June 21, 2019
JAC met with Betsy Dirksen Londrigan who is running for Congress to represent IL-13
JAC II Chicago held a Wine & Hummus Tasting featuring Israeli Consul for Public Diplomacy Moran Birman.
JAC II Chicago discussing Israel at their recent Wine & Hummus Tasting.
Week In Review Commentary
The House took positive steps to protect women's health this Thursday when it passed four appropriation bills to fund federal departments through September 2020. The bills now move to the GOP-controlled, anti-Choice Senate, where their fate is uncertain.

These first set of funding bills are an attempt to reverse President Trump's dangerous budget priorities. Every JAC-supported candidates voted for the bill.

Some of the Important provisions in the House bills to ensure women's access to health care include:
  • Permanent repeal of the Global Gag Rule or Mexico City Rule which prevented foreign aid from being allocated to abortion procedures overseas
  • Funding increase for international family planning programs
  • $750 million for Title X, which provides low-income women with access to birth-control and other reproductive health resources
Democratic members also successfully blocked GOP attempts to allow medical professionals to refuse care based on personal religious and moral objections. Their provisions would have allowed doctors to intentionally mislead patients on their pregnancy options.

The House stopped a measure to require Title X facilities to be physically separate from any facility that performs abortions. This would place an undue financial burden on these facilities, forcing many of them to close.

Other highlights of the bills include:
  • $50 million for gun violence research.
  • $41.1 billion for cancer, HIV/AIDs and other medical research at the National Institute of Health. Trump had called for a large funding cut.
  • $3.3 billion for Israel, which meets the full commitment of the U.S. to the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
  • $7.1 billion for environmental cleanup.
  • Prohibiting funds from being used to ban transgender individuals from the military.
  • Funding for the Violence Against Women Act.
Elections have consequences.

JAC, with help from its members, helped elect a pro-choice House. Our candidates are standing firm in the House against Trump's attacks on women. However, we must turn the Senate blue to see any meaningful legislation.

We need to re-elect every pro-choice candidate in the House and then elect even more to the Senate.

Safeguard your reproductive rights. Donate to JAC's pro-choice candidates.

Take Action
Call Your Senator
202.224.3121
 
It is time to end gun violence.

Pass S.42 - The Universal Background Check Bill NOW.

      Don't forget to share this with friends and tweet with the following :
#BackgroundChecksNow
#EndGunViolence
#BackgroundChecksSaveLives
#Fight4AFuture
 
@_(your Senator)__ It's been more than 100 days since the House passed a bill requiring background checks on ALL gun sales. It's time for the Senate to pass #BackgroundChecksNow.
 
@_(your Senator)__ More than 97% of Americans support #BackgroundChecks. It's time for the Senate to pass #BackgroundChecksNow. #EndGunViolence
 
@_(your Senator)__ It's time to update our laws to fit the times and close the loopholes that allow people to buy guns without a background check. SUPPORT #BackgroundChecks NOW. #Fight4AFuture 

Not sure who your Senators are?
ISRAEL
Israel Said Worried U.S. May Not Respond Decisively to Drone Downing

Israel officials are reportedly concerned over the prospect that the US will not response decisively to Iran's downing of an American drone in the Persian Gulf, with some worried Iran will interpret this as an unwillingness to engage in military operations against it and grow more aggressive in the region. 
Continued Reading

ANTI-SEMITISM & BDS
U.S. Senate Passes Resolutions Condemning 'All Forms of Anti-Semitism"

The Senate unanimously approved a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, the latest congressional bid to address an issue that has roiled American politics. The resolution passed was introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Tim Kaine (D-VA). It lists a number of classic anti-Semitic slanders and prohibitions on freedoms imposed on Jews overseas and in the United States. It also alludes to recent deadly attacks on U.S. synagogues.
Continued Reading

CHOICE
U.S. Democratic Lawmakers Vote to Repeal Global Gag Rule on Abortion
 
Democratic U.S. lawmakers voted  to repeal a rule slashing global access to abortion and to restore worldwide family planning programs, aiming to reverse measures put in place by Republican President Donald Trump. Also approved by the Democratic-led House of Representatives was funding for government programs to protect LGBT+ rights.
Continued Reading



 
SEPARATION
Supreme Court: Cross Can Stand On Public Land In Separation Of Church And State Case

The Supreme Court will allow a 40-foot memorial cross to remain standing on public land in Maryland. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg read her dissent out loud to emphasize her opinion. "By maintaining the Peace Cross on a public highway, the Commission elevates Christianity over other faiths and religion over nonreligion," the Jewish jurist said. Seven of the court's nine justices voted to allow the Bladensburg Cross, a memorial to soldiers killed in World War I, to stand. Ginsburg was joined in her dissent by Sonia Sotomayor.
Continued Reading

BEYOND THE CORE
U.S. House Votes To Fund Gun Violence Research For The First Time In Decades

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to approve funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to research firearm injury and mortality, marking the first time in more than two decades the House has appropriated the agency funds to study gun violence prevention. House Democrats voted to allot $25 million to the CDC to research gun injuries and deaths in fiscal year 2020, in a victory for gun control activists who have lobbied for gun violence to be studied as a matter of public health. 
Continued Reading

POLITICAL BYTE
Supreme Court Hands Democrats a Win on Racial Gerrymandering in Virginia

Legislative districts in Virginia that the Supreme Court previously said were racially gerrymandered have to remain in their redrawn form, SCOTUS said, giving Democrats in the state a victory. The majority decision was written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who noted that because the entirety of state government wasn't suing to keep the fight going - the case was brought by the state's GOP-controlled House - then it is throwing the case out.
Continued Reading

 
FYI
Pampers Pledges to Install 5,000 Baby Changing Tables in Men's Restrooms Across the U.S.

From the trunk of a car to the lid of a piano, dads sometimes have to get creative when it's time to change their child's diaper without a changing station. Pampers says it's time that men's restrooms catch up with the responsibilities of modern fathers. The company announced an initiative to install 5,000 changing tables in men's restrooms across the U.S. and Canada. The announcement accompanies Pampers' new ad campaign, which encourages fathers to share moments they bonded with their child during a diaper change.
Continued Reading

 
JAC II
Introducing JACII, a JAC group for young professionals, advocates, and those young at heart who are looking to get involved. Groups have started in Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
 
Events will feature elected officials and speakers in lively settings. JACII is by and for young people. Now is the perfect time to get involved.
 
Tuesday, July 18
(PLEASE NOTE NEW DATE) 
JACII Detroit - Abortion Access in Michigan 
featuring 
State Senator Mallory McMorrow 
The Michigan legislature has passed a ban on a common second semester termination procedure - D&E. Governor Gretchen Whitmer has vowed to veto this bill, but it is critical we all know what is at stake in this ongoing fight.
_______________

Know someone who would be interested in joining or hosting a meeting? Let us know at info@jacpac.org. We will be happy to help organize a JACII in your city.

The Last Word
"The time has passed for my son, the time has passed for others like my son, who was killed unnecessarily due to gun violence. But I am so grateful for this day. I'm so grateful for the research that will save many lives for generations to come."

-  Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) 
upon the passage of legislation for the study of gun violence
 
Thursday, June 27
2020 Debate Watch Party
8:00 pm
Deerfield, IL
__________________________

Friday, June 28
Meeting with
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ)
Chicago
Call the JAC office for details
___________________________

Thursday, July 18
JACII Detroit
featuring
State Senator Mallory McMorrow
Join us to discuss the fight over abortion access in Michigan
Metro-Detroit Area
Address upon RSVP
____________________________
 
Wednesday, July 31
Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA)
Chicago
Call the JAC office for details
____________________________

Want to host a JAC event? Contact the office and we will help organize it.
info@jacpac.org or 847.433.5999
Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC) is a pro-Israel PAC with a domestic agenda. We support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and advocate for reproductive health and the separation of religion and state and incorporate other issues of importance to the Jewish community, including gun violence prevention and climate change. In addition to providing financial support for U.S. Senate and House campaigns, JACPAC educates our membership with outreach events designed to inform and activate their participation in the political process.
Paid for by Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs. Contributions or gifts are not tax deductible. Contributions may total up to $5400 per individual ($2700 for the primary election, and $2700 for the general election). Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation, and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle. Corporate contributions and contributions from non-US citizens who are not lawfully admitted for permanent residence are prohibited. All contributions by individuals must be made from personal funds and may not be reimbursed or paid by another person.