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“In the coming days, we will be introducing legislation to prohibit the unilateral deployment of U.S. military personnel into American cities without the explicit approval of Congress,” said Representatives Omar, Jayapal, and Pocan. “Time and again, President Trump has governed as an authoritarian — abusing his power at the expense of the American people and our democracy. Now, he’s threatening to weaponize the U.S. military against its own citizens.”

“Even President Trump’s own Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, opposes deploying troops to silence the protests,” added Representatives Omar, Jayapal, and Pocan. “The American public has a constitutionally-protected right to free speech. Deploying the military in an attempt to quash these protests would be an attack on our constitution, our democracy, and our people. Congress must send an unequivocal message that this grotesque abuse of power will be stopped.”

The Insurrection Act of 1807 allows the President of the United States, in rare circumstances, to unilaterally deploy the National Guard and armed forces against the will of a state government. The proposed legislation, which will be introduced in the coming days, would amend the law to require congressional approval prior to the deployment of U.S. troops.

“We have grave concerns that this legislation does not protect people in the United States from warrantless surveillance, especially their online activity including web browsing and internet searches,” said CPC Co-Chairs Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Congressman Mark Pocan. “Despite some positive reforms, the legislation is far too narrow in scope and would still leave the public vulnerable to invasive online spying and data collection.”

“We cannot in good conscience vote for legislation that violates Americans’ fundamental right to privacy,” continued Congresswoman Jayapal and Congressman Pocan. “Therefore, we will be opposing the bill, as well as recommending a ‘no’ vote to members of the Progressive Caucus. For months, we’ve worked to overhaul the expansive surveillance powers authorized in Section 215. There’s no reason to rush through a multi-year authorization that fails to make critical reforms needed to protect the civil liberties of the American public.”

The Progressive Caucus previously opposed the FISA reauthorization bill considered by the House of Representatives in March.

The hearing featured expert testimony from four witnesses:

• Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign
• Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, Ph.D, M.D., 12th President and Chief Executive Officer of Meharry Medical College
• Nayna Gupta, Associate Director of Policy, National Immigrant Justice Center
• Dr. Christina Paz, CEO of Centro San Vicente

The hearing is available to watch here. 

Read the letter below.

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer,

As Congress considers the next steps for a just and resilient recovery, we write to you on two important issues.

First, we ask that Congress work urgently to pass—within the next two weeks—a comprehensive and inclusive CARES-2 bill that meets the scale of the crisis. Since the last letter we wrote you on April 9th, the Covid19 crisis has worsened dramatically, and has taken a disproportionate toll on vulnerable communities:

• As of today, at least 55,000 of our friends, neighbors, and loved ones have died from this pandemic – approaching the death toll of American servicemembers in the Vietnam War.
• African Americans comprise nearly one-third of all US Covid19 deaths, despite making up only 13 percent of the US population, a staggering total rooted in a long history of structural inequalities and environmental racism.
• More than 24 million Americans – one in seven workers – have filed for unemployment in just the last five weeks, with job loss disproportionately concentrated among low-income workers and women.
• It’s estimated that only 29 percent of jobless Americans received unemployment benefits in March, leaving millions without income or a safety net.

CARES 2 must provide immediate and substantial relief on four key priority areas that will put families first and leave no-one out. Those priorities are:

1. Keeping people on payrolls: Stop mass layoffs and ensure federal dollars go to workers and small businesses, not enriching CEOs and Wall Street.
2. Providing financial relief: Expand aid for the most vulnerable in the COVID-19 epidemic, including direct cash assistance, increased food aid, debt relief, and eviction protections.
3. Protecting public health: Provide full health coverage for all COVID-19 care, ensure protections and hazard pay for essential workers, and secure critically-needed state and local funding.
4. Safeguarding our elections: Enact a vote-by-mail requirement for 2020 federal elections while maintaining access to in-person voting for those who do not have access to mail voting

Second, we urge you to work with us to find a way for Congress to safely vote on both the proxy voting proposal and a CARES-2 package as soon as possible. We appreciate the decision to delay next week’s return given the ongoing pandemic, but we must find a way for members of Congress to vote on issues of critical national importance while protecting public health. Time is of the essence.

Below, we have reattached the CPC letter from April 9th for your consideration. We look forward to working with you to ensure Congress takes a comprehensive and inclusive approach to the next coronavirus package.

Sincerely,

Pramila Jayapal
Co-Chair
Congressional Progressive Caucus

Mark Pocan
Co-Chair
Congressional Progressive Caucus