Lobbying Raja Krishnamoorthi in support of HR1 and other progressive issues

On Dec. 20, 2018, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Andrew Payette, staff to U.S. House Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi in the 8th district office in Schaumburg. I was there as part of the Demand Democracy day of action in support of H.R.1 - the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act. Raja has not signed on as a cosponsor of this bill, so I went as a representative of Our Revolution Northern IL to lobby for his support. During this meeting I asked tough questions about where Raja stands on different components of H.R.1, as well as many other important progressive topics we hope he will support on behalf of the district. While at times Andrew was unsure of Raja’s stated positions on some of these topics, he did follow-up with me via email after the meeting to fill in some of those blanks. I will include both the answers given at the time of the meeting as well as those follow-up responses after-the-fact here.

Lobbying for HR1

I went through each of the major components of HR1 with Andrew and asked if he was aware of Raja's alignment on those topics. Here are some of the details:

• Will Raja support the elements of HR1 that work to overturn Citizens United? While there is not currently an official statement regarding Citizen United, Andrew assured me that doesn't mean one won't be forthcoming in the 2019 session. I am still following up for an official answer to this question.

• Will Raja support parts establishing automatic voter registration? While we didn’t immediately have an answer on this one, Andrew followed up with the following statement via email: “The Congressman is a big supporter of ensuring that everyone has access to the voting booth and preserving the sanctity of each vote. This is something that he has worked on in the past (Help Students Vote Act, event with John Lewis, cosponsor of Redistricting Reform Act which requires independent commissions to redraw district lines) and intends to take a larger role in the 116th. He is a cosponsor of the Automatic Voter Registration Act. All of this shows that he is in favor of large voting reforms including everything that will be included in the H.R. 1 package.” I find this very encouraging and am glad to report it.

• Will Raja support parts requiring the Presidents to release their tax returns? Andrews email reply, “He has publicly stated multiple times that Trump should release his tax returns.” which I take as positive affirmation of his support in legislating that action.

• Will Raja support parts related to restoring the Voting Rights Act? While I talked about different ways the Voting Rights Act has been gutted, Andrew mentioned "Gerrymandering is something that the Congressman wants to address/resolve in some way such that we more accurately represent what the people want." This in combination with that emailed quote above on automatic voter registration makes me feel confident he supports this element.

• Will Raja support parts related to holding the SCOTUS accountable to ethical review? We talked about what is going on with Kavanaugh getting all his ethical violations waved away by the lower court because they stated they have no way of holding a S.C. Justice accountable. Since this was such a recent development Andrew was not sure of Raja's position, I’m working on a follow-up to this as well.

After we got through the H.R. 1 stuff, we did go off-topic a few times to touch on other progressive agenda items. Here are some of the highlights:

Regarding Trump, the Mueller investigation and where Raja stands on Impeachment

I asked Andrew, if Mueller comes forward with felony charges against Trump, will Raja move for Impeachment? Andrew told me Raja is dedicated to following the leadership of the Democratic party regarding Impeachment, to which I replied “Ugh, the leadership of the Democratic party is so bad though!" Andrew told me Raja wants to see what happens with the investigation before he commits to decisions one way or the other, he wants the proper authorities to do their jobs.

I also asked Andrew if Raja would move forward with Impeachment should the Mueller investigation be threatened by Trump or his 'acting' Attorney General, Andrew did not know Rajas position offhand, but was able to get back to me with a statement via email after our talk saying, "He is 100% dedicated to protecting the Mueller investigation and has signed onto legislation to ensure that Trump can’t just fire Mueller at any given point. As a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, his role is to be a check on the Administration, including all things related to ethics, tax returns, and that Committee is going to be VERY busy next Congress to hold the President accountable. He has publicly stated multiple times that Trump should release his tax returns."

Andrew also included this previously released statement from Raja regarding impeachment:

“While I hold great respect for the office of the President, I share your concerns regarding many aspects of the President’s conduct, conflicts of interest, and policies. The removal of a democratically-elected president is an issue that requires the utmost care and caution.

As you may know, impeachment is the process by which federal officials, including the President, can be tried, convicted, and punished for treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors. The impeachment process must begin in the U.S. House of Representatives, and must first be approved by a majority of the House Judiciary Committee, followed by a simple majority of the full body, or 218 of 435 Members of the House.

If the House votes to impeach the President, the Senate will then begin an impeachment trial. Senators act as a jury, hearing exhaustive evidence from both sides, while the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court oversees proceedings. Two-thirds of Senators, or 67 Senators in a full vote, must vote in favor of conviction in order for the President to be removed.

Section 4 of the 25th Amendment provides alternative procedures for removing a President who has become unable to perform his official duties due to illness or disability. Should the Vice President and a majority of the President’s cabinet or other body created by Congress to evaluate the President’s fitness agree the President has become unable to discharge the duties of office, they may notify Congress, and the Vice President may become Acting President. However, the President may dispute this decision, and he can then only be removed by a two-thirds majority of both the House and Senate. This makes the 25th Amendment an even higher threshold for removing the President than impeachment.

As you can see, the framers of our Constitution purposefully made it very difficult to remove a democratically elected President. That is why, though two have faced impeachment trials, no President has ever been removed from office by means of impeachment.

Like you, I am troubled by President Trump’s words and actions. Please be assured that from my position on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I will do everything in my power to ensure the Trump Administration is accountable to the American people.”

I found that very good to hear, and appreciate his follow-up!

On what Raja is focusing on now

I asked what Raja is focusing on now, in terms of initiatives to support the people of IL-08, and Andrew mentioned that, apart from all his work on the Oversites Committee, Raja wrote a bill to support career technical education. Raja wants to help people have access to trade schools that provide the type of technical training that fills high paying skilled labor positions, which are in-demand within the district. He also is prioritizing projects related to infrastructure, which also lead to jobs. I took the opportunity to pivot from infrastructure to...

Green New Deal

Andrew let me know I was probably the 100th or 200th person who has called or reached out in some way on the Green New Deal. In fact, I was not even the first person today to mention it in office, and they've been getting calls from individuals from all over country. This news made me SO proud because, as you know, Our Revolution Northern IL has been part of the campaign to get his phone ringing on this issue, we even ran a paid ad asking for his support!

At the time of our sit-down Andrew said Raja is reviewing a lot of information and taking those calls seriously. He wants to ensure the deal includes the best responses, best resources. I was dissatisfied with that answer, and I informed Andrew that what we are looking for is a Select Committee, to build the legislation now, so that we can be up and running in 2020. We have 12 years to get fossil fuel usage down by 45% and until mid-century to get to 0 emissions or we cross into catastrophic outcomes. The committee will bring in scientists, justice advocates, will focus on jobs, infrastructure, and a total transformation of the economy to ensure we are focusing on hitting the scientific goals that will save the planet. Andrew assured me that going forward Raja will address this issue.

Since that sit-down, Andrew and Raja have been true to their word and sent me the following via email:

“For the Green New Deal, Congressman Krishnamoorthi hasn’t taken a public position but is supportive of creating the Select Committee in the 116th that AOC is promoting. He is a strong supporter of environmental reforms. Among many pro-environment steps, he is the founder of the Solar Caucus, member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, the first bill he ever introduced related to the Paris Climate Accord, strong supporter of clean energy jobs and reducing emissions.”

I have forwarded this reply to Justice Democrats and the Sunrise Movement, the teams tracking who has signed on, and asked both parties what it will take to add Raja’s to the list of supporters! I am awaiting the results of that exchange before I officially post our ‘thank you’ reply, but this appears to be a real victory for us, fingers crossed!

I left the office feeling heard, acknowledged and appreciated. I respect Andrew for staying true to his word and working with the D.C. team to get me position statements after-the-fact on some of our outstanding issues. I look forward to working with Raja and his team more to get their sign-on for H.R.1 and other initiatives supported by Our Revolution.

Next steps

I will continue to follow-up and find answers to our outstanding questions:

• Will Raja support the elements of HR1 that work to overturn Citizens United?

• Will Raja support parts related holding the SCOTUS accountable to ethical review?

• Can we officially add you to the list of Green New Deal supporters being tracked by Justice Democrats, so I can help spread the word about his progressive leadership on this important issue?

I also let Andrew know that our next push would be for Medicare for All, which Raja also has not signed onto. I told him we will be participating in the NNU's Medicare for All week of Action Feb. 9-13th but that we wouldn't bother Raja if he came out in support of H.R. 676 before that :) More on that to come!