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

Now that Hillary Clinton is the "presumptive Democratic nominee," some inside-the-Beltway supporters of Clinton who want more war are being more open about their pro-war agenda. Michele Flournoy, the former Defense Department official whom Defense One calls “the woman expected to run the Pentagon under Hillary Clinton,” this week advocated for “sending more American troops into combat against ISIS and the Assad regime than the Obama administration has been willing to commit.” Flournoy said she would "direct U.S. troops to push President Bashar al-Assad’s forces out of southern Syria and would send more American boots to fight the Islamic State in the region.” [1] It's not a done deal that Flournoy will be Secretary of Defense; at the very least, we should have a public debate over whether a Secretary of Defense who advocates for more war is the kind of Secretary of Defense that we want to have. As the Democratic primaries and caucuses have just shown, in order to have a real debate, we need to have an alternative candidate. Lawrence Korb is a former Assistant Secretary of Defense who administered 70% of the defense budget. He is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information. [2] He was formerly director of national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He criticized the invasion of Iraq during the Bush Administration and has called for reducing the defense budget and redirecting the money to social programs. Most importantly, he has advocated a policy of military restraint and has defended President Obama's policy of trying to avoid becoming ensnared in Syria's civil war. [3] Urge Members of Congress to support the nomination of Larry Korb to be Secretary of Defense by signing our petition. References: 1. https://theintercept.com/2016/06/22/hillary-clintons-likely-pentagon-chief-already-advocating-for-more-bombing-and-intervention/ 2. https://www.americanprogress.org/about/staff/korb-lawrence-j/bio/ 3. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/bernie-sanders-foreign-poicy-213619

Around 10,000 dogs will be killed and eaten during the infamous Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which begins on June 21st. Over the course of the year, the Chinese cat and dog meat trade will be responsible for the death of up to 20 million cats and dogs. Activists have uncovered horrific abuse in the industry, including dogs being urinated on, beaten, stabbed, and boiled alive. Many dogs are stolen from families, stacked on top of each other in crates, and transported for days without food or water. The most recent investigation of the Yulin slaughterhouses adds to the mountain of evidence showing that using animals for food is inherently violent and unethical. The US government is currently in strategic dialogue with China on a variety of global affairs. Additionally, China is feeling the pressure to stop the cat and dog meat trade and sales are falling. The time is now for President Obama to raise the issue of the cat and dog meat trade with Chinese officials and publicly condemn the industry. Like so many of us, President Obama is a dog lover. This is his opportunity to leave a legacy for the cats and dogs and cat and dog lovers of the world and show that animal abuse -- no matter the species or country -- is always wrong. Watch the investigation at YulinIsEverywhere.com.

In response to the assassination of Honduran indigenous environmental leader Berta Caceres on March 2, Reps. Hank Johnson [1], John Conyers, Marcy Kaptur, Keith Ellison, Jose Serrano, and Jan Schakowsky [2] have introduced legislation [3] that would suspend U.S. funding to the government of Honduras for police and military operations until the Honduran government investigates credible reports indicating the police and military are violating human rights. The U.S. is sending the Honduran government $18 million in 2016 for "security assistance." The State Department, the New York Times, and human rights groups have reported credible allegations that the Honduran police and military have committed gross human rights abuses – including torture, rape, illegal detention, and murder – with impunity. HR 5474 requires investigations into killings of human rights activists and demands the Honduran government protect the rights of trade unionists; journalists; human rights; defenders; Indigenous, Afro-Indigenous, small farmers and LGBTI activists; critics of the government and other civil society activists so they may operate without interference from the police or military. Urge your Representative in the House to co-sponsor the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act by signing our petition. References: 1. https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-johnson-introduces-berta-c-ceres-human-rights-honduras-act 2. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/5474/cosponsors 3. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/5474

The Forward reports that former Congressman Robert Wexler is putting pressure on the Democratic Platform Committee not to include language about the occupation of the West Bank in the Democratic Party Platform. [1] Addressing J Street's annual conference in March 2015, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said, “An occupation that has lasted more than 50 years must end.” [2] If President Obama's Chief of Staff can call for the occupation to end, the Democratic Party Platform can do it too. Urge the Democratic Platform Committee to include language about the occupation of the West Bank by signing our petition. References: 1. http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/342516/democrats-squabble-over-word-occupation-in-israel-platform-plank/ 2. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/denis-mcdonough-benjamin-netanyahu-israeli-occupation-116319

Puerto Rico's problem is COLONIALISM not debt. The US House of Rep with the Obama adminstration is passing the bill before July 1, 2016. PLEASE speak up!!!

Dear Secretary Clinton, The vitality and integrity of constitutional democracies in Latin America should be regarded as a chief concern for the United States as well as the rest of the world. The legitimacy of the impeachment process currently underway against Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been persistently questioned by Brazilian and international jurists and intellectuals, sovereign governments, multilateral entities, and Brazilian voters. In addition, many concerns have been raised over the misogyny characterizing this process, and the repercussions this could have on female political leadership and broader questions of social justice in our hemisphere. We urge you to take a stance on this matter, critical to the public trust in our democratic institutions and bilateral relations. As the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, your position on this issue will set the tone for the United States' engagement with the region going forward, and your silence construed as tacit support. Sincerely,

The Senate is considering two amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act that would limit arms transfers to Saudi Arabia and Syria. The Murphy-Paul amendment [1] would block transfer of bombs to Saudi Arabia unless Saudi Arabia demonstrates a commitment to fighting terrorism and complies with legal obligations to protect civilians in its war in Yemen. The Udall-Lee amendment [2] would block the transfer of weapons to Syrian fighters unless the Secretary of Defense certifies that none of the weapons are being transferred to ISIS or Al Qaeda. Urge your Senators to support these amendments by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.congress.gov/amendment/114th-congress/senate-amendment/4299/text 2. https://www.congress.gov/amendment/114th-congress/senate-amendment/4331/text

The Norwegian Refugee Council says ISIS is shooting civilians trying to flee Falluja as Iraqi security forces close in. CNN says four families hid in the marshes for days, drinking dirty water and eating old dates before they were finally able to escape. They ended up in a displaced persons camp where there is little food and other supplies. The NRC said almost 3,000 families have safely escaped the city since late May; most are being housed in displacement camps, and the NRC has warned of water shortages should the tens of thousands remaining in Falluja manage to escape. [1] Maybe we can't save all the civilians trapped in Falluja. But the least we can do is make sure that civilians who succeed in escaping from ISIS are taken care of. What's the excuse for not having enough food and water in the camps for people fleeing the fighting? Urge Congress to speak up for civilians fleeing the fighting in Falluja by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/middleeast/falluja-iraq-military-advance-isis/index.html

Cholera broke out in Haiti in October 2010, and continues to constitute a grave medical emergency. Overwhelming evidence has established that reckless disposal of human waste by a United Nations peacekeeping base in Mirebalais poisoned Haiti’s rivers with a particularly deadly strain of cholera bacteria and created the epidemic. Now, despite even UN Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton’s acknowledgment that the UN was the “proximate cause” of the epidemic, the UN continues to refuse to accept responsibility and control cholera in Haiti. [1] Now Michigan Democrat John Conyers and Utah Republican Mia Love have initiated a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Kerry, urging that the State Department ensure that the UN take "concrete steps to eliminate the cholera epidemic introduced to Haiti in 2010 by waste from a UN peacekeeper camp, and to comply with its legal and moral obligations to provide cholera victims with access to an effective remedy." Ask your Representative in Congress to support the bipartisan Conyers-Love letter by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.ijdh.org/advocacies/our-work/cholera-advocacy/; http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2016/04/what_caused_haiti_s_cholera_epidemic_the_cdc_s_museum_knows_but_won_t_say.html; http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/03/21/471256913/why-the-u-n-is-being-sued-over-haitis-cholera-epidemic

On May 27, Haaretz reported [1] that the Israeli military would free imprisoned astrophysicist Imad Barghouthi, apparently detained for posts on Facebook, following an international campaign of scientists and an Israeli military appeals court ruling that Barghouthi posed no danger and should be released. But the military appeals court decision has now apparently been overturned by the Israeli military. [2] Urge Members of Congress to press the State Department to express concern about the imprisonment of astrophysicist Imad Barghouthi by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.721885 2. http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.722298