Humble Pie

A day late and an amendment short. When I posted my previous entry calling everyone to take action, the congress website had not been updated to show that the S. 1177, Every Child Achieves Act, had already gone to vote. I feel like I really have some egg on my face. No, I couldn't control the fact that Congress.gov had not been updated at 2:00 a.m. when I posted it it. The bill still showed as being introduced, but without any decision. Still, I feel pretty embarrassed to have asked people to work under a deadline.

The good news is that the Every Child Achieves Act has passed with an overwhelming majority vote. 81-17 (2 non-votes). This act will the No Child Left Behind program if it passes the House and President Obama signs it into law. Given the overwhelming senate success, I have hope that it will. There are a lot of really great things about this bill.

Still, this does not mean that we cannot work to create legislation that will offer those protections. It just means that we have the time to give it the time and energy it deserves. Time to ask our representatives to do their jobs.

A Call to Action!

UPDATE:  THE BILL IS NOT DEAD, BUT IT HAS BEEN VOTED ON IN THE SENATE. THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE GIVE UP THE FIGHT TO HAVE LGBTQ+ YOUTH PROTECTIONS MANDATES NATIONWIDE

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When The New Civil Rights Movement (NCRM) published the article, “Did Your US Senator Just Vote To Allow LGBT Students To BeBullied? Here's The List," I quickly checked my state. Yep. My senators. Utilizing one of the greatest political filters I have at my disposal (a friend), I send the link over and I say "please, please, please, tell me what happened here. I don't understand." 

About 20 hours later, "Export-Import Bank." Huh? What? 

We've all heard the stories of bills not passing, only to find out that there was something attached to the bill by one party that made it unacceptable to the other. It's the way both parties play the political game. Al Franken is no exception. With a really weak lead in about "preparing children for the future," comes a whole section of the amendment that has to do with exportation and importation. Essentially, international trade and exporting jobs overseas to cut employment costs. *sigh* *deeper sigh* 

Personally, I don't agree with this practice. I get tired of conservative mouth pieces talking about the evils of welfare and the unemployment when they don't fight to keep jobs in America. To me, that's like paying to fix someone else's roof, but you have your own leaks and you're developing wood rot. It's asinine. Still, this piece of legislation does not belong in a massive bill that seeks to improve the education of our youth by offering targeted funding to schools who need the money and protections for all students from bullying. 

Still, this bill is not dead yet. I repeat:  Every Child Achieves Act IS NOT DEAD YET. The vote was on Franken's amendment. If we act now, we can save the parts of this amendment that really matter. But we DO have to act now. ECAA goes to vote soon (probably before midweek), and without Franken's amendment, it will not include the LGBTQ+ protection. 

What can you do? Well, call Franken's office. Tell him that you support his amendment, but not his effort to sneak in legislation that put it at risk. Ask him to introduce his amendment again without the Export-Import Bank clause, or any clause not pertaining to the education or safety of children in schools. Then call your senators and ask them to make sure it happens. Tell them you feel strongly that ECAA should pass with LGBTQ+ protections, and that you are asking for the contents of SA-2093 to be re-introduced without the Import-Export Bank clause. 

You can reach Al Franken's office at:  (202) 224-5641 

And you can Google your own senators if you're outside of Iowa, but if you're in Iowa, I'll give you Joni and Chuck's Washington numbers. 

Joni:  (202) 224-3254

Chuck:  (202) 224-3744

If the amendment is reintroduced with the proposed changes (without the Export-Import Bank clause, or any clause not pertaining to the education or safety of children in schools), and still gets voted down, then the nay-ers' true motives will be exposed. Or maybe we will get legislation that offers protections for our youth.