Can you sign this letter?/Can you help deliver it on June 18 at 4:30 PM?

Rep. John Sarbanes
600 Baltimore Ave.
Suite 303
Baltimore, MD 21204

June 18, 2014

Dear Representative Sarbanes:

Members of the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore are voters and supporters of Progressive Democrats of America. We ask you to join with us observing Juneteenth also known as Independence Day, Freedom Day, or Emancipation Day. To honor this celebration of freedom and participation in America, we call upon you to cosponsor the following legislation to protect voting rights, and to help provide a job for everyone who needs employment:

Considering that the right to vote is essential to our system of self government, and that any interference with the free exercise of this right undermines the legitimacy of our Republic, we expect you to join the growing bipartisan consensus supporting the right to vote including addressing all policies and other challenges that make voting unnecessarily difficult. We call upon you to cosponsor the following legislation:

The Voter Empowerment Act of 2013 (H.R.12), The Democracy Restoration Act of 2014 (H.R.4459), The Same Day Registration Act of 2013 (H.R.280), and The Voter Access Protection Act of 2013 (H.R.281) that would facilitate voting by lawful voters. Also, Joint Resolution (H.J.Res.44) proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States regarding the right to vote that would “grant every U.S. citizen of legal voting age the fundamental right to vote in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which they reside.”

To celebrate and enhance the great American opportunity society, we also call upon you to cosponsor The Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Training Act (H.R.1000). Since 2000, millions of manufacturing jobs have vanished. Service jobs are also disappearing. America needs H.R. 1000 to put people back to work rebuilding our infrastructure and communities.

We ask you to fully support these jobs and voting rights bills. Please direct your staff to contact the following offices to cosponsor them:

Rep. John Lewis for H.R.12 at (202)-225-3801
Rep. John Conyers for H.R. 4459 and H.R. 1000 at (202)-225-5126
Rep. Marc Pocan for H.J.Res.44 at (202)-225-2906
Rep. Keith Ellison for H.R.280 and H.R.281 at (202)-225-4755

Finally, we are seeking an end to the use of killer drone strikes, which we believe to be illegal and unconstitutional. We ask you to speak out against this assassination program, which ignores any veneer of due process. Consider as well a request for the full, unclassified release of information surrounding the administration’s drone policy.

We look forward to your response. And when you are ready, we would like to meet with you, preferably in Baltimore. But if necessary, we will travel to your D.C. office. We thank you for your consideration regarding these critically important issues, and look forward to ongoing discussion and engagement with you in the coming months.

Peace,

Max Obuszewski, on behalf of Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore/Fund Our Communities

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs