Dec 10, 2017

Dear DNC Member,  

Thinking of all of those affected by the devastating wildfire in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, including the brave first responders. Stay safe and take care of each other.
 
At nearly 2 a.m. on Saturday, Senate Republicans passed their tax plan without a single Democratic vote. This tax scam is an absolute betrayal of America’s working families. While Senate Republicans allowed virtually no debate or time to even read the hundreds of pages of hastily-drafted, handwritten bill text, they did manage to add dozens of new giveaways to special interest lobbyists. Republicans are unilaterally taking billions of dollars away from the middle class and handing it over to their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations while destroying the future of our economy.

This is the price of Republican leadership: a tax plan built on lies and written for the rich, by the rich. Voters won’t forget this betrayal on Election Day. And as Republicans continue to turn their backs on the people they’re supposed to represent, Democrats will keep fighting to build an economy that works for everyone.

On Monday, President Trump visited Utah to sell his plan to drastically shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument. His decision to shrink these national monuments and open them up to oil, gas and mining companies is an appalling overreach of his authority. Trump would rather sell off our public lands to the highest bidder than preserve our greatest natural resources. Even worse, opening up these lands to corporate exploitation will desecrate some of the most important cultural sites considered sacred by many Native American tribes in the region, betraying our government’s commitments to those Native communities.

 
Democrats are committed to standing up against the Trump administration’s efforts to auction off our public lands to special interests and corporate polluters. And we’ll fight tooth and nail to protect our most sacred natural parks, lands, and monuments for future generations.
 
On Tuesday, Keisha Lance Bottoms made sure the mayor’s office in Atlanta remained under Democratic leadership. For nearly eight years, Keisha has represented her community in Southwest Atlanta as a dedicated city council member, fighting tirelessly to strengthen and grow the city she loves. With her talent and vision, Mayor-elect Bottoms is going to continue expanding opportunity and build a brighter future for all of Atlanta’s hardworking families. We can’t wait to see everything she accomplishes.

On Democrats Live, DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison hosted Rep. Luis Gutierrez, United We Dream's Adrian Reyna, and Artie Blanco for a discussion on what Democrats across the country can do to demand a clean DREAM Act for the nearly 800,000 DREAMers who call America home. They also talked about the GOP's tax scam and how the Republican agenda is putting the American dream out of reach for more and more people each day. Check out the latest episode at live.democrats.org.

On Thursday, I spoke to conferences of the DLCC and DAGA about how critical their partnerships with the DNC are to ensuring that we organize in every ZIP code and elect Democrats up and down the ballot. Thanks to their hard work, we’ve already made incredible gains in state legislatures and attorneys general offices across the country.

This weekend, the DNC’s Unity Reform Commission is holding its final meeting in Washington, D.C. Over the course of the two-day event, which began this morning, Unity Reform Commission Chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and Vice Chair Larry Cohen will lead discussions on the final recommendations of the commission. Keith and I published a piece on CNN.com outlining our hopes for the commission’s recommendations, which you can check out here. The commission, which is made up of 21 members selected by me, Sec. Hillary Clinton, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, will recommend improvements to ensure the presidential nomination process is accessible, transparent, and inclusive.

Finally, one of the campaign promises I made when I ran for chair was to create a paid internship program to ensure there are no financial barriers to the participation of younger voters in our party. I’m proud to announce that we’ve just announced the start of our new paid internship program and we’re accepting applications now here.

When I was elected DNC chair nearly 10 months ago, I said that a united Democratic Party would be our best hope and Donald Trump’s worst nightmare. That’s as true today as it’s ever been. And as long as we stay united and keep organizing together, we’ll be unstoppable. 

Best,
 
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

Nov 18, 2017

Dear DNC Member,  

Throughout this past year, the Democratic National Committee has been focused on rebuilding and electing Democrats up and down the ticket. Through the “Every ZIP Code Counts” program, the new DNC is investing in state parties and races all across the country. The result? Democrats have flipped 33 seats from red to blue, including in deep red districts that Trump swept in 2016.
It has been another great week to be a Democrat. Congratulations to Tim Keller and Cynthia Borrego on their election as the next mayor and city councilor of Albuquerque, New Mexico, flipping both seats from red to blue. Voters are sick and tired of Donald Trump’s Republican Party, and they’re sending Democrats like Tim and Cynthia to City Hall to fight for working families. The DNC invested in the Democratic Party of New Mexico to support the important work being done by the state party and to organize and mobilize Democratic voters behind our shared values.
I also want to congratulate Allison Ikley-Freeman on her Oklahoma State Senate victory, which flipped yet another seat from red to blue in a district that Trump carried last year. At 26, Ikley-Freeman is the third openly gay person to be elected to the Oklahoma legislature.
 
As we saw earlier this year, Oklahomans are voting for Democrats in these deep-red districts because they know our candidates will work to resolve the budget crisis facing Oklahomans and help build an economy that works for every working family, not just a wealthy few. The DNC is proud to have invested in this race and we will continue working with the Oklahoma Democratic Party to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.
 
On Thursday, House Republicans passed their version of the GOP tax scam. Republicans are slashing education funding, making it more expensive to buy a home, blowing a $2 trillion hole in the deficit, and gutting Medicare funding for seniors – all so they can fund another giant tax giveaway to wealthy corporations and the top 1%. Even the author of the bill said that people most excited about it are ‘big CEOs.’ What’s more, Senate Republicans have shamelessly turned this tax bill into another health care repeal attempt.
 
This bill was clearly written for Donald Trump and his wealthy friends on Wall Street, not for hardworking American families. You can read a piece I wrote for NBC about how this plan is disastrous here, about how this bill affects Latino families here.

Democrats believe that we should reform our tax system to work better for the middle class. And we will fight tooth-and-nail to make sure this bill never makes it to Donald Trump’s desk. We’re urging Americans everywhere to call their Republican senators right now at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to oppose this bill.

On this week’s episode of Democrats Live, Keith Ellison hosted Rep. Judy Chu for a discussion on the GOP’s plan to slash taxes for the richest 1% and corporations, at the expense of hardworking Americans. They were also joined by new Minneapolis City Councilwoman-elect Andrea Jenkins, the first openly transgender person elected to a major city’s city council. They talked about what inspired her to run, what last week’s wins meant for Democrats across the country, and how the GOP tax bill would affect her constituents in Minnesota. Check out the latest episode at live.democrats.org.
From Albuquerque to Oklahoma, Democrats are flipping state and municipal seats and building a blue wave up and down the ballot across the country. You can read my recent piece in TIME about how Democrats secured major victories earlier this month and put Republicans on notice.
 
This is the new DNC and this is just the beginning. Democrats are going to keep organizing and leading with our values, and that’s why we’re going to flip even more seats up and down the ballot in 2018 and beyond.

Yours,
 
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

Oct 14, 2017

 
My thoughts are with all those affected by the devastating wildfires sweeping across California. Please take care of one another and be safe.

Dear Fellow DNC Member,  

Donald Trump continued to gamble with American lives and sabotage our health care system this week. First, he issued an executive order on Thursdaythat will undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions and raise premiums for those who need affordable health care the most. To make matters worse, Trump is also refusing to pay cost-sharing reduction subsidies. This heartless decision will cause millions of Americans to face skyrocketing premiums, and a million people will lose their insurance entirely in the next year.
 

 
Despite his dishonest tweets about the state of the Affordable Care Act, Trump and Republicans in Congress will not be able to escape responsibility for the devastation they inflict on hardworking families. Democrats believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege – and so do the American people. But with this decision, Trump is betraying their trust and intentionally sending our health care system into chaos. It's time for Republicans to put an end to Trump's recklessness and start working with Democrats to protect and expand health care for all Americans.

 

 
Trump also resumed his attacks on the people of Puerto Rico this week. As American citizens are dying, the president took to Twitter to denigrate and threaten them. Puerto Rico needs our unconditional support, not Trump’s childish insults and arrogant posturing. FEMA and other agencies must remain on the ground as long as needed, as they would in any other community recovering from a natural disaster.
 
When the president wasn’t attacking victims of a natural disaster or trying to take away health care from working families, he was going after our environment. On Tuesday, Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt put the profits of the oil and gas industry above the safety of the American people by repealing the Clean Power Plan. In the aftermath of multiple catastrophic natural disasters, one would hope that Trump would rethink his dangerous denial of climate change. But as he and Republicans in Congress continue to ignore reality, Democrats will keep fighting to protect our planet and invest in clean and renewable energy that creates jobs and grows our economy.
 
Trump capped off the week by announcing this morning that he will not recertify the Iran agreement. This is a disastrous decision, and Congress can’t allow Donald Trump’s recklessness to endanger our national security, undermine American credibility, and erode the world’s trust in our leadership.
 
At the DNC, we’ve been fighting these attacks tooth and nail. And there’s no better tool to stop Trump’s disastrous agenda than the ballot. Election Day is less than a month away, and we have huge opportunities up and down the ticket in New Jersey. If we pick up 3 seats in the state senate, we’ll have a veto-proof majority. That’s why I spent Monday campaigning for Phil Murphy, Sheila Oliver, Vin Gopal, and Democrats running up and down the Garden State ticket. After joining our candidate for lieutenant governor, Sheila Oliver, at a lunch with African American Women for Murphy in Newark, I traveled to Long Branch for a canvass kick-off with state senate candidate Vin Gopal. The energy there is palpable; New Jersey voters are hungry for Democratic leadership. After nearly eight years of failed Republican leadership, it’s time to send Chris Christie back to the beach.

 

 
We’ve made critical investments in Virginia and New Jersey, and with Election Day rapidly approaching, we need to keep building on the grassroots energy we’re seeing in these races. Our remarkable staff at the DNC has been holding phone banks and weekend canvasses, and we’re doing everything we can to get more Democrats registered.

 
We’ve also continued our rebuilding efforts at the DNC, most recently by welcoming Daniel Halpern, Ambassador Suzi LeVine and Eric LeVine, Amy Rao, and Diane Robertson to our team as Deputy National Finance Chairs. They have a proven track record and decades of combined experience raising the resources needed to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. They played a key role in sending President Obama to the Oval Office, and they’ll help ensure that we continue to elect Democrats in 2017, 2018, and beyond. As we build on unprecedented grassroots enthusiasm and outpace previous off-year fundraising hauls, I’m excited to have this team leading the charge.
 
Finally, we celebrated National Coming Out Day and the International Day of the Girl this week. We’re fighting every day to make the world a place where everyone is treated equally and everyone can live and love with dignity – no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.

As always, I want to thank all of you for the incredible work you’re doing to strengthen our party and our country. We’re already making tremendous progress, and we couldn’t do it without your help. The values of the Democratic Party are the values of the American people, and millions of families are counting on us to protect those values and build a better future for everyone. We are looking forward to our upcoming meeting in Las Vegas. We have listened to your input and are excited to come together to make our meetings more engaging and empowering in laying our path forward  as we continue to build toward victory with the new DNC. We can't do this without you.   

Best,
 
Tom
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Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

Oct 7, 2017

Dear DNC Member,  

Our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida, and Texas are still reeling from the natural disasters of the past few weeks. Click the link above to find out how you can help those affected.

On Monday, America woke to news of the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Our hearts are with the people of Las Vegas and all those affected by this despicable act of terror.

Throughout the week, we’ve heard story after story of the heroism displayed by ordinary Americans and selfless first responders who risked their lives to save others. We’ve been reminded that the courage of the American people will always outlast the cruelty of cowards. As Americans, we cannot give in to fear or hatred. We must be united against all those who perpetrate such terror, and do everything we can to ensure that vicious attacks like this become a thing of the past. You can find more information about what you can do to help here.

This week, I visited Puerto Rico with a delegation of Florida Democrats to bring supplies to those in need and survey the destruction.

The island I know is gone, washed away by one of the most vicious hurricanes in American history. But one of the few things that wasn't washed away is Puerto Rico's American identity. The 3.5 million people in Puerto Rico are American citizens. They deserve fair and equal treatment as Americans. Unfortunately, we have a president who has shown a disturbing disregard for their well-being.
 
Please read my piece in U.S. News on what I saw in Puerto Rico and how the Trump administration isn’t doing nearly enough to help the people recover.
 
Thursday marked the arbitrary deadline set by the Trump administration for certain DREAMers to renew their status.  Donald Trump said he would “show great heart” on DACA. That was a lie. Ending DACA is nothing but heartless, and every day the GOP refuses to find a solution, they put DREAMers in danger. Democrats will continue fighting to give DREAMers the opportunity they deserve to keep making contributions to the only country they know as home. We must pass the DREAM Act.

Republicans were also hard at work this week undermining the fundamental rights of women and LGBTQ Americans across the country. First, House Republicans passed a bill that would impose a nationwide ban on abortion at 20 weeks. Days later, Attorney General Jeff Sessions stripped protections against discrimination in the workplace for transgender persons under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. And today, the Trump administration rolled back the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for employers to offer health insurance covering contraception at no additional cost. And to cap things off, Sessions released a memo on ‘religious freedom’ that has been labeled a ‘license to discriminate’ against LGBTQ people, women, and others.
 

Democrats will not stand for these attacks. We will continue to fight for women’s constitutional rights and combat discrimination against LGBTQ Americans across the country.
 
On this week’s episode of Democrats Live, Keith Ellison and I hosted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to talk about how Democrats are fighting back against Trump and Republicans’ new tax plan and offering a better deal for the American people.

Check out the latest episode at live.democrats.org.
 
As always, we’re laser-focused on organizing and winning across the country. After taking over the Nevada legislature last year, we’re fighting back against the GOP’s outrageous attempts to subvert democracy through multiple recalls. You can read about our investments in Nevada here.

The DNC is also actively phone banking and canvassing to make sure Ralph Northam will be the next governor of Virginia. And early next week, I’ll be heading to New Jersey to rally support for Phil Murphy, Sheila Oliver, Vin Gopal, and Democrats across the Garden State.
 
With just over a month until Election Day, we don’t have any time to waste. But as long as we organize and lead with our values, I know we’ll be unstoppable.

 

 
Best,

 
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

September 23, 2017

Dear DNC Member,  

The past few days have been devastating for our friends in Puerto Rico and all those in the path of the hurricane Maria. Please consider donating to the Red Cross to help those affected if you can.
 
Democrats have been united against the latest GOP health care repeal effort. And Senator John McCain’s dramatic announcement today that he will not vote for Graham-Cassidy has carried the bill one step closer to defeat. But the fight isn’t over yet. We need to make sure Trumpcare ends up in the dustbin of history where it belongs once and for all. While Senate Democrats held countless hearings, accepted more than 180 Republican amendments, and debated the Affordable Care Act for over 160 hours on the floor, Republicans will vote on a bill with little if any debate and without a CBO score or basic knowledge of how many millions of Americans will be hurt.
  
If doctors made health care decisions for patients without knowing the consequences, they would be sued. But that’s exactly what Republicans are doing right now. This is not regular order – it’s malpractice. And any member of Congress who supports this sham deserves to be voted out of office. Millions of Americans would be at risk, so we need as many voices as possible to defeat this life-threatening bill. 
One of the most troubling aspects of this bill is its lack of funding for opioid addiction treatment. Opioid addiction is taking lives and tearing apart families. Instead of fighting to address the problem, Republicans in Congress want to ram through this partisan bill to take away people’s health care and slash billions in funding for addiction treatment. More than six weeks after calling the opioid epidemic a national emergency, President Trump has done nothing to help those affected. Now he’s leading the Republican charge to strip protections and resources from the working families who need them most.
 
This issue knows no party. From New Hampshire to Nevada, the opioid crisis has ravaged communities across the country. We cannot sit idly by while Republicans choose cruelty over compassion and destroy the lives of millions. We must elect more Democrats to fight this urgent crisis with the urgent action it demands.
  

We’ll have the chance soon with Election Day 2017 is less than 50 days away. Things are heating up in Virginia, where our candidate for governor, Ralph Northam, had a tremendous debate performance against his opponent on Tuesday night. Northam has spent his life as a public servant, while Republican nominee Ed Gillespie has made a career serving big corporations, special interests, and himself. Hard-working Virginians need a candidate that will support them and their families. Ralph Northam is that candidate.
 
But the Virginia governor’s race is just one election where voters are flocking to Democrats. Our CEO Jess O’Connell and DLCC Executive Director Jessica Post published a piece on TIME.com about the recent string of Democratic victories in special elections across the country, including in some deep-red districts where Trump won handily in November. From New Hampshire to Oklahoma, the American people are sending a loud and clear message: Democratic values are American values.
  
So much is at stake in these elections. Working families deserve a better deal from their representatives. They deserve a better deal on health care and housing, on wages and workers’ rights, on education and retirement security. And as our incredible National Political and Organizing Director and new mother, Amanda Brown Lierman, wrote in a Medium post this week, working families deserve a better deal on child care. Democrats are offering that better deal, and the American people are responding at the ballot box.
  
This week also marked the start of the Jewish New Year as communities in America, Israel, and around the world began to observe the Jewish High Holy Days. From the beginning of Rosh Hashanah to the final sealing on Yom Kippur, the Days of Awe are a time for reflection, repentance, and renewal.
  
Over the past year, we’ve seen how fear and hatred can divide our country. But while each new year brings new challenges, the DNC will always be a steadfast partner to Jewish communities as we combat anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, and as we continue the work of tikkun olam.

Yours,

Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

September 16, 2017

Dear DNC Member,  

Democrats are continuing to notch victories at the ballot box. This week, we flipped two seats in Oklahoma and New Hampshire – both in deep-red districts that Trump carried in November. These victories are just the latest example of how voters have lost faith in the Republican Party and are hungry for Democratic leadership.

 
Our candidates have now flipped six state legislature seats since Trump took office, and as long as we continue organizing and mobilizing across the country we’ll be unstoppable. When Democrats lead with our values, we can win in any zip code from the school board to the Oval Office.

 
As Democrats continue to pick up seats at the ballot box, DNC CEO Jess O’Connell has spent her first 100 days working hard to help us build a lasting party infrastructure. Check out her tweet thread this week explaining the exciting changes we’re undergoing at the New DNC.
 
On Tuesday, as Kris Kobach convened Trump’s voter suppression commission in New Hampshire, the DNC’s Commission to Protect American Democracy held a press call about Trump and Republicans’ attempts to restrict voting rights and how Democrats are fighting back.

Make no mistake: this isn’t a war on voter fraud, it’s a war on voters. As Democrats, our goal is to engage every eligible American voter as an active participant in our democracy. That’s why we’ve set up a DNC commission to combat Trump’s lies about voting and help expand access to the ballot.

This week also marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the accomplishments and contributions the Hispanic community has made to this great nation. As the first Latino chair and the son of two immigrants, I was proud to join the Latino Victory Fund to kick off the celebration at the DNC’s FuturoFest.

 
On Wednesday, Democrats Live was packed full of special guests. DNC Deputy Chair Keith Ellison and I hosted Rep. Nanette Barragán, Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Ellie Perez, a DACA recipient, who joined us via Skype. We discussed Trump’s heartless decision to end DACA, what next steps Congress must take to pass the DREAM Act, and how communities across the nation can organize to protect DREAMers.

Check out the latest episode at live.democrats.org.
 
We’ve also spent this week pushing back against the latest effort by Republicans in Congress to take health care away from millions. Like each of their previous attempts, the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson bill would have devastating impacts on Americans across the country.

Democrats believe health care is a right, not a privilege. That’s why Senate and House Democrats are working together to expand coverage for all Americans. It’s time for Republicans to listen to the people they represent and join Democrats in our efforts to improve our health care system for the American people.
 
Finally, I want to take a moment to remember a great civil rights hero we lost this week. Edie Windsor was a fearless pioneer for progress. When our laws betrayed the promise of equality enshrined in our Constitution, she stood up. When our lawmakers were too slow to act, she spoke out. And when a generation of LGBTQ Americans hoped for a path forward, she took the fight for marriage equality to our highest court.
Before the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Windsor v. United States, Edie said, ‘I think justice will prevail. Is that crazy?’ Because of her indomitable spirit, justice did prevail. Love is love. And America is better for it.
 
It’s up to us to honor Edie’s legacy by picking up where she left off and continue fighting for the full equality LGBTQ Americans deserve.

Yours,

Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

September 2, 2017

Dear DNC Member,  

Team DNC is working tirelessly to rebuild, organize, modernize and win. As part of that effort, we were thrilled to announce today that President Obama will hold his first fundraising event for a Democratic committee since leaving office to support the DNC later this month. We couldn’t be prouder to have President Obama on our team as we grow the Democratic Party and get back to the business of winning elections from the school board to the Senate.

While millions of Americans continue to brave two vicious storms, Donald Trump secured his legacy as a champion for cruelty on Tuesday when he rescinded DACA. This is just the latest tactic in the Republican playbook to promote hate and discrimination.

Because of the Republican Party, DREAMers will lose their ability to go to work and contribute to their communities. Deportations will tear families apart and drive immigrants back into the shadows. And our economy will face a devastating blow, costing our country billions in GDP over a decade.

 
I was proud to join grassroots activists outside of the White House to protest this disgraceful decision and show our party’s support for the 800,000 DREAMers who contribute to our nation every day.
 
DREAMers share our values and strengthen our nation. Their courage is American to its core, and they deserve far better from the president of the only country they’ve ever called home.
 
Democrats believe that compassion and diversity are our nation’s greatest strengths. We believe in fixing our immigration system, not uprooting lives and shattering families. That’s why we’ve been working with our partners to protect DREAMers, share their stories, and put pressure on Republicans in Congress to make sure they can stay in the country they call home.
 
This past Labor Day weekend, the Democratic National Committee and state parties across the country celebrated the close of Resistance Summer with a final Weekend of Action for working families. As Congress returns to work and Donald Trump doubles-down on an extreme agenda that puts the wealthiest Americans first, organizers across the country participated in more than 120 events in three dozen states.

Democrats came together and showed they were ready to Rise and Organize by knocking doors, making phone calls, and registering people to vote, all in order to elect Democrats up and down the ticket.
 
Over the summer, we held a nationwide training with over 40 states participating; placed Resistance Summer organizers on the ground in states that saw special election wins, like Oklahoma and New Hampshire; facilitated more than 9,000 volunteer shifts across the country; implemented four nationwide days of actions with 555 events in all 50 states; and launched Knock 10, an app that allows people to go through their neighborhoods and knock on 10 doors at a time.

This week, we also announced an new investment in the Washington Democratic Party to support their efforts in electing Democrats up and down the ballot. The investment includes funding for staff to aid the state party in organizing and technology efforts. Washington has a critical special election coming up this November in Manka Dhingra’s bid for the Washington State Senate’s 45^th Legislative District and other competitive races in the 2018 election cycle.

On Democrats Live this week, we sat down with AFSCME President Lee Saunders to celebrate Labor Day and the profound contributions of the American labor movement to our shared prosperity. While Republicans chip away at protections for American workers, Democrats are focused every day on creating better opportunities for the middle class and building an economy that works for everyone. 
 
Tune in to Democrats live on Facebook or at Live.Democrats.org.

Finally, if you’re in the path of Hurricane Irma, please be careful, take care of your neighbors and stay safe.

Yours,

Democratic National Committee
Chair
Tom Perez
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom

Donate to the Red Cross
Click here for a list of resources compiled by the Texas Democratic Party

Dear DNC Member,  
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all those affected by this devastating storm. In times like these, we need to be united as a Democratic family. We’re in this together, and we need to be there for our friends and colleagues in Texas and Louisiana long after this storm passes and they begin to rebuild. Our very own DNC Vice Chair and Louisiana State Senator Karen Carter Peterson is home doing everything she can to help her community in this difficult time.

Unfortunately, President Trump has not shown the same regard for the victims of this vicious storm. Last Friday night, he used the hurricane as cover to pardon his buddy Joe Arpaio and sign an order banning transgender people from joining the military. That's not presidential, that's a coward.

Prejudice doesn’t deserve a pardon, and discrimination has no place in our democracy. Sheriff Arpaio used racial profiling to tear apart immigrant families and devastate Latino communities. At the same time, he failed to investigate hundreds of crimes, including dozens of reported child molestations. Arpaio's actions are anything but admirable. That is why I sued him when I led the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and that’s why the voters of Arizona kicked him out of office in November.

 Deportations will tear families apart and drive immigrants back into the shadows. And our economy will face a devastating blow, costing our country billions in GDP over a decade.
Democrats believe that DREAMers share our values and strengthen our nation. We believe in fixing our immigration system, not uprooting lives and shattering families. And we will continue to fight for the immigrants who contribute to our country every day. That’s why the DNC has been working night and day to combat Trump’s lies about DACA and share the stories of young immigrants who would be forced back into the shadows by Trump’s decision.
 

Thankfully, we did get some good news in the fight for immigrants’ rights this week. A federal judge has halted the enforcement of Senate Bill 4 in Texas, which would have taken effect on September 1st. As Texas families continue to brave this hurricane, they need nothing less than their country's full and united support—not a deportation force that would divide communities and endanger people's lives. The court’s decision was an important step toward protecting families during this devastating storm and defeating this disgraceful law once and for all.

After only a brief visit to Texas, Trump travelled far from the flooding to launch his so-called “Tax Tour” on Wednesday. It should come as no surprise that Trump’s tax push is being led by two Wall Street executives. This is the same rigging of our economy that Republicans have tried for decades: slash health care, Social Security, education, infrastructure, and vital programs for working families. Under Trump’s plan, the richest Americans would become even richer at the expense of middle-class families.

Democrats believe that not one penny of tax cuts should go to the 1%. Instead of trying to benefit themselves, Trump and Republicans should work with Democrats to enact real, bipartisan tax reform for the middle class.

Workers, not the wealthy, deserve a break. That’s why I’ll be spending Labor Day weekend on the ground in Virginia, campaigning for Democratic candidates up and down the ticket ahead of November’s election, including gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam. The DNC is all-in in Virginia and has already invested an initial $1.5 million in the Virginia governor’s race, which is one of the largest investments to-date by a Democratic group and includes the immediate doubling of the number of grassroots organizers on the ground and investments in digital, data, and tech infrastructure.

We’ll also be celebrating American workers with our upcoming episode of Democrats Live with special guest AFSCME President Lee Saunders. 

Tune in on Monday at 6:00 p.m. on Facebook or at Live.Democrats.org.
 
Democrats are also focused on making gender equality a reality in the workplace. On Women’s Equality Day last Saturday, we celebrated the progress we’ve made and recommitted ourselves to taking on the battles not yet won. DNC CEO Jess O’Connell wrote a piece in Refinery29 on the challenges ahead and how we must organize to get more Democratic women elected up and down the ballot.

I hope you have a safe and happy holiday weekend.

Best,
 
Tom
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

August 19, 2017

August 4, 2017