The U.S. Forest Service has announced they will "cut and leave" AND "burn" 3,600 acres of mature forest in the Mark Twain National Forest, in the Roaring River area. This is a management practice that is being used all over the country. They plan to create a stark "glade," destroying the existing habitat. They will be burning every 3 to 5 years in perpetuity. This will displace or kill all existing animals and plants. Carbon sequestration must be included in the new plan. Our forests are the greatest terrestrial carbon sink on the planet. The trees are already doing the job that scientists are struggling to accomplish. To our Representatives, we ask that you seriously consider “The 2015 Climate Initiative” by Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture and adopt its suggestions into our US Forest plan. The time is NOW to reevaluate the way our National Forests are being managed. (Correction, the old plan isn't 16 years old, it is from 2005 and it is very much outdated.)

Last week, a Supreme Court ruling put approximately five million undocumented parents back at risk of deportation and continued the exclusion of those who wouldn’t have qualified under President Obama's executive action on immigration that Republicans have been trying to defeat for a while. Meanwhile, abusive immigration enforcement agents operate unchecked, raiding refugee families, brutalizing people near the border, and putting our loved ones into detention centers and deportation proceedings. The Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) executive action temporarily relieved parents of DREAMers and lawful permanent residents from deportation and would have provided them with work authorization. But the DACA and DAPA programs aren't the president's only option to protect migrant communities. As head of the executive branch, President Obama directs how and when enforcement resources are deployed. Under his administration, immigration enforcement agencies have expanded enormously but the undocumented people who would've received deferred action or who could someday benefit from legalization shouldn't be subjected to their abuse. While Republicans have been able to block reform and delay DAPA, they can't control how the president uses his executive authority for the implementation of immigration enforcement. He can make sure that families and communities are kept together by declaring a moratorium on deportations immediately.

This petition is about the future of responsive leadership in this country, of not continuing with a status quo which has not been working for most Americans.

This seems like a common-stance middle ground in which all parties can compromise as well as quickly and effectively take action. The United States Department of Justice said, "In general, assault weapons are semiautomatic firearms with a large magazine of ammunition that were designed and configured for rapid fire and combat use." How are the streets of Port St. Lucie, Orlando or any other Florida street a combat zone? My home is not a combat zone nor do I want it turned into one. The second amendment fully reads, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Where is the "well regulated militia" aspect? As citizens, we also have a right to liberty and life. Therefore, we need as the people to stand up and begin to regulate this market.

Do you have massive life-killing student loan debt? This bill is why. This bill, for the first time in American history, outlawed DISCHARGING (getting RID of) PRIVATE student loan debt through personal bankruptcy. This law is destroying 10's of millions of Americans' lives for no good reason.

For 16 years Darrell Issa has sat in Congress and collected a pay check while doing nothing to advance the lives of his constituents. For far too long he has represented special interests and conservative right wing nut-jobs. Darrell Issa endorsed Donald Trump for President and this goes to show that he is out of touch with the people of his district, California, and the American people! #DumpDarrellTrump #FireIssa To find out more about Col. Doug Applegate, please visit his website www.ApplegateForCongress.com. We must do all we can to remove Darrell and take back OUR congress!

This bill is harmful to public safety and costly to our communities and the entire state of North Carolina

Tucker Lee Wells is my twin brother. His murder, the cover-up, and the level of corruption involved has made it next to impossible to ignore and try to mourn and move past this tragedy. And I need help building a voice to get anyone to listen and help get justice for this young man.

Set to go into law on July 1, HB 1411 places medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion and will strip away access for thousands of women in Florida from being able to access preventative family planning services like birth control, STD tests, and cancer screenings. This bill will have a profoundly negative impact on all Floridians, but especially those who already face systematic barriers to care, such as poor women and women of color who live in areas of the state where there is already limited access to reproductive healthcare. Access to healthcare, resources, and education should not be dependant on where you live or your socioeconomic status. All women -no matter where they live- must have access to the sex education and healthcare needed to stay healthy and decide for themselves how to prevent pregnancy, terminate an unwanted pregnancy, or carry a pregnancy to term.

California's Central Valley produces a large portion of the fruits and vegetables sold across the U.S. But did you know that oil field wastewater is being used to irrigate crops in two water districts in the region? And even though it’s happening in California, it impacts all of us at the grocery store. Mandarin oranges, carrots and grapes are just some of the crops grown in areas that are selling farmers wastewater from oil drilling operations — and it's unclear to what extent this toxic water could be impacting the food we eat. There has been no comprehensive testing to ensure that our food and health is protected from the hundreds of chemicals used in oil operations, some of which have been shown to be carcinogenic and toxic. It's inexcusable that the oil industry is allowed to use American families' dinner plates as a disposal site for toxic oil field wastewater. Tell California Governor Brown to stop allowing oil field wastewater to be dumped on farm fields!

The Lake Washington watershed is being exposed to asbestos and other hazardous toxins. Citizens think that it is impractical to ensure that the fine breakup of materials on barges will occur with zero discharge, including fugitive dust and runoff regardless of the permit stating that there will be no discharge.

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