.

2) Lowers the required monthly payment for undergraduate student loans from the current range of 10-20% of a borrower’s after-tax income to a starting contribution of 4% of pre-tax income, with payments increasing for incomes more than $100,000 annually.

3) Eliminates interest payments for borrowers who make monthly payments on time.

4) Shifts from a range of 10-25 years on a loan to a clearly defined 30-year loan – the same as a home mortgage.

5) Allows at least 30 million Americans who are holding student loans today to refinance existing student loan debt by entering into this new system.

The average Rhode Island college graduate would save $11,124 under Cicilline’s proposal, according to the news release. The average RI college grad owes $35,169, said the news release.

“Access to higher education is one of the single greatest predictors of success later in life,” said the news release. “Among millennials, someone with a college degree, as opposed to a high school diploma, will make 62.5 percent more in annual income, will be three times more likely to have a job, and will be four times less likely to live in poverty.”

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Sidewalk 7 activists head to trial in resistance to fracked-gas http://www.rifuture.org/sidewalk7-go-to-trial/ http://www.rifuture.org/sidewalk7-go-to-trial/#respond Wed, 17 Aug 2016 19:54:40 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=67174 Continue reading "Sidewalk 7 activists head to trial in resistance to fracked-gas"

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Four of the seven activists arrested for blocking the driveway at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) headquarters during Beyond Extreme Energy’s #RubberStampRebellion in May are taking their cases to trial.

Defendants and supporters at courthouse in D.C.
Defendants and supporters at courthouse in D.C.

At the Superior Court of the District of Columbia yesterday, #Sidewalk7 members Claude Guillemard of Baltimore, MD, Ellen Taylor of Washington, D.C., and Donald Weightman of Philadelphia, PA, said that they would go to trial, set for Dec. 8, for their May 9 blockade at the FERC.

Peter Nightingale, of Kingston, RI, was arraigned only yesterday because he was out of the country during the first court date. He says he intends to go to trial. BXE and other groups have long criticized the agency for rubber-stamping fracked-gas pipelines, compressor stations and export facilities that it reviews.

“We have been charged with unlawful entry,” Weightman said, “but the real crime is the unlawful entry of methane and carbon dioxide into our air, the unlawful entry of toxic waste into our water, and the unlawful entry of global warming into the future of our world. The real weapon is fracked gas; FERC is the real defendant; we will charge FERC with the commission of a crime.”

MelindaMurphyThe other three #Sidewalk7 activists – Melinda Tuhus of Connecticut, Clarke Herbert of Virginia and Linda Reik of New York – agreed to perform 32 hours of community service and to stay away from the 800 block of 1st Avenue NE, the area of the FERC offices, for four months.

The court actions yesterday were part of the ongoing resistance to fracked-gas infrastructure, including demanding a halt to expansion of Spectra’s AIM Project pipeline. #StopSpectra activists have declared a “state of emergency” in advance of a noon press conference Thursday outside the Manhattan offices of Sens. Charles Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The senators wrote a letter to FERC on Aug. 3 calling for construction to stop. In February, Gov. Andrew Cuomo also asked FERC to postpone the pipeline expansion.

After the court hearing, New York, BXE, and Fossil Free Rhode Island activists hand-delivered invitations to the press conference to the senators’ Washington offices.

The pipeline “would bring fracked gas from Pennsylvania to New England, despite a report from the Massachusetts Attorney General that shows no need for this gas,” the letter said. “In NY, if completed, the AIM Pipeline would carry gas through residential communities and within 105 feet of critical Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant safety facilities.

Just last April, Spectra Energy’s Texas Eastern line erupted into a giant explosion due to pipeline corrosion, and New Yorkers fear what an explosion of this magnitude could mean in such close proximity to Indian Point. Over the last several years, communities along the pipeline route have risen up against the pipeline, and are counting on New York senators to help stop this dangerous project.”

PeterWhitehouseActivists delivered a letter from Fossil Free Rhode Island to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s office.  The senator is generally considered to be a climate champion, but he supports fracked gas as a bridge fuel. The letter asks the senator to change his position so that it is consistent with science and with the nation’s obligations under international treaties, the Rio Declaration in particular.  The letter ends stating: “As a small step in that direction, maybe you could start by following Bill McKibben’s suggestion, ‘correcting the outmoded way the EPA calculates the warming effect of methane.’”

In June, DeSmog Blog reported  that a FERC employee who was the agency’s project manager for reviewing the then-proposed AIM pipeline had been hired by an engineering company that is one of Spectra’s main contractors. DeSmog Blog reported in May and July that a contractor hired by FERC to conduct an environmental review of a Spectra project was already working on related Spectra pipeline projects. U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey have written to FERC Chairman Norman Bay asking about the “potential conflicts of interest.”

A campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience is also ongoing in West Roxbury, MA, where 165 people have been arrested so far blocking construction of the West Roxbury Lateral pipeline.   Resist the Pipeline is coordinating those actions. In addition, the City Council, mayor, the state representative, state senator and U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch oppose the project.

Boston City Council President Michelle Wu said, “Climate change impacts us all and especially future generations. We need immediate, bold action to transition rapidly away from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy. Building new natural gas infrastructure, such as Spectra Energy’s West Roxbury Lateral Pipeline, is wrong for our communities and wrong for future generations. I applaud the thoughtful, purposeful, nonviolent civil disobedience West Roxbury residents and friends are practicing to accomplish what needs to get done.”

In addition, Massachusetts’ highest court ruled today that the state can’t force residential ratepayers to subsidize the construction of pipelines. “This is an incredibly important and timely decision,” said David Ismay, lead attorney on the case for Conservation Law Foundation. “Today our highest court affirmed Massachusetts’ commitment to an open energy future by rejecting the Baker Administration’s attempt to subsidize the dying fossil fuel industry. The course of our economy and our energy markets runs counter to the will of multi-billion dollar pipeline companies, and, thanks to today’s decision, the government will no longer be able to unfairly and unlawfully tip the scales.”
[Based on a BXE press release.]

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Sheldon calls on Cruz to hold congressional hearings on Trump, Russia http://www.rifuture.org/sheldon-coons-cruz-trump/ http://www.rifuture.org/sheldon-coons-cruz-trump/#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2016 14:33:40 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=67159 Continue reading "Sheldon calls on Cruz to hold congressional hearings on Trump, Russia"

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Trump - Col.Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ted Cruz might team up to take on Donald Trump.

Rhode Island’s junior senator and Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, authored a letter to Cruz, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts, asking him to hold hearings on Donald Trump’s recent “encouragement of a Russian cyber incursion of a U.S. presidential candidate.”

The two Democrats want the conservative Republican of Texas, an adversary of Trump’s, to “conduct an oversight hearing to determine whether existing federal criminal statutes and federal court jurisdiction sufficiently address conduct related to foreign entities that could undermine our elections,” according to the letter.

“Specifically,” reads the letter, “we ask that you consider whether requests for foreign entities to conduct cyber attacks on political opponents violate existing federal criminal statutes, and whether there are obstacles to the federal courts asserting jurisdiction to protect the integrity of our nation’s elections.”

No word yet on whether Cruz will agree to hold the hearings. While the climate change-denying Texan is no ally to Whitehouse, he may be a bigger enemy of Trump’s. When Cruz spoke at the Republican National Convention, he implored people to “vote your conscience” rather than voting for Trump, who purposefully interrupted Cruz’s speech. Before that, Trump insulted Cruz’s wife.

Read Whitehouse and Coon’s full letter to Cruz below:

Dear Chairman Cruz:

We write to express our concern regarding recent remarks made by presidential nominee Donald Trump and the threat of foreign influence in U.S. elections.  On July 27, reporters asked Mr. Trump several questions regarding the cyber breach of the Democratic National Committee and potential Russian involvement.  When asked if he would call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stay out of the United States’ presidential election, Mr. Trump stated:  “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. . . . I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”  Mr. Trump’s apparent encouragement of a foreign cyberattack on presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, a U.S. citizen and former Secretary of State, is dangerous and irresponsible.  We ask that you conduct an oversight hearing to determine whether existing federal criminal statutes and federal court jurisdiction sufficiently address conduct related to foreign entities that could undermine our elections.

As two dozen national security experts stated in a recent letter calling for a congressional investigation, this is “not a partisan issue” but rather “an assault on the integrity of the entire American political process.”  The “hacking of a political party’s email system by Russian intelligence agencies would, if proven, constitute unprecedented foreign interference in an American presidential campaign.”

Mr. Trump’s encouragement of a Russian cyber incursion of a U.S. presidential candidate represents an unprecedented call for a foreign government to spy on a U.S. citizen and interfere with a U.S. election.  The threat Russia poses to cybersecurity has long been recognized as a national security issue, with a 2009 National Intelligence Estimate warning that Russia had the most “robust, longstanding program that combines a patient, multidisciplinary approach to computer network operations with proven access and tradecraft.”  Recent Russian attempts to influence foreign elections – in Ukraine, Georgia, and France, for example – by engaging in cyberwarfare and orchestrated leaks are well documented.  Mr. Trump’s comments implicate U.S. criminal laws prohibiting engagement with foreign governments that threaten the country’s interests, including the Logan Act and the Espionage Act.  They threaten the privacy of a U.S. citizen and former government official, inviting Russia to engage in conduct that would violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and, if performed by the U.S. government, would contravene the Fourth Amendment.  Finally, Mr. Trump has invited foreign interference with the presidential election, which we believe should be carefully guarded against under U.S. law.

To ensure the integrity of the presidential election and its insulation from Russian cyber threats, we ask that you conduct an oversight hearing to consider whether existing federal criminal statutes and federal court jurisdiction sufficiently address conduct related to foreign entities that could undermine our elections.  Specifically, we ask that you consider whether requests for foreign entities to conduct cyber attacks on political opponents violate existing federal criminal statutes, and whether there are obstacles to the federal courts asserting jurisdiction to protect the integrity of our nation’s elections.

Sincerely,

Christopher A. Coons                                                                         Sheldon Whitehouse

United States Senator                                                                           United States Senator

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Congressmen Cicilline, Larson want to expand social security for retirees http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-larson-social-security/ http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-larson-social-security/#respond Fri, 12 Aug 2016 19:33:59 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=67097 Continue reading "Congressmen Cicilline, Larson want to expand social security for retirees"

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social securityOn August 14, 1935 President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, perhaps one of the greatest and most important strands of the fraying American social safety net.

On Tuesday, Congressmen David Cicilline and  John Larson of Connecticut are celebrating social security’s 81st birthday in East Providence, in the community room of Rumford Towers, 95 Newman Ave.

“An estimated 165 million workers are covered by Social Security, with nine out of ten individuals age 65 and older receiving these benefits,” according to a news release from Cicilline’s office. “A recent study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that Social Security keeps at least 22 million Americans out of poverty.”

But celebrating FDR’s achievement isn’t enough.

“Cicilline and Larson have introduced the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 1391) to expand benefits, cut taxes for millions of seniors, and ensure Social Security remains solvent through the end of the century,” said the news release. “Expanding benefits for current and future seniors will provide greater economic security and dignity at a time when millions of Americans are increasingly concerned about their retirement.”

The event is open to the public. It will be held at 3:30 in the Community Room at Rumford Towers, 95 Newman Avenue, in East Providence.

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Cicilline, Langevin on historic House floor sit-in for gun safety http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-langevin-on-historic-house-floor-sit-in-for-gun-safety/ http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-langevin-on-historic-house-floor-sit-in-for-gun-safety/#comments Thu, 30 Jun 2016 12:00:44 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=65257 cicilline gun sit-in pvdAfter leading a sit-in-styled event at the Providence Public Safety Complex yesterday, Rhode Island congressmen David Cicilline and Jim Langevin talked to RI Future about the direct action sit-in on the House floor last week and how it helped changed the debate on gun safety in Rhode Island.

“Sometimes you have to break the rules to stand up for something really important,” said Cicilline, who predicted the Democrats will eventually get the Republicans to vote on the ‘no fly, no buy’ gun safety bill they are angling for. “Sometimes these fights require finding a way to get in the way. Sometimes it’s the only way you can both bring attention and galvanize people to move forward and make change.”

Langevin called the sit-in, “among the most meaningful, impactful and inspiring days of my entire time in Congress. We are demanding a vote and we are not going to go away until we get one.”

If you couldn’t make it to the yesterday, here’s the video of the entire event, which also featured Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action, Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steve Pare, General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, representatives Aaron Regunberg and Teresa Tanzi as well as several others.

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Cicilline, Langevin hold gun safety ‘sit-in’ Wed in PVD http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-langevin-hold-gun-safety-sit-in-wed-in-pvd/ http://www.rifuture.org/cicilline-langevin-hold-gun-safety-sit-in-wed-in-pvd/#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2016 18:28:35 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=65157 cicilline lewisFollowing on their successful sit-in action last week on the House floor to call attention to gun violence in America, Rhode Island congressmen David Cicilline and Jim Langevin are hosting a local action called “No More Silence: A Public Sit-In to Reduce Gun Violence.”

The event will be on Wednesday, 3pm at the Providence Public Safety Complex.

Cicilline and Langevin both participated in the historic sit-in on the House floor last week that was organized to call attention to the GOP’s inaction on gun safety following the horrific Pulse massacre in Orlando that left 49 innocent people dead.

The follow-up event is being billed, by Cicilline spokesman Rich Luchette, as an opportunity to “discuss ways for Rhode Islanders to continue to push Republicans in Congress on ‘no fly, no buy’ and universal background checks,” he said.

Cicilline was an organizer of the 26-hour House floor sit-in, along with Georgia Congressman John Lewis, which for 12 hours prevented Republicans from conducting congressional business.

“Republicans can no longer ignore the voices of millions of Americans who are demanding commonsense legislation to address this epidemic,” Cicilline said in a statement following the protest action. “It is shameful that Speaker Ryan, using a procedural maneuver, adjourned the House in the dark of night, shortly after his party voted for another Wall Street giveaway, so that Republicans would not have to address the very real impact of gun violence. This isn’t Wall Street’s House – it’s the People’s House – and it’s time Republicans start acting like it by addressing the important issues facing American families. When the Speaker calls the House back into session we will continue to stand up once again for our constituents who are demanding we take action to reduce gun violence in our country.”

In a letter to congressional colleagues, the six organizers of the sit in wrote:

Dear Colleagues:
This week, Democrats in Congress made history while the world watched.  Our sit-in showed that the Republican Leadership can no longer ignore the epidemic of gun violence.  A movement was born and will only continue to grow.
We ask you to join us in a National Day of Action on June 29, 2016.  While you are back home in your District, you can continue to build the momentum and engage your community.  Whether it a press conference, roundtable, or telephone town hall, we encourage you host an event showing that Democrats in Congress will keep up the fight against gun violence.  Local partners including survivors, law enforcement and faith leaders can be excellent partners and can help carry our message even further.
We look forward to working with you as we continue our fight to bring commonsense, bipartisan, gun violence prevention legislation up for a vote. Together, we can give voice to the overwhelming majority of the American people who want to see their Congress take action to help keep our communities safe.
Sincerely,
John Lewis
John B. Larson
Katherine M. Clark
David N. Cicilline
Robin Kelly
Mike Thompson
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Led by Cicilline and Lewis, Dems shut down House of Representatives http://www.rifuture.org/led-by-cicilline-and-lewis-dems-shut-down-house-of-representatives/ http://www.rifuture.org/led-by-cicilline-and-lewis-dems-shut-down-house-of-representatives/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2016 06:29:22 +0000 http://www.rifuture.org/?p=64928 Continue reading "Led by Cicilline and Lewis, Dems shut down House of Representatives"

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cicilline lewisCongressional Democrats shut down the U.S. House of Representatives by staging a sit-in on the floor that lasted more than 12 hours, led to disarray and physically prevented Speaker Paul Ryan from conducting business.

They were protesting against House Republicans who refuse to allow a vote on a bill that would get guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists. The civil disobedience was organized, in part, by Rhode Island Congressman David Cicilline. Georgia Congressman John Lewis, a hero of the Civil Rights Movement, was the undisputed leader and moral compass of what some called the “beginnings of a movement.”

The planned direct action began shortly after 11am. RI Future reported on it just before 1pm. Shortly after 1am, Speaker Ryan and House Republicans called for vote to adjourn until July 5 at 2:30 am. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Republicans were sneaking out in the dark of night.

Earlier in the evening, Ryan was shouted down when he tried to conduct business and he retreated from the speaker’s rostrum. Democrats chanted “shame, shame, shame” as he and his fellow Republicans left the chamber. From the back of the chamber, Republicans tried briefly to shout down the Democrat’s protest. One yelled “radical Islam” over and over. The civil disobedience had devolved into bedlam. The New York Times called it a “remarkable scene of pandemonium.”

Democrats held control of the chamber for four more hours, broadcasting live not through the traditional TV cameras in the Capitol but rather through the Periscope and Facebook Live feeds of legislators.

“Still here,” Cicilline tweeted just after midnight.

Cicilline was lauded by his colleagues throughout as a leading voice and organizer of the effort. RI Rep. Jim Langevin also participated, but Cicilline played a leading role throughout the event. He stood next to Rep. Lewis for much of the evening and even joined in the mayhem when Republicans made a failed effort to regain control early in the evening, shouting at House security who tried to remove spectators from the balconies, which are typically off limits to the public when the House is in session, saying “This is the people’s House!”

In a speech he delivered just after 2am, Cicilline said, “We’ve now been here for about 14 hours and I just want to make sure everyone understands what House leadership is about to do. We all talk about the great promise of America … none of it is real if we can’t keep people alive. We tried to have a discussion about these sensible ideas. The American people are going to wake up in the morning and realize the Republicans allowed us to do nothing about this problem. Shame on them for blocking these common sense proposals.”

House Democrats are calling for a floor vote on a bill that would deny guns for people being investigated as terrorists. While a similar bill was defeated in the Senate, Speaker Ryan has not let it come up for a vote in the House.

Outside Congress, a protest of the people convened. “In my 5 decades in Congress, I’ve never seen us come together like this,” said Michigan Congressman John Conyers.

The gravitas of Congressman Lewis, who has endured brutal beatings from the police for protesting during the Civil Rights era, was palpable throughout the affair.

“Thank you for getting in trouble,” he said during one of his speeches during the action. “By sitting-in you are standing up. I don’t know what the end is going to be. But my idea: just stay here. Just stay here.”

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