Report from DC Lobbying!

Last weekend was the annual meeting for Legislative Coordinators at AI’s DC office. On Monday, I met with staff members from the offices of
· Rep. Chris Smith
· Rep. Rush Holt
· Rep. Albio Sires
· Rep. Leonard Lance
· Rep. Steve Rothman
· Rep. Bill Pascrell
· Rep. Donald Payne
· Sen. Frank Lautenberg
· Sen. Robert Menendez

One of the main issues I raised was the horrible state of immigrant detention documented in Amnesty’s Jailed without Justice report. We asked House members to support HR 1215, the Immigration Oversight and Fairness Act to:
· Ensure that detainees can challenge the grounds for their detention (They may be legal residents or even citizens, for example.)
· Consider alternatives to detention before sending accused illegal immigrants to prison.
· Create enforceable standards to ensure the humane treatment of detainees, regardless of whether they are in federal, state, or local facilities.

I am happy to report that Congressman Holt had already cosponsored this important piece of legislation! Amnesty hopes that similar legislation will soon be introduced in the Senate.

I also followed up on the national in-district lobbying campaign to establish accountability on torture. I urged members of both chambers to:
· Support and independent commission to investigate the policies that led to torture and produce recommendations to prevent it from happening again.
· Call upon Attorney General Eric Holder to launch criminal investigations of torture and prosecutions and where there is sufficient evidence.
· Write to the President calling for an end to the abuse of “state secrets” arguments to refuse Freedom of Information requests. (We are particularly interested in the CIA Inspector General’s 2004 Report.)

Naturally, it would be great if you could follow up with a call to your Congressman, as well as Senator Lautenberg and Senator Menendez!