Tell your Members of Congress: You must pass the Build Back Better Act
Call BOTH of your Senators.
Call ONE of the Representatives. Note: only one of these Congressmembers represents you. Find out which one here.
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Call Script
My name is __________. I am a constituent, and my zip code is _______. I am a member of Indivisible SF.
I urge you not to compromise on the transformative content of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act (BBBA). I support passing legislation which includes all of its critically important elements.
Investments in clean energy jobs, climate resilience and protecting our planet from further damage
Home care for the elderly and disabled
Extending the Child Tax Credits that have already led to historic reductions in child poverty
Expanding Medicare to cover vision, hearing and dental care
Medicaid expansion and ACA subsidies so millions can access quality, affordable health care
Lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate pricing
Paid Family and Medical Leave
Child care subsidies and free Pre-K
Free Community College
Funding for Housing and combatting homelessness
Always include the most popular of all provisions, which is how we pay for this plan: raising taxes on Corporations and the wealthiest Americans who need to pay their fare share of taxes.
Hold strong to the agreement that both infrastructure bills are vital and will be passed together.
Background
Last week, a House vote on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (BIF, the smaller infrastructure bill) did not happen, because progressives held firm to the agreement that the BIF and BBB would be passed together. This was the original plan that Democrats in both Houses of Congress and President Biden agreed to a few months ago. However, once the Senate had passed the BIF, around 10 moderate (corporate) Democrats insisted on passing the BIF in the House by itself, which was a non-starter for the 96-member Progressive Caucus.
Congressional Democrats are also under pressure from the media, which has focused on the negotiations’ political gamesmanship, instead of the crucial debates about the transformative content of the BBBA. For a great summary of the negotiations and how badly the media failed to understand the process, see Dan Pfeiffer’s article Why the Media Got the Story About this Week All Wrong. For a wry review of how the Washington press is using its tired old “Dems In Disarray” narrative, see Eric Boehlert’s Chaos,” "civil war"! — the press throws a Dems in Disarray party.
Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer announced a new deadline of October 31st for passing both the BBBA and the BIF infrastructure packages. That lines up with when President Biden is expected to go to Glasgow, Scotland for the UN Climate Conference, COP26. COP stands for Conference of the Parties, the countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a treaty that came into force in 1994. This is the 26th COP summit and the US will be in a much stronger leadership position after passing a major climate package back at home. Congress now has just under four weeks to agree on the full scope and scale of the critical Build Back Better Act and move it through both chambers.
Progressives and Democratic leaders in Congress, including Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer have to work closely with the Biden Administration to pass the President's transformative climate and human infrastructure agenda on an accelerated schedule. Members of Congress are encountering especially intense opposition from lobbying groups, so we should be sure they know we have their back as they fight to pass the most transformative, human infrastructure agenda in generations, and the most effective climate crisis action plan Congress has ever considered.
Our Members of Congress need our enthusiastic support for prioritizing the BBBA. it is important to adhere to the original Senate deal to proceed: the BBBA must pass both the House and the Senate first. If the old fashioned BIF, with all its corporate cash give-aways, passes first, then progressive leverage to pass the BBBA goes away.
References:
An Inflection Point for America: Budget Reconciliation Moves the Build Back Better Act Forward, House Budget Chairman John Yarmouth describes highlights in the BBBA, 9/25/21
Opinion | To 'Build Back Better,' Democrats should focus spending on children and climate programs, Washington Post, 10/04/21
Opinion | On Very Serious People, Climate and Children, New York Times, 10/04/21
With Biden’s Agenda in the Balance, Lobbying Kicks Into High Gear, New York Times, 10/04/21
Why the Media Got the Story About this Week All Wrong, Dan Pfeiffer, 10/03/21
“Chaos,” "civil war"! — the press throws a Dems in Disarray party, 10/04/21, Eric Boehlert
Transcript of Pelosi Weekly Press Conference Today, 9/28/21
Glasgow Climate Change Conference, UN Climate Change COP26 Conference Description.
(COP = Conference of the Parties