Congressional Luncheon Briefing: "How Voter Suppression Efforts Are Threatening Our Democracy," Thursday, April 21, 1:00pm-3:00pm, 2237 Rayburn HOB

*Please Spread Far And Wide For Democracy!!

Congressional Luncheon Briefing: Mark The Date

    Featuring national civil rights leaders, scholars, and top voting experts

    *Moderated by renowned news journalist Roland S. Martin of NewsOne

“How Voter Suppression Efforts Are

Threatening Our Democracy”

Thursday, April 21, 1:00pm-3:00pm

2237 Rayburn Building

(lunch starts at 12:45pm)

Dear Colleague:

You are cordially invited to an important Congressional briefing on the threat of voter suppression across the United States. 

The briefing will be held Thursday, April 21, 2016 from 1:00p.m.-3:00p.m. in 2237 Rayburn HOB. Lunch will be served at 12:45p.m. 

The briefing is being sponsored by the Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC), led by noted civil rights attorney Barbara R. Arnwine, former Executive Director of the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and also sponsored by the National Election Defense Coalition (NEDC). 

     

The evisceration of provisions of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in the Shelby case has allowed states to brazenly restrict voting rights. This includes, but is not limited to, proof of citizenship laws, strict photo identification requirements, early voting cutbacks, and practices that create extreme waiting lines in predominately democratic precincts where there is a large presence of African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and university students.

Recent studies reveal that new state voter suppression could stop approximately 1.3 million from voting in competitive states. At the briefing, you will hear from the nation’s top experts on how scores of Americans are being denied the right to vote in states that have passed onerous voting laws. In Texas alone, half a million people lack the photo identification required to vote. Thirty-two states have promulgated new Jim Crow laws to combat the largely mythical "voter fraud."  Sixteen of these states will see their plans go into effect for the first time in the crucial 2016 elections.

Additionally our aging voting machines and insecure vote-counting technology poses serious questions about vulnerability and accuracy.

At this Congressional briefing new information based on the 2016 primaries voting experiences, and on 2016 published reports and books, will be explored.  The briefing will also feature recommendations and proposals for combating and redressing voter suppression, and legislation promoting an open, transparent and inclusive franchise for all eligible citizens.  

     

Opening Remarks:

    Rep. John Conyers

    Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

    Rep. Terri Sewell

    Rep. Maxine Waters

Speakers:

    Rev. William Barber

         Executive Director, N.C. NAACP

         Leader, Moral Monday/Forward Together Movement

    Barbara R. Arnwine

         President, Transformative Justice Coalition

         Former Executive Director, Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

    Ari Berman PhD

        Senior Contributing Writer for the Nation Magazine,

        Voter Rights expert and author of “Give Us the Ballot”

    Robert J. Fitrakis PhD

         Professor, Columbus State College, Phd

         Election Defense Expert on Vote-Counting Security and Election Fraud

  

    Lindsey Nielson, PhD

         University of California San Diego,

         Author of the recent UCSD Report on How Voter Suppression Laws Are Restricting                  the Vote in Communities of Color.

*Please RSVP to Joel Segal, former senior legislative assistant, 
     Rep. John Conyers, NEDC, 571 344-1518; or email at Joel.R.Segal@gamil.com, or contact 
     Dijon Kraus, Transformative Justice Coalition, 202 602-7080, email at dkraus@tjcoalition.org

NIMS Refresh Engagement Period. Deadline: COB May 9, 2016

National Incident Management System Refresh: National Engagement Period

FEMA’s National Integration Center is currently soliciting public feedback for the National Incident Management System (NIMS) refresh. 

This National Engagement Period will conclude at 5:00 pm EDT on May 9, 2016. National engagement provides an opportunity for interested parties to comment on the draft of the refreshed NIMS, so that it reflects the collective expertise and experience of the whole community.

NIMS provides a consistent and common approach and vocabulary to enable the whole community to work together seamlessly and manage all threats and hazards. NIMS applies to all incidents, regardless of cause, size, location or complexity.

The draft NIMS:

• Reiterates the concepts and principles of the original 2004 version and the updated 2008 version;
• Reflects and incorporates lessons learned from exercises and real world incidents and policy updates, such as the National Preparedness System and the 2013 NIMS Intelligence/Investigation Function Guidance and Field Operations Guide;
• Reflects progress in resource typing and mutual aid and builds a foundation for the development of a national qualification system;
• Clarifies that NIMS is more than just the Incident Command System (ICS) and that it applies to all stakeholders with roles in incident management across all five mission areas (Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response and Recovery);
• Provides guidance on a common structure and activation levels for operations and coordination centers, including Emergency Operations Centers (EOC), through new Center Management System (CMS) guidance;
• Note that while we will continue to track NIMS implementation, the adoption of CMS is not mandatory as part of preparedness grants;
• Explains the relationship among ICS, CMS, and Multiagency Coordination Groups (MAC Groups); and
• Enhances guidance on information management processes to improve data collection plans, social media integration and the use of geographic information systems (GIS).

FEMA is hosting a series of 60-minute engagement webinars to highlight key proposed changes to NIMS and answer participant questions about submitting feedback. All webinars are open to the whole community.


To review the draft of the refreshed NIMS and for additional webinar information, visit: https://www.fema.gov/national-incident-management-system/national-engagement. 

To provide comments on the draft, complete the feedback form and submit it to FEMA-NIMS@fema.dhs.gov.