Twenty U.S. Soldiers received the Medal of Honor for their actions at Wounded Knee S.D. On December 29, 1890. They murdered over 250 unarmed men women and children. Their actions were not honorable and the Medals should be revoked. The failure to do so is an insult, not only to the Lakota, but to all Native Americans, and all who hold the U.S.Army to be an honorable institution.

Landmines are brutal, horrific, and extremely imprecise. But a Trump-era policy removed prohibitions on these weapons, enabling their use worldwide. It remains the policy to this day, even under President Biden, who promised to "promptly roll back this deeply misguided decision" if elected. We're not afraid to call this what it is: a broken campaign promise. When President Biden reneged on his pledge to raise the refugee admissions cap, we organized at every level and, through the power of collective action, got him to make good on his word. And that's exactly what we must do now. President Biden can undo this disastrous policy with the stroke of a pen — but not unless we build enough momentum to push him to do it.

Please, sign and share this petition.

Voting is the most precious tool we citizens have in this country. The Freedom To Vote Act is designed to put a stop to all the voting restrictions occurring around the country. The act proposes to expand voting rights, change campaign finance laws to reduce the influence of money in politics, ban partisan gerrymandering, and create new ethics rules for federal officeholders. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD.

The recent Idaho Bill SB 1211 signed into law by Governor Brad Little within hours of passing the Senate, condemning 1300 Wolves to be slaughtered, as well a similar Bill in Montana for a further 900 Wolves killed, highlight the swift and dire need for restored protections for wolves. Without federal protections, wolf populations across the United States are destined to meet the same fate. This slaughters are happening because the Trump administration delisted the gray wolf in late 2020, stripping vital Endangered Species Act protections and allowing states to declare open season for wolf hunting. Another 216 wolves killed in Wisconsin last February within only 3 days— an estimated 20% of Wisconsin's wolf population —would still be contributing to their species' recovery but for that misguided rollback. Wolves are crucial to the health of the ecosystems they occupy. After the government encouraged the extermination of wolves from Yellowstone in the 1920s, the deer and elk populations grew out of control. Swelling populations led to unsustainable grazing — which caused rampant soil erosion, the near disappearance of beavers, and population declines for antelope and foxes. The good news, for the country and for Yellowstone, is that when wolves were reintroduced in 1995, the ecosystem swiftly rebounded as wolves began to prey on deer and elk once more — which made room for all wildlife to flourish.

Recently PPS and the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) have gone into bargaining. The PAT is proposing a new class schedule that includes a "flex" day to allow educators more time to plan and students more time to do school work. Portland Public Schools has shot down the offer. Student leaders across the district demand PPS to rethink this terrible decision and not backtrack our students. The pandemic has drastically affected our learning — classroom stamina has been depleted, leading to students falling behind and leaving teachers drastically overworked. Our education system is improperly prepared for in-person learning due to the lack of foresight by the District and the legacy of lost learning over this past year. The District did not provide teachers with enough time to plan or prepare for re-introducing students back to school. We PPS students call on the District to work with the PAT to give the flex time we desperately need and workload relief to all our teachers. Please sign in support of our students and teachers.

Reefs are gorgeous ecosystems that provide food and shelter to thousands of animal species! They can also aid humanity in the event of severe weather by acting as buffers against waves, storms, floods, and other natural calamities. Many coastal communities would be at risk of property destruction and possibly death if they weren't there. Regrettably, human activities have contributed to the decline of reefs and the creatures that rely on them for survival. Climate change, pollution, and, to some people's surprise, sunscreen are all examples of this. Sunscreen is essential for skin protection; yet, several brands include certain questionable substances in their formulations. Oxybenzone is one of these compounds, and it causes coral bleaching. Although only a small amount of sunscreen is hazardous to coral reefs, the US National Park Service estimates that about 5000 tons of sunscreen penetrate coral reef areas worldwide each year. Another ingredient in sunscreen, titanium dioxide, has been linked to a significant increase in hydrogen peroxide levels, harming phytoplankton, a key food source at the base of the marine food chain. Additionally, sunscreen ingredients can harm individuals by disrupting hormones, causing cell damage, and triggering allergies. When reefs disappear, so does a large portion of the marine species that relies on them for food and refuge. Our https://scubadivingunderwater.com/ team wants to stop this process. All that is required is for people to use reef-safe mineral sunscreens and for hazardous sunscreens to be banned. Popular tropical tourist locations such as Hawaii, Key West, and Mexico have already enacted bans on sunscreens containing harmful ingredients. Sign our petition to urge Costa Rica and other countries to enact their own hazardous sunscreen bans right away!

To remember John for all of the numerous contributions and lives he touched through sports and specifically hockey throughout the Hoboken community.

Yes, we should send free at-home covid tests to everyone in America. It’s a pretty simple ask, especially almost two years into a pandemic and at the start of a fourth wave of covid cases due to the Omicron variant. But when NPR reporter Mara Liasson asked if the government would send free covid tests to American families, Jen Psaki, Biden’s press secretary, scoffed.1 Many countries around the world already send tests to households. It’s time the United States did as well. Sign the petition: Send free covid tests to all Americans! More than 800,000 Americans have already died from the coronavirus pandemic, and the omicron variant threatens another wave of infection and death.2, Our government needs to take every possible step to ensure the safety of American workers and families. In the UK, anyone can have free rapid testing kits sent to their home.3 In Germany, rapid testing kits are available for about $1 each–compared to the $12 they cost in the US.4 The state of New Jersey has just begun offering free home testing kits to anyone who requests one, so clearly this can be done in the US as well.5 It is urgent and essential that the federal government send free testing kits to everyone in America in the midst of a new wave of infections during a pandemic. Tell Biden: Send free covid tests for all now! Sources: 1. The Intercept, “Jen Psaki Accidentally Tells the Truth About How Expensive Covid Rapid Tests Are in U.S.,” December 7, 2021. 2. Worldometer, “US Covid Data,” December 15, 2021. 3, 4. The Intercept, “Jen Psaki Accidentally Tells the Truth About How Expensive Covid Rapid Tests Are in U.S.,” December 7, 2021. 5. NJ.com, “NJ residents can now get free covid tests delivered to their homes,” December 13, 2021.

Almost an entire year after leaving office, Donald Trump’s political appointees are still working in the Department of Justice.1 Even worse, there’s never been any investigation into whether Trump broke personnel rules by hiring them. That’s because Attorney General Merrick Garland says he’s not “looking backward.”2 As a nation, we can’t collectively move forward past the Trump administration if his cronies are still burrowed deep inside the Department of Justice. Sign the petition: Tell AG Merrick Garland to investigate and remove Trump appointees in the DOJ! Having Trump appointees installed in career positions at the DOJ is a ticking time bomb for the Biden administration. One of them, Deputy Solicitor General Chris Gannon went against the Biden administration and argued, in front of the Supreme Court, to deny Social Security benefits for residents of Puerto Rico. Another Trump appointee, Alexander Haas, has used his position as Director of the Federal Programs Branch to weaken protections for student-borrowers from predatory for-profit colleges. These cases may seem small but they impact real people, and the longer these Trump appointees remain in the DOJ the more likely they could become involved in high-profile cases like voting rights, immigration, or reproductive rights. President Biden can’t afford to keep Trump aides inside the DOJ. If Attorney General Merrick Garland truly wants to look forward and not backward, he can start by removing Trump’s cronies from his agency. Sign the petition: Tell AG Merrick Garland to investigate and remove Trump appointees in the DOJ! Sources: 1. The American Prospect, “The Trump Officials Still Running Biden’s Justice Department,” December 13, 2021. 2. Washington Post, “Merrick Garland Will Not Deliver Your Catharsis,” July 19, 2021.

When President Biden signs the National Defense Authorization Act, he’ll set next year’s Pentagon spending levels at an ASTRONOMICAL $778 BILLION. It’s the LARGEST war budget in recent history. And if you’re outraged at the disconnect between what our communities need and what Congress and the White House sign off to spend, you’re not alone. But here’s the thing: the start to stopping another colossal waste on our watch happens NOW. President Biden’s team is already putting their FY2023 budget request together. That means we need to make sure the White House hears from us — and that we’re loud enough to drown out the weapons lobby, who you better believe are gearing up to get loud too. Sign now to tell President Biden to build a budget that works for the PEOPLE, not defense contractors and war-hawks.

Over a decade ago, Demand Progress’ co-founder Aaron Swartz started working to make federal court documents available to the public at no cost. The public entrusts federal courts with our rights and disputes; in turn, the public has a right to inspect court records and ensure federal courts administer justice fairly. But the current filing system stashes these essential documents behind a paywall, costing the public more than a hundred million dollars each year.[1] In 2008, Aaron paid a small fortune to bring several million federal court documents out from behind the paywall, exposing misdeeds within the federal judiciary in the process. For sharing information and revealing wrongdoing, Aaron was pursued by the FBI.[2] It’s time for court documents to be made public. Sign the petition if you agree. Thanks to Aaron’s and others’ activism, we’ve come a long way from the days when open sourcing federal court documents was regarded by the federal government as radical — even potentially criminal. When the Senate returns from holiday break, legislation to make federal court records available at no cost to the public will be brought before the full Senate for a floor vote. This movement is gaining traction. We need to make sure the legislation passes. Sign the petition: Tell Congress we demand the passage of the Open Courts Act! Information freedom activists and civil rights groups have been calling for transparency around court records for over a decade. But the federal court administrators still refuses to make these records publicly accessible, even after a district court ruled last year that the courts are dramatically overcharging the public for access the paywall as it currently exists is illegal.[3] Court administrators, who have diverted the revenues for unauthorized purposes, fear giving up this revenue stream. Some federal judges do not want to empower systematic studies of how justice is administered, and have fought the public access movement tooth and nail.[4] The courts have built a rickety, poor-designed, costly alternative to the promise of access for all that (barely) serves their narrow needs, not that of the public. Thankfully, many federal court records have entered the public record another way: through grassroots information-sharing. In the process of empowering the public to access its own laws, activists have also exposed rampant privacy violations within the federal judiciary — demonstrating once again that public oversight is essential to protecting democracy.[2] It’s time for Congress to require the courts provide free and open access to federal court records. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to pass the Open the Courts Act to grant the American people access to their own records! Sources: 1. Fix the Court, “How Could We Pay for Free PACER? Let's Look at the Options,” August 29, 2019. 2. CNN, “How Aaron Swartz helped build the Internet,” January 15, 2013. 3. ABA Journal, “Federal judiciary wrongly used PACER fees for unrelated projects, Federal Circuit rules,” August 6, 2020. 4. GovExec, “The Paywall That Continues to Stand in the Way of Government Transparency,” November 30, 2021.