Our society and our planet are moving much faster than our legacy representatives can keep up with. Being able to retain power for decades in either the Senate or the House of Representatives has led to a decline in bipartisanship, an outright stagnation of any policy advancement, and the least popular Congress in history. Our representatives need to remember that we send them to Washington to represent our interests, not their own. By imposing term limits on all members of Congress, we ensure that representatives will have to make the most of their time, to compromise, and to focus on achieving legislative goals that best suit the needs of Americans.

Agriculture Committee Members, I oppose bill A04611. This bill has broad sweeping negative impacts on many animal interest groups including farmers, bird breeders, reptile keepers, mammal breeders, and more. New York Assembly Bill 4611 (A04611) was introduced on February 4. This bill seeks to ban the shipping of all mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. This included shipments within, into and from the state (both import and export). Per the bill, shipping via any “mail carrier” will be banned so that includes the commonly utilized overnight services from major carriers such as FedEx and UPS (for verified shippers). A04611 was assigned to the Assembly Agriculture Committee. Fines can be $1,000 per violation. Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal introduced the bill and she sits on the assigned Agriculture Committee. The Committee members must be made aware of the broad sweeping repercussions of this bill and informed of the many shipping regulations, restrictions, and safeguards already in place. Please allow me to inform you regarding the many regulations already in place to protect animals. Stringent policies are already in place by shipping companies, as well as various federal and state animal welfare laws. First, mail carriers already prohibit the shipment of many animals. The United States Postal Services (USPS) prohibits the shipping of mammals, most birds, turtles, and snakes. The United Parcel Service (UPS) does not allow shipments of mammals, birds, or snakes. Other companies have various restrictions and certifications. For example, FedEx requires that you have a Live Reptile Certification in order to ship live reptiles. If a carrier does allow for the shipment of certain live animals, there are stringent policies and laws in place. These include but are not limited to: Containers must meet construction standards; Proper ventilation; Veterinary health certificates and inspections; Use of heat/cold packs during certain weather conditions; International Air Transport Association (IATA) standards; International Safe Transit Association (ISTA) standards; Labeling requirements; Internal packaging requirements; The federal Lacey Act. Not only are all of these regulations already in place, but shipments are required to be done as timely as possible. When reptiles are shipped, they are delivered to the carrier or picked up late in the day and then delivered early the following day. The travel time is always less than 24 hours, and typically closer to 12 hours. Animals also are not shipped during temperature extremes as various thresholds for animal safety are applicable (too hot/too cold). The shipping of live animals is a serious matter, is not unregulated, and is not taken lightly by either the shippers or the carriers. For those who do ship animals, protections and safeguards for those animals are numerous. I hope you oppose and stop A04611. It is a misguided bill attempting to fix a problem that does not exist due to so many protections already existing. A04611 is bad for New York, the residents, and the animals. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter. Have a good day. Bill Text February 4, 2021 Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to prohibiting the shipment of certain live animals by postal mail The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The agriculture and markets law is amended by adding a new 2 section 382 to read as follows: 3 § 382. Prohibition of the shipping of live animals by postal mail. 1. 4 It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership or corporation to 5 mail or offer for mailing a live animal by postal mail into or within 6 the state of New York or from the state of New York to points outside 7 the state of New York. As used in this section, "live animal" shall 8 mean any mammal, bird, reptile, or amphibian. "Postal mail" shall mean 9 mail that is processed and delivered by the United States postal service 10 or other mail carrier. A person, firm, partnership or corporation shall 11 be considered to have mailed or offered for mailing a live animal in 12 violation of this section when such person, firm, partnership or corpo- 13 ration causes such live animal and applicable postage or shipping fee to 14 be physically placed in the possession of the United States postal 15 service or other mail carrier. 16 2. A violation of this section shall be punishable by a civil penalty 17 not to exceed one thousand dollars. Each such violation shall be deemed 18 a separate violation with respect to each animal mailed or offered for 19 mailing. 20 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately Sincerely,

Janelle has become a very important part of this community and not only goes above and beyond to make sure all of are welcomed home, but also takes each homeowners safety very seriously. No matter how good the new Security Company will be, it will not be as good as it could be if Janelle is not part of this community. Let's make our community exceptional by changing what is not working and keeping what does.

As someone who has seen the rise of Fox News lead to the decline of this country I feel that it's come time that this is investigated. I watched the Trump speech on Fox News on January 6th and feel that there is some culpability on their part for the events which took place following that speech. Likewise, they added to the division in this country with their coverage of the election and false reports of election fraud. They've also caused issues with biased coverage of the racial tensions of this past summer.

A policy of separation from loved ones is unsustainable and causes irreparable harms. The impact of indefinitely separating bi-national couples during the pandemic has been devastating. The Love Is Not Tourism Community Survey Report (December 2020), conducted by a monitoring and evaluation specialist and a public health specialist, sought to assess the impact of international travel bans on unmarried bi-national couples. [1] Survey respondents reported spending, on average, 9.25 months (37 weeks) separated from their partners. [2] Half of all survey respondents had not met with their partners since the pandemic began. [3] The lost time has resulted in distinct irreparable losses. [4] Partners unable to be present during pregnancies and missing the birth of their children while kept abroad. [5] Partners suffering terminal illnesses and passing away without their partners. [6] Aging and ill partners losing their ability to implement critical life plans together, including marriage, moving in together, and having children. [7] Partners have also suffered a huge financial burden: an estimated $148 million USD were spent in 2020 in our efforts to reunite with loved ones. [8] We can fix this. Because of the grassroots advocacy efforts of separated bi-national couples, European leaders, the EU commission, and several Schengen Area countries have publicly acknowledged this crisis and implemented travel exemptions with safety protocols to reunite bi-national couples in ways that respect and address the ongoing COVID-19 health concerns. The current U.S. administration must do the same. Our government must recognize that our partners and relationships, whether certified by marriage license or not, are essential, committed, and, therefore, worthy of travel exemptions too. We (Ariel and Krishni) have diligently worked together to compose a formal letter addressing the current administration with our arguments and proposals. Sign this petition as one step to help bi-national couples safely reunite, marry, have children, and continue building their lives and families. Tell the President that we need safe travel exemptions to address the severe disruptions and burdens endured by unmarried bi-national couples. Ask the current administration to publicly support the policy recommendations of the Giumarelli-Metivier letter and implement the requested changes during their end-of-the-month reviews. We will continue to update you on the progress of our letter and other actions you can take so please stay tuned. * This petition is not and shall not be construed as constituting legal advice or the provision of legal services or legal representation by its authors, Ariel Vita Giumarelli and Krishni Metivier (the “Authors”). This petition represents the personal views of its Authors and does not reflect the views or endorsement of any of the Authors’ affiliated employers, corporations, law firms or universities. [1] See, Love Is Not Tourism: The Case for Binational Partner & Family Reunification in a Pandemic, Love Is Not Tourism Community Survey Report (Dec. 2020), available at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aajW9BWjY_4muQb5r59DZcJBTJAPVHNG?usp=sharing. [2] See Id. at 12 and 29. [3] See Id. [4] See Id. at 19-23. [5] See Id. at 22. [6] See Id. [7] See Id. [8] See Id. at 17.

Our country was founded on some simple principles, Freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. Since our last president, these principles have all but disappeared. No one is telling the truth anymore and their leaders are NOT speaking out against lies in order to win elections. Let's get someone who follows the Constitution and is not for sale, a republican or a democrat, no mater so long as they respect our Constitution. I am an immigrant, arrived in these United States on May 30th, 1970. I have devoted my life to understanding this great country and live as a good citizen. I've completely adopted this country and I have no other home or other political beliefs other than democracy.

The filibuster disincentivizes the minority party from contributing and participating in governance and instead incentives sabotage and obstruction; if the majority party fails to pass popular legislation that was promised as an agenda priority on the campaign trail, the minority party is likely to regain control in the next election because voters are under the dangerous impression that the government simply doesn’t work, and certainly doesn’t work for them. Instead, without the option to obstruct legislation using the filibuster, the minority party would be incentivized to participate in governance and demonstrate its interest in responding to American voters in order to build a case for re-election. Vote to end the filibuster, pass popular legislation addressing the crises we face, and show Americans that the government is there for us when we truly need it most.

We all have seen the National Guard helping our communities during disasters and emergencies: fighting forest fires, rescuing victims from hurricanes and floods, protecting neighborhoods and businesses during civil unrest. This has been the focus of their recruitment and their public image, despite frequent overseas deployments to multiple war zones over the past 20 years. Their motto, “Always Ready”, has been strained during the past year as National Guard Service Members have been called to duty by their states at historically high rates and for longer periods of time. Despite this, the National Guard Airmen and Soldiers do not qualify for Veteran Affairs healthcare or retirement credit for their service during State Active Duty call ups. State Active Duty (SAD) orders are paid for by the State do not count as duty days like federal orders for overseas deployments or work for the national COVID-19 missions. If a Guardsmen is hurt on SAD orders, it is treated as a workmen compensation claim and no lasting injury is treated by the VA. This has the effect of treating Guardsmen like temporary contract workers rather than as the military members they are. Instead, time spent on SAD orders should be treated as service days that count towards retirement. This proposed change would give Guardsmen who serve at least a 3-year contract with at least one SAD order the right to receive the designation of a Veteran eligible for VA healthcare once discharged from the Guard. Receiving VA Healthcare would help these Veterans receive the mental and physical health care as well as other VA services that federally deployed Guardsmen receive. Each day of SAD order would count towards a “good year” for retirement. A Guard member’s retirement at 60 years of age depends on both the total number of days served and the highest rank in uniform that they held. Please support our petition calling on our legislators to change the law and give all service members on SAD orders the right to receive VA healthcare and to have each day of activated service to count for their retirement. The change would fairly compensate our Citizen Soldiers/Airmen for the risks taken and time spent in service to our communities when we most needed it.

Except for a few who have lost touch with reality, Republican members of Congress know that Donald Trump lost a free and fair election. By failing to say so publicly, they are endangering Americans' lives. The rest of us must stand up and insist that the truth be told.

Because Marjorie Taylor Greene is a threat to our democracy & a threat to President Biden & a threat to Nancy Pelosi!

The "war on drugs" has led to a the incarceration of millions of Americans with at least a million more incarcerated every year. Many of these people are drug users with an addiction and punishing them with jail or prison time will not break the addiction, but treatment might. In some states, a first time offender can get 10 years in prison for simple possession while in other's, one can get a 20 year sentence for possession. A decade in jail for having an addiction is not the right answer. Our families are being torn apart by drug addiction, and harsh prison/jail sentences are not helping to resolve the problem. Addiction can be defeated with treatment, not prison.

The COVID-19 pandemic is worse than it's ever been. Nearly one year in, and cases are still increasing. Families across the country continue to grapple with unparalleled losses of income and necessary support systems. And despite the promise of relief from the vaccine, states are struggling with distribution. So even as we continue to wear masks, keep physically distant, and care for our neighbors, the situation remains dire for far too many. Along with the ongoing public health crisis, we continue to be challenged by an economic crisis that has left millions unemployed, uninsured, housing and food insecure, and more. We need our political leaders to step up in a major way and with the utmost urgency to tackle these overlapping crises. This is a once-in-a-century emergency, and it demands groundbreaking solutions to match. President Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion relief package, representing an important first step in getting aid and relief to those who need it to survive this crisis. But we're already hearing troubling resistance from Republicans and even some Democrats—that the size of the proposal is too large, or that they don't like certain provisions, or that they don't see the need to pass relief right now. Those of us who are surviving through the crisis day to day know exactly how dire and urgent the need is for ourselves, our families, and our communities. We need to send a message to all of our representatives, and we need to be loud and clear: Relief for those of us facing down the impacts of this crisis can't wait. With nothing less than survival for tens of millions of Americans at stake, we need real, robust relief, and we need it now. The Biden COVID-19 relief proposal includes another round of survival checks, enhanced and extended unemployment insurance, aid to states and localities, more funding for vaccinations, an increase in the minimum wage to $15 per hour, and more. It's a great first step in tackling this burgeoning crisis, and members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have already been organizing to strengthen the proposal in the House of Representatives. As we're pressuring our representatives to pass the package, here are a few things it should ensure: - Immigrants in the U.S. receive the same dignity, care, and respect as everyone else and are not left out of relief once again. This package should include survival checks and health care coverage for immigrants, and a pathway to citizenship for essential workers, immigrant youth, and TPS recipients. - Everyone can see a doctor. With millions unemployed and losing insurance, we need emergency health care coverage via a public plan. The proposal contains a modest amount of funding, but more aid to states and localities is needed to prevent layoffs and cuts to essential services. - And last but not least, we can't allow Republicans in Congress to water down Biden's proposal for a $15 federal minimum wage—or cut it out of any final legislation altogether. There are other important ways that the proposal could be strengthened or expanded as well: student debt forgiveness; auto-stabilizers so that assistance continues until the economy recovers, rather than expiring on an artificial timeline; rent and mortgage cancellation; and more. Overall, it's important that our representatives hear that we want them to expand and strengthen the Biden proposal, not water it down further. One last point: While President Biden has put forward calls for bipartisanship and unity—on a proposal that should be embraced by any elected official who doesn't want to see their constituents suffer—the reality is that most Republicans won't support legislation that provides relief to middle- and working-class Americans. There's no time to waste in getting people the relief they need to survive, and if Republicans won't get on board, Democrats should be prepared to pass this proposal—and future ones—without them. Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer, along with Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders, have all spoken up in support of using Congress's reconciliation process to pass the proposal, which would allow Democrats to pass it in the Senate with a simple majority, instead of trying to convince ten or more recalcitrant Republicans to vote for it. This is absolutely what must happen to ensure our communities are able to weather the brutality of the pandemic, and every representative must be ready to vote for reconciliation in the House and the Senate. Whether our representatives are Democrats or Republicans, they need to get on board or get out of the way.