The Daily Kos community is fighting back against anti-Muslim hysteria that has scapegoated millions of Syrian refugees who are fleeing the very terrorists we are supposed to be fighting.
This week, Daily Kos teamed up with our friends at MoveOn and Courage Campaign to set up meetings at the offices of U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.
We had a general ask and a specific ask: (a) denounce the Islamophobia that is seeking to punish the millions of Syrian refugees, and (b) oppose HR 4803 which shamefully passed the House on November 19, and which Republicans are now pushing in the Senate.
With Harry Reid threatening to filibuster the bill in the Senate, we hope to get every Democrat on record opposing HR 4803. With Republican leaders hoping to sneak the legislation through the “must-pass” budget bill to avoid a government shutdown, we are urging senators to block such efforts as well.
Six of us met with Feinstein’s staff on December 10 (including Daily Kos members Terri Forman, Anna Rogers, and Cynthia Morse) and six of us met with Boxer’s staff on December 11 (including Daily Kos members Barbara Ridley, Dominic DeBellis, and Lydia McCloskey).
In the past month, Daily Kos has engaged over 158,000 people (and 22,613 Californians) on this issue. Courage Campaign has enlisted nearly 50,000 people, and MoveOn has engaged over 15,000 Californians alone.
The staffers were very receptive to our message—but admitted the Senators had not taken a formal position on HR 4308. They also told us that they hold weekly meetings with the Senators, and brief them on what constituents are asking them.
We delivered petition signatures, and explained how we represent much more than the people who were in the office that day. In the past month, Daily Kos members have:
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Launched an online petition on November 16 directed at all Republican politicians that says, “I support Syrian refugees in my state.” More than 67,000 people have signed this petition, which can be viewed online here.
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E-mailed President Obama starting on November 16, simply requesting that the United States accept Syrian refugees who are fleeing terrorism in their country. Nearly 30,000 people e-mailed the White House from our site, which can be viewed here.
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E-mailed to all Democratic U.S. senators, after New York Sen. Chuck Schumer suggested we should pause admitting Syrian refugees. We urged senators to support the president on this issue. More than 36,000 people e-mailed their Democratic Senators, with 7,400 Californians e-mailing Boxer and Feinstein.
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E-mailed all U.S. House members, starting November 19, urging that they vote “no” on HR 4308. More than 28,000 people sent this e-mail, with 3,933 of them Californians.
On November 19, the House passed HR 4308 mostly along party lines—except for 47 House Democrats who joined the Republican majority in voting “yes.”
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On November 20, we asked our members who live in the 47 House districts to call and/or e-mail their House Democrats to express their displeasure. We generated 467 phone calls and 1,677 e-mails (306 to the eight California Democrats who voted yes).
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On November 20, we also asked our members who lived in districts where their House Democrat had voted “no” to call and/or e-mail their office to express their gratitude. We generated 975 phone calls and 7,531 e-mails (1,966 from California).
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E-mails to all senators launched on November 23, urging a “no” vote on HR 4308. 60,758 people e-mailed their Senators, Boxer and Feinstein each got 10,500+ e-mails.
"Threatening to refuse Syrian refugees entry is playing to baseless racist fears for cheap political gain,” said Ben Wikler of MoveOn. “Stop attacking the refugee families who are fleeing the same terrorist groups behind the attacks in Paris, Beirut, and around the world."
This is a long-term struggle, and we could not have our impact heard without the thousands of Daily Kos community members who have spoken out on this issue.