Rural Organizing

Campaigns

• Congress Must Provide Disaster-Aid to Farmers Who Lost Crops in the Historic Bomb Cyclone

  This spring, a perfect storm of melting snow, "bomb cyclone" rain, and climate change led to historic flooding across the central part of the United States. Now, farmers will have to destroy any grains that were contaminated by the floodwaters and there is currently no federal program to cover the catastrophic and largely uninsured stored-crop losses. With farm incomes in decline, largely due to Trump's trade war with China, many farmers had planned to sell their grain held in storage for money to live, pay their taxes or finance operations and plant more crops this spring. Congress must act now to provide disaster-aid to farmers who lost their crops in the floods of 2019! --------------Source-------------- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-weather-iowa/u-s-disaster-aid-wont-cover-crops-drowned-by-midwest-floods-idUSKCN1RE0BU?fbclid=IwAR3T3Hs6BK4gTGxbzWIh1PpyctmilLZ8sqGR61ngn3o2WsBAirzGT-aBeW8

  252 of 300 Signatures

  Created by Matthew Hildreth
• Tell Congress: Coal Country Needs Good Green Jobs

  Coal country needs good green jobs, not more empty promises. We are fighting for a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable future and as we transition to a clean energy economy, it's vital that we make investments that give a much-needed boost to hard-hit coal-impacted communities. The RECLAIM Act is an urgently-needed opportunity to spur job creation and local business investment through projects to clean up abandoned coal mines and restore wildlife habitats. This bill is a major opportunity for areas that have historically depended on the coal industry for good jobs and economic stability, to rebuild themselves by creating new, diverse economies on their own terms. Funds would be prioritized for projects in communities that are economically distressed and that have been impacted by coal industry job losses. Please join with us and urge your Member of Congress to cosponsor the bipartisan RECLAIM Act (H.R. 2156) now.

  6,262 of 7,000 Signatures

  Created by Matthew Hildreth, Rural Organizing
• Yellowstone Landmarks Should Not Be Named After Men Who Incited Genocide

  Native American tribes from the United States and Canada are demanding that famous landmarks in Yellowstone National Park not be used to honor men who supported the "extermination of American Indians." In Yellowstone National Park, Mount Doane is named after a man who led the massacre of nearly 200 Piikani people on a Montana river bank and Hayden Valley was named after a man who called for the "extermination of American Indians." Leaders of the Blackfoot Confederacy and Great Sioux Nation are demanding that Mount Doane and Hayden Valley be renamed to "First Peoples Mountain" and "Buffalo Nations Valley." This fall, the U.S. Board On Geographic Names will decide whether or not to rename these famous landmarks. Please sign our petition and stand with the tribal leaders demanding justice for their people.

  4,715 of 5,000 Signatures

  Created by Matt Hildreth
• Don’t Let Republicans Cut Food Assistance Programs for Low Income Americans

  Just months after passing a massive tax cut for millionaires and billionaires, House Republicans are proposing to reduce food assistance benefits for 2 million people, many of which are low-income working families with children. For more than 15 years, state and federal policymakers have worked on a bipartisan basis to strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP is the country’s most effective anti-hunger program, helping 1 in 8 Americans afford a basic diet. More than 6 million people with disabilities are estimated to participate in the program, including 4 million non-elderly adults who receive disability benefits, close to another 2 million who don’t receive disability benefits but have work-limiting health conditions, and many children. The House Republican plan will reduce or eliminate benefits for more than 2 million people through significant cuts to SNAP and expanded work requirements that take benefits away from people who don’t meet them. However, the Senate’s bipartisan bill strengthens SNAP and expands promising approaches to job training and other employment-related activities for SNAP participants and would make targeted investments in SNAP to help seniors and people with disabilities, as well as Native American Tribes. The next step in the legislative process is a “conference” between the House and Senate proposals. During the conference, lawmakers will decide whether to take House Republicans proposal to cut SNAP or the bipartisan Senate proposal to strengthen it. That’s why it’s incredibly important that we push Congress RIGHT NOW to pass a farm bill that would support and strengthen SNAP — not make it harder for people to access crucial nutrition assistance. Please join with us and tell Congress that the 2018 farm bill must strengthen the SNAP food assistance program for low income Americans. ——————————————————————————————— Source: https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/house-farm-bill-would-increase-food-insecurity-and-hardship

  131 of 200 Signatures

  Created by Matt Hildreth
• Steve King Must Delete His Tweet Elevating A Self-Described Nazi Sympathizer

  Earlier this month Rep. Steve King retweeted a message from a self-described Nazi sympathizer who has expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler in the past. King retweeted the neo-Nazi and added a comment saying, "Europe is waking up...Will America...in time?" Since then, elected officials, political leaders, and his own constituents have demanded that Steve King apologize and delete the tweet. But King told CNN he wasn't sorry for unintentionally sharing the tweet and pointedly refused to delete the message. Asked why he wouldn't delete a message from someone who has praised Nazi Germany, King said: "Because then it'd be like I'm admitting that I did something, now I'm sorry about it. I'm not sorry. I'm human." But Steve King was wrong to use his status as an elected official to elevate a Nazi sympathizer. It's absolutely shocking that he's refusing to apologize. Rep. Steve King should admit he's wrong and delete the tweet immediately.

  86 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Matt Hildreth
• Stop The Raids On Agricultural Workers

  The Trump administration is escalating their attacks on small town immigrants working in the agricultural industry. On April 5, 2018, Trump officials arrested 97 immigrants at a meat-processing plant in rural Tennessee. It was one of the largest workplace raids since President George W. Bush was in office. Recently, the Trump Administration stormed John Collins' dairy farm in upstate New York without a warrant. They cuffed him and destroyed his phone after seven officers came onto his property and several went into his milk house without permission. The officers detained one of his workers, who had documents to work on the farm, pinning the man up against the window in the process. These raids are absolutely devastating for small towns. They destroy our agricultural economy and they separate families. Please join with us and demand that the Trump Administration stop their raids.

  2,051 of 3,000 Signatures

  Created by Matt Hildreth
• Don't Mess With SNAP!

  House Republicans are now pushing a farm bill that would impose strict so-called "work requirements" on millions of low-income Americans receiving food stamps. This is a horrible idea! Requiring people to find 20 hours a week of work before they receive food stamps when there aren't enough jobs to go around isn't just cruel, it's nonsensical. Republicans are proposing to punish people for circumstances that are often outside of their control and their plan would hurt those in marginalized communities already suffering from high unemployment rates. Please join with us tell Congress to keep their hands off of SNAP.

  385 of 400 Signatures

  Created by Matt Hildreth
• Liz Cheney Must Expel Steve King From The House Republican Conference

  Congressman Steve King (R-IA) is openly pushing white nationalist policies and meeting with white nationalist politicians in Canada and Europe. Recently, King questioned if terms such as "white supremacist" were offensive. In the weeks leading up to election day, Steve King traveled to Austria to be interviewed by Caroline Sommerfeld of the Austrian far-right propaganda site Unzensuriert (which means “uncensored” in English). Sommerfeld is a prominent leader in Europe’s neo-fascist identitarian movement. In his conversation with Sommerfeld, King discussed his belief in the superiority of white European culture over others and talked at length about his belief that Europe and America are threatened by Muslim and Latino immigration. And the conservative Weekly Standard reported on election night that King had referred to Mexican immigrants as "dirt." However, these are just the latest developments highlighting King's extremest agenda. For years, Republicans have allowed Steve King to use their party platform to promote an agenda of racism and xenophobia. The House Republican Conference can expel Steve King from their caucus with a 2/3 majority vote. While some Republicans have taken steps to denounce Steve King's racist rhetoric, a vote to expel him would show that they are serious about cutting ties with the white nationalist wing of their party. That's why House Republicans should immediately vote to expel Steve King from their conference.

  143 of 200 Signatures

  Created by Matt Hildreth
• 

  Tell USDA: Stop The Attacks on Food Assistance Programs for Hungry Americans

  The Trump Administration recently announced changes to SNAP that will cause hundreds of thousands of people to lose access to their “food stamp” benefits. SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program commonly referred to as "food stamps," is a federal nutrition program that’s critical for fighting hunger in the United States. According to Feeding America, "SNAP provides families with their basic nutritional needs to get them through temporary hard times. It helps people get back on their feet and on the road to a better life.” However, the Trump Administration has been working for the last three years to undermine SNAP as part of their agenda to limit access to public assistance programs. The newly-announced attack on SNAP is especially outrageous because Congress rejected these proposed changes to the program during the Farm Bill debate last year. The House rejected it in a bipartisan vote of 330-83, and the Senate voted down a similar amendment 68-30. But now, Sonny Perdue, Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture, is moving forward with these changes through an undemocratic “executive order” that targets very poor people struggling to work — many of whom are homeless, living in small towns and rural communities with little or no access to employment, or have health conditions that prevent them from working. Please join with us and demand that Sonny Perdue stop the Trump attacks on food assistance programs critical for fighting hunger in the United States.

  626 of 800 Signatures

  Created by Matthew Hildreth