Hillary Clinton has chosen Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate. As a Senator, Kaine voted for fast-track authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement [TPP]. But the Washington Post reports that Kaine has promised to come out publicly against the TPP itself. [1] If Kaine comes out publicly against the TPP now, this will greatly strengthen the idea that "oppose the TPP" is the "Democratic Party line," and thereby help us block a lame-duck vote on the TPP after the election. Urge Kaine to keep his pledge to come out publicly against the TPP by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/07/23/tim-kaine-is-not-a-perfect-choice-but-hes-a-pretty-good-one/

As the Republican nominee for President of the United States, Donald Trump will begin receiving national security briefings. Based on his long record of explicitly xenophobic and discriminatory beliefs and intentions to act on those beliefs, we acknowledge that providing him or his campaign with sensitive national security information poses a grave danger to the United States and her allies. Based on his statements and record we believe Mr. Trump may chose to act upon and exploit sensitive national security information for personal gain whether or not he is elected president. We urge the standing US government to take any and all necessary legal action to prevent him from being provided with classified information pertaining to national security.

On June 16, the House narrowly failed, 204-216, [1] to ban the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, which has used them in civilian areas in Yemen in violation of U.S. law. [2] The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch supported Rep. Conyers' amendment. The Senate has not yet considered the measure. We know where the overwhelming majority of House Democrats stand. On June 16, 164 House Democrats voted to ban the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. Only 16 Democrats voted no. Every Wisconsin House Democrat - Mark Pocan, Ron Kind, and Gwen Moore - voted for the amendment. [3] Urge Senator Baldwin to stand with these Wisconsin Democrats and publicly oppose the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia by signing our petition. References: 1. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll327.xml 2. http://www.noclusterbombs.org/news/2016/05/28/transfers-ksa/ 3. https://projects.propublica.org/represent/votes/114/house/2/327

Press reports [1] indicate that Hillary Clinton's "shortlist" for Vice-President includes retired Navy admiral James Stavridis, who was the supreme allied commander of NATO. Stavridis was a vocal public opponent of the Iran nuclear agreement. [2] Urge Senate Democrats who supported the Iran nuclear deal to use their influence to support a candidate for Vice-President who publicly supported the Iran nuclear agreement by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/20/us/politics/hillary-clinton-vice-president.html 2. http://www.jta.org/2016/07/13/news-opinion/politics/possible-clinton-vp-choice-an-ex-nato-chief-slammed-iran-deal-and-has-close-israel-ties

In August 2013, Florida Rep. Alan Grayson was a vocal opponent of plans to bomb the Syrian government. Those plans were blocked by bipartisan Congressional opposition, invoking the power of Congress to authorize - or not authorize - the use of military force according to the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution. Instead, President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry negotiated a diplomatic agreement with Russia that avoided war. Now Alan Grayson is running for Senate. If elected to the Senate, Grayson would participate in confirmation hearings for the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State. Under current Senate rules, any Senator can place a hold on a nomination or attempt to lead a filibuster against it. That gives individual Senators tremendous leverage to insist on answers from Administration nominees, such as when Senator Rand Paul used the nomination of John Brennan to insist that the Administration clarify its claims concerning its authority to target U.S. citizens with drone strikes. Alan Grayson should publicly pledge that if elected to the Senate, he'll oppose confirmation of any national security nominee unless they affirm under oath that they will respect the Constitutional role of Congress in authorizing the use of force. Specifically, unless they pledge under oath that they will not support, advocate, or participate in any military action in Syria against Russian, Iranian, or Syrian government forces, unless that action is 1) in immediate self-defense against direct armed attack on U.S. forces or imminent threat of direct armed attack on U.S. forces or 2) such action has been explicitly authorized by the U.S. Congress. Lying to Congress under oath is a serious federal crime; people have been prosecuted for it in the past. Urge Representative Grayson to make this pledge to hold national security nominees accountable to the Constitution by signing our petition.

On July 15, there was an attempted military coup in Turkey. During the attempted coup, the White House put out a statement that said: "The President and Secretary [Kerry] agreed that all parties in Turkey should support the democratically-elected Government of Turkey." [1] Turkey's main opposition parties condemned the coup attempt. [2] It's a crucial principle of a just foreign policy that when there is an attempted coup against a democratically-elected government, the United States should oppose the coup and support the authority of the democratically-elected government against the attempted coup, regardless of whether the democratically-elected government threatened by an attempted coup is a purported "U.S. ally" or purported "U.S. adversary," "pro-U.S." or "anti-U.S.," regardless of whether we like or dislike the democratically-elected government in question or its policies. The United States government has violated this principle many, many times in the past, but that's no excuse for violating it in the future. "Supporting democracy," if it's real and not merely a slogan to mask other agendas, is like opposing torture: if it's a principle, then it applies every time. This principle is crucial for preventing coups, because when an attempted coup is unfolding, there is very likely to be some group of people demanding that we reserve judgment, that we not be "knee-jerk," that we wait and see whether the coup is "good" or "bad." This happened in Egypt in 2013 [3], in Honduras in 2009 [4], in Venezuela in 2002. In addition to being unprincipled, this demand that we reserve judgment on a coup can be very harmful because there is usually a narrow window to stop an attempted coup. By the time everyone who was demanding that we reserve judgment has to admit that in fact, this coup is a "bad coup" like all the others, it's usually too late to stop the coup, the coup has already been consolidated. This happened in Egypt in 2013 and in Honduras in 2009. Just as we rely on the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution to help us stop a rush to war "before all the facts are in," we rely on the principle that "coups are bad" to stop coups from being consolidated "before all the facts are in." The attempted coup in Turkey was defeated. But this is a "teachable moment" - coups are bad, regardless of how we feel about the democratically-elected government that someone is trying to overthrow - and we should use this moment to nail this principle to the wall for all time. Thank President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry for standing up against the attempted coup in Turkey by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/07/15/readout-presidents-call-secretary-john-kerry 2. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-15/turkish-premier-says-elements-of-army-attempt-to-seize-power 3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jackson-diehl-egypts-misguided-coup/2013/07/04/64bd121c-e4b4-11e2-a11e-c2ea876a8f30_story.html 4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/wikileaks-honduras-state_b_789282.html

This petition is being sent due to the lack of urgency and pressure being applied to the Peoples Republic of China to release an innocent U.S. citizen.

Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulates the export of animal pelts. The Service has illegally failed to evaluate the export program, resulting in the trapping and killing of native and endangered species. Western Environmental Law Center is a nonprofit, environmental law firm whose expert attorneys are dedicated to defending the wildlife of the American West. WELC attorneys filed suit against U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in May.

Last week, 54 African leaders gathered in Kigali, Rwanda for the 27th Annual African Union Summit. Only 22 years ago, Rwanda was the site of a horrific genocide, leaving over 800,000 civilians dead, prompting massive refugee flows into surrounding countries, and propelling regional instability, the repercussions of which are still being felt today. Today in Burundi, less than an hour’s drive from the Summit, the similarities to Rwanda in 1994 are haunting. Hate speech is rife, with words such as “dogs,” “snakes,” and “terrorists,” being used against political opponents - much as they were used during the genocide in Rwanda. There are reports of youth being armed, and up to 67 people are killed each month. Additionally, there are over 6,000 political prisoners, including over 500 youth recently arrested for doodling on photos of President Pierre Nkurunziza. According to the UN, there have been 345 recorded torture cases, including by electrical shock and use of acid. Testimonies show women forced to strip naked to see relatives in prison, and Human Rights Watch has reported gang-rape of women by youth militia members as part of attacks on perceived opponents. Nearly 300,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries, living in camps where many feel unsafe. Over the past 12 months, the world has failed to respond as hundreds have died in Burundi. As the crisis escalates and peace talks stall, the time to act is now. As such, we urge the African Union to prioritize the lives of Burundian civilians, whatever their political leanings, by creating and implementing a plan for civilian protection. There may be a short window to effect change in Burundi before chaos breaks out – please learn from the lessons of Burundi’s northern neighbor and stand on the right side of history. We urge the African Union to prioritize Burundi at the AU July Summit, and to do the following: 1. Publicly condemn hate speech from all parties in Burundi; 2. Urge the UN Security Council to support Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s proposal for a robust 3,000-member police protection mission in Burundi; 3. Work with African Union member states, as well as the UN, to fulfill the agreed-upon 200 human rights and military monitors for Burundi; 4. Urge the East African Community to support former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa as a peace talk facilitator by giving him more independence as lead facilitator; and 5. Include non-governmental representatives from Burundi, including civil society in exile, refugees, women, youth, and other minority groups, in dialogue about next steps for peace in Burundi.

Puerto Rico is in trouble, yes mostly because of bad government deals USA and Puerto Rico politicians, years of bad policies, mismanagement, excessive debt and kept hostage by Congress Its economy has been shrinking or stagnant for a decade and the unemployment rate sits at nearly 12 percent on the book but more than 40% after you take the government bad bookkeeping.. The commonwealth and its utilities have a debt of $73 billion, its public pension funds are woefully underfunded and the government could be forced to shut down soon. Lawmakers in Washington and San Juan are trying to come up with a plan that addresses the financial and economic problems of the territory, which is home to 3.6 million American citizens on the island and 4.4million scattered in the states. The island’s difficulties also affect investors in the 50 states who own the tax-exempt bonds issued by Puerto Rico’s government and utilities and of which they ripe great benefits all throughout these years. Now they want o collect all the eggs, problem is there are no more hens. Once a growing manufacturing center, Puerto Rico began a long decline in the mid-2000s after federal tax incentives for businesses that produced goods on the island were phased out, prompting many employers and tens of thousands of workers to leave, thanks to the USA Congress who took away the benefits Puerto Rican leaders made the situation worse by not investing sufficiently in the economy and by borrowing excessively, all by designed since the two parties are at a 50 year old war designed to make themselves rich and the heck with the people. Investors eagerly extended loans without properly analyzing the territory’s deteriorating financial health, so they took a risk which now they will not renegotiate, less provided a chapter 9 format. They did so in large part because interest earned from Puerto Rican government bonds is exempt from federal and state income taxes One of the biggest and most immediate problems for the island is the roughly $20 billion debt owed by three government-owned companies: the electricity utility, the water and sewer system and the highway authority. Because Puerto Rico is a territory, these businesses are not allowed to restructure their debt in Chapter 9 bankruptcies. Congress should approve a new bill that would allow these and other Puerto Rican government-owned companies, as well as municipalities, to use Chapter 9. Half the problem solved. Analysts and bankruptcy experts say that Congress should go even further and allow the government of Puerto Rico to file for bankruptcy. It is also argued that federal lawmakers should appoint a financial control board to oversee the island’s finances; this drastic step would be an act tyranny since Puerto Rico under the ELA \?USA agreement of self-determination was signed in the 50ties. Today may not be worth it paper and ink. There is a lot that can be done to revive Puerto Rico’s economy. The first order is to get the Congress to proclaim Puerto Rico and independent Nation as we are. Puertorricans, we the people, can build stronger efforts to boost tourism, manufacturing and the services sector through targeted public investments could lead to faster growth. We can exercise trade agreement with our Caribbean neighbors, Central and South American partners, as well as with the European Nations. The government could also improve its finances not by raising taxes, but by balancing tax revenue. Puerto Rico only collects about 11 percent of its gross domestic product in taxes, compared with the 33 percent average for advanced countries. Again fixing its finances is not sufficient, , Puerto Rico has to answer a bigger question about its future: Should it become a state, which in my mind the Gringos will never have. Should the government hold another voter referendum on the issue, hello its not worth the paper and effort used. Again Congress has the last standing word. Congress and President Obama budgeted $2.5 million for the territory to hold another referendum on its political status; Governor Padilla said last year his government will hold a vote by 2016, will never happen, and if it did it will amount o nothing. Puerto Rico is about 1,000 miles from Miami, but it can seem a world apart. And as a matter of fact it is a World apart, we have a different culture, we speak Spanish, we eat Rice and beans and fried chicken, we love the Spanish music and have some to the World best musicians artist and poets. The island’s financial problems are a reminder that benign neglect has had terrible consequences for millions of Puerto Ricans, as for American we are all Americans. To ease everybodys pain I Petition for Freedom

On June 16, the House of Representatives narrowly failed [1] to approve an amendment sponsored by Rep. John Conyers [D-MI] that would have blocked the transfer of U.S. cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, which has used U.S. cluster bombs in civilian areas in Yemen, in defiance of U.S. law. [2] Textron, based in Providence, Rhode Island, is the last North American producer of cluster bombs, and has the contract to supply cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia. Some opponents of the amendment cited this as a reason for their opposition - banning the transfer of U.S. cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia might hurt the profits of a U.S. company. Rhode Island's Representatives in the House, David Cicilline and Jim Langevin, rejected this argument - they did the right thing and voted yes on the Conyers amendment. [3] But Rhode Island Democratic Senator Jack Reed is leading the charge to keep the flow of U.S. cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia going. [4]. Textron has been one of Reed's top campaign contributors. [5] Urge Jack Reed to do the right thing and renounce his support of cluster bombs by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/obama-heeding-close-house_b_10516480.html 2. http://www.noclusterbombs.org/news/2016/05/28/transfers-ksa/ 3. https://projects.propublica.org/represent/votes/114/house/2/327 4. http://www.rifuture.org/jack-reed-supports-selling-cluster-bombs-to-saudi-arabia.html 5. http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cycle=Career&cid=n00000362

Maryland Democrat Elijah Cummings, chair of the Democratic Platform Committee, says an agreement on the platform language between the Clinton and Sanders forces could happen within days. [1] One of the issues that has been in dispute is what the Democratic Platform will say about Palestinian rights and the occupation of the West Bank, especially about settlement expansion in the West Bank. The other three House Democrats on the Platform Committee - Keith Ellison, Barbara Lee, and Luis Gutierrez - all signed Rep. Betty McCollum's letter asking that the U.S. speak up for the rights of Palestinian kids in military detention. [2] The other three House Democrats on the Platform Committee have also all co-sponsored [3] HR 686, which calls for affirming U.S. opposition to settlement expansion in the West Bank. [4] But Rep. Cummings didn't sign McCollum's letter, and so far he hasn't agreed to co-sponsor HR 686. That's reason for concern about where he stands on opposing settlement expansion. Urge Rep. Cummings to affirm U.S. opposition to settlement expansion by signing our petition. References: 1. http://thehill.com/homenews/house/284551-clinton-vows-to-work-closely-with-democrats 2. http://mccollum.house.gov/press-release/mccollum-leads-20-members-congress-urging-president-obama-create-special-envoy 3. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-resolution/686/cosponsors 4. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-resolution/686/text