Lt. Ryan Elwood was a young first responder, happy, full of life, and with a bright future. A series of personal events, as well as a particularly disturbing trauma call, lead him to end his life on September 8th, 2015. Suicide rates among firefighters and first responders are alarmingly higher than other professions and the training that they receive does not prepare them for the emotional toll it will take on them. Furthermore, the stigma and silence that surrounds emotional well-being in the fire service discourage those first responders and firefighters to admit or seek the help needed to keep them well. Critical Incident Stress Management needs to be included in fire service training and as an overarching theme in all fire service training categories.

This petition is about challenging fear rhetoric and using reason to stop any single person from having unchecked unilateral nuclear authority. Whether you are afraid that Clinton will nuke Iran or Trump will nuke the world, it would seem logical to take steps now to pass legislation to remove the threat rather than harp on a threat that can be remedied through legislative action before inauguration day. I encourage everyone who believes that unchecked unilateral nuclear authority is a serious threat to national security to sign and share this petition. I also encourage you to contact your representatives, senators, and President Obama, demanding this issue be addressed before they leave office in January. I also encourage all to vote their conscience and for the best candidate and party that represents their interests. We only change things by changing things. And that sometimes requires thinking outside the box, as Rep. Ted Lieu has done in proposing this legislation.

On August 8, the Obama administration notified Congress [1] of intent to sell $1.15 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia, including tanks that would replace tanks destroyed in Saudi Arabia's war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. We urge Senator Mike Lee to oppose this deal and to co-sponsor a resolution of disapproval against it. Past Congressional concerns about Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen have not been addressed. In October, Members of Congress wrote to the Administration [2] urging greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Yemen and achieve a diplomatic solution to the conflict. In June, 204 Members of the House, including 40 Republicans and all but 16 Democrats, voted to block the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia after reports of their use in civilian areas in Yemen. [3] Yet, since the proposed arms deal was announced, a Saudi airstrike on a school in Yemen killed 10 children [4] – some as young as 6-years-old – and a Saudi airstrike on an MSF hospital in Yemen killed 11 people. [5] On August 30, 64 Members of the House signed a letter urging that the Saudi arms deal be delayed so that Congress can fully consider it. [6] Urge Senator Lee to cosponsor legislation to oppose the Saudi arms deal by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/kingdom-saudi-arabia-m1a2s-saudi-abrams-main-battle-tanks-and-m88ala2-heavy 2. https://debbiedingell.house.gov/sites/debbiedingell.house.gov/files/documents/151014_Yemen%20Airstrike%20Letter.pdf 3. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll327.xml 4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yemen-school-airstrike_us_57b1938fe4b007c36e4f2f67 5. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN10Q1E0 6. https://www.yahoo.com/news/60-lawmakers-seek-delay-billion-211716904.html; http://www.defensenews.com/articles/sixty-us-lawmakers-want-to-freeze-115-billion-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia

On August 8, the Obama administration notified Congress [1] of intent to sell $1.15 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia, including tanks that would replace tanks destroyed in Saudi Arabia's war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. We urge Senator Richard Blumenthal to oppose this deal and to co-sponsor a resolution of disapproval against it. Past Congressional concerns about Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen have not been addressed. In October, Members of Congress wrote to the Administration [2] urging greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Yemen and achieve a diplomatic solution to the conflict. In June, 204 Members of the House, including 40 Republicans and all but 16 Democrats, voted to block the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia after reports of their use in civilian areas in Yemen. [3] Yet, since the proposed arms deal was announced, a Saudi airstrike on a school in Yemen killed 10 children [4] – some as young as 6-years-old – and a Saudi airstrike on an MSF hospital in Yemen killed 11 people. [5] On August 30, 64 Members of the House signed a letter urging that the Saudi arms deal be delayed so that Congress can fully consider it. [6] Urge Senator Blumenthal to cosponsor legislation to oppose the Saudi arms deal by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/kingdom-saudi-arabia-m1a2s-saudi-abrams-main-battle-tanks-and-m88ala2-heavy 2. https://debbiedingell.house.gov/sites/debbiedingell.house.gov/files/documents/151014_Yemen%20Airstrike%20Letter.pdf 3. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll327.xml 4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yemen-school-airstrike_us_57b1938fe4b007c36e4f2f67 5. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN10Q1E0 6. https://www.yahoo.com/news/60-lawmakers-seek-delay-billion-211716904.html; http://www.defensenews.com/articles/sixty-us-lawmakers-want-to-freeze-115-billion-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia

On August 8, the Obama administration notified Congress [1] of intent to sell $1.15 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia, including tanks that would replace tanks destroyed in Saudi Arabia's war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. We urge Senator Chris Coons and Senator Tom Carper to oppose this deal and to co-sponsor a resolution of disapproval against it. Past Congressional concerns about Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen have not been addressed. In October, Members of Congress wrote to the Administration [2] urging greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Yemen and achieve a diplomatic solution to the conflict. In June, 204 Members of the House, including 40 Republicans and all but 16 Democrats, voted to block the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia after reports of their use in civilian areas in Yemen. [3] Yet, since the proposed arms deal was announced, a Saudi airstrike on a school in Yemen killed 10 children [4] – some as young as 6-years-old – and a Saudi airstrike on an MSF hospital in Yemen killed 11 people. [5] On August 30, 64 Members of the House signed a letter urging that the Saudi arms deal be delayed so that Congress can fully consider it. [6] Urge Senator Coons and Senator Carper to cosponsor legislation to oppose the Saudi arms deal by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/kingdom-saudi-arabia-m1a2s-saudi-abrams-main-battle-tanks-and-m88ala2-heavy 2. https://debbiedingell.house.gov/sites/debbiedingell.house.gov/files/documents/151014_Yemen%20Airstrike%20Letter.pdf 3. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll327.xml 4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yemen-school-airstrike_us_57b1938fe4b007c36e4f2f67 5. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN10Q1E0 6. https://www.yahoo.com/news/60-lawmakers-seek-delay-billion-211716904.html; http://www.defensenews.com/articles/sixty-us-lawmakers-want-to-freeze-115-billion-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia

Donald Trump is desperate. He's so desperate he's started to flip-flop on the issue he founded his campaign on: hatred and fear of immigrants. Asked about what he’d do with the millions of undocumented immigrants who contribute to our communities and live among our families, Donald Trump is now saying he’ll do what President Obama is doing, but “with a lot more energy.” Who knows where Donald Trump really stands, or even less where he’ll stand tomorrow, but there’s one thing President Obama can do to make Donald Trump’s head explode today. He can take credit for Donald Trump’s latest shift and thank him for showing he’s right. Unfortunately, Donald Trump moving towards President Obama on immigration is not good news. Not enough people outside of immigrant communities know that President Obama has deported more people than any other president in history. If Donald Trump were to do the same, except with “more energy” he’d deport even more people than President Obama. If President Obama thanks Donald Trump for his latest shift, it will draw attention to just how tough on immigrants President Obama has been, and give a chance to whomever is elected in a few months to make a clean break and start in a new direction. Tell President Obama to thank Donald Trump for his latest shift in immigration. Also, don’t be afraid to tweet Donald Trump about it either. We all know how much Donald Trump loves tweets.

Donald Trump is desperate. He's so desperate he's started to flip-flop on the issue he founded his campaign on: hatred and fear of immigrants. Now, he won't even say what he wants to do with the millions of undocumented immigrants who contribute to our communities and live among our families. Donald Trump hates to admit he's wrong, but we can't go into an election without knowing where he stands on the issue he defined himself with. What's the one thing we can use to force Donald Trump to tell us where he stands on immigration? His own ego. If enough of us call Donald Trump a coward for not telling the public what he wants to do with the millions of undocumented immigrants that live among us, he won't be able to stop himself from either being straight with us about where he stands, or continuing to put his foot in his mouth. Sign this petition to tell Donald Trump he's a coward for not being straight with us on immigration. Also, don't forget to tweet this petition at him too. We all know how much Donald Trump loves tweets.

On August 8, the Obama administration notified Congress [1] of intent to sell $1.15 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia, including tanks that would replace tanks destroyed in Saudi Arabia's war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. We urge Senator Barbara Mikulski and Senator Ben Cardin to oppose this deal and to co-sponsor a resolution of disapproval against it. Past Congressional concerns about Saudi Arabia's war in Yemen have not been addressed. In October, Members of Congress wrote to the Administration [2] urging greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties in Yemen and achieve a diplomatic solution to the conflict. In June, 204 Members of the House, including 40 Republicans and all but 16 Democrats, voted to block the transfer of cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia after reports of their use in civilian areas in Yemen. [3] Yet, since the proposed arms deal was announced, a Saudi airstrike on a school in Yemen killed 10 children [4] – some as young as 6-years-old – and a Saudi airstrike on an MSF hospital in Yemen killed 11 people. [5] On August 30, 64 Members of the House signed a letter urging that the Saudi arms deal be delayed so that Congress can fully consider it. [6] Urge Senator Mikulski and Senator Cardin to cosponsor legislation to oppose the Saudi arms deal by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/kingdom-saudi-arabia-m1a2s-saudi-abrams-main-battle-tanks-and-m88ala2-heavy 2. https://debbiedingell.house.gov/sites/debbiedingell.house.gov/files/documents/151014_Yemen%20Airstrike%20Letter.pdf 3. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2016/roll327.xml 4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/yemen-school-airstrike_us_57b1938fe4b007c36e4f2f67 5. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKCN10Q1E0 6. https://www.yahoo.com/news/60-lawmakers-seek-delay-billion-211716904.html; http://www.defensenews.com/articles/sixty-us-lawmakers-want-to-freeze-115-billion-arms-sale-to-saudi-arabia

The European Commission just found that Apple – with the help of the tax haven of Ireland – has been dodging billions of dollars in taxes. The EC’s ruling states that Apple must pay up to $14.5 billion in back taxes to Ireland on its European profits. Now it is time for the U.S. Treasury Department to follow suit and investigate Apple’s profit shifting and tax dodging. Apple has more than $215 billion in profits stashed offshore on which it could owe the American people more than $60 billion in taxes. Stand with us in demanding that the U.S. Treasury Department immediately investigate Apple for profit shifting and U.S. tax avoidance. Demand that Apple pay what it owes to America in back taxes!

The FBI recently announced that foreign hackers infiltrated election databases in Arizona and Illinois, warning election officials in all 50 states to be vigilant against cyber attacks. This is the latest report in a wave of election-related security breaches this year. Earlier this summer, hackers released thousands of emails from major Democratic Party organizations and officials. But the White House could choose to act right now to improve the integrity of our voting systems. In response to recent attacks, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is now considering classifying election systems as "critical infrastructure," which would grant special security assistance and bring in more federal resources. This is an important step to ensure we hold our voting systems up to the security standards of banks or the private grid. But this isn't enough. The U.S. government must invest in our voting infrastructure and take further action now to protect against attacks, such as mandating pre-election testing for voting machines and making emergency paper ballots available as backups to electronic voting machines, among other measures.

Our children will be harmed if this lawsuit wins because it will downgrade the quality of their education, lead to overcrowded classrooms with fewer resources, contribute to an elitist educational system where only the wealthy will get a great education, and will devalue our homes.

On September 6th and 7th, the anti-Muslim group ACT for America will host its annual conference, bringing right-wing activists from around the country to our nation’s capital to advance an agenda that targets Muslims and harms us all. ACT—a group that calls itself the “NRA of national security”—has once again invited elected leaders in Washington, D.C., and from around the country to speak at the conference and hear from its members. Last year, at least 15 members of Congress spoke at the national security briefing. But this year, unlike in the past, ACT is keeping the names of participating lawmakers secret to avoid scrutiny. What do they have to hide? While claiming to uphold civil liberties, including religious freedom, ACT for America’s leader has said that a “practicing Muslim, who believes in the teachings of the Koran, cannot be a loyal citizen to the United States of America.” ACT is lobbying lawmakers to lead with fear. The group is calling for unwarranted surveillance, inhumane policies on immigration and refugee resettlement, biased law enforcement trainings, and unconstitutional opposition to mosque construction. We must not embrace this blatant anti-Muslim bias nor the policies that spring from it. If elected leaders do not denounce ACT’s dangerous rhetoric, they are not only implicitly endorsing anti-Muslim bigotry, but also a vision for this country that denies fairness and equality to us all. We cannot afford silence. Tell members of Congress and all elected leaders to reject ACT for America’s invitation to anti-Muslim hate.