Democrat,
New Jersey is in the middle of a heatwave that is expected to continue into next week with temperatures staying in the 90s and even reaching over 100 degrees. This type of oppressive heat can be dangerous. Make sure you and your neighbors:
🚰 Stay properly hydrated
🚫Limit outdoor activities
🏠Stay in an air-conditioned place
🐶Keep pets inside
You can also find cooling centers at nj211.org or by calling NJ 2-1-1.
Ready.gov/heat also has information on how to stay safe during extreme heat like we are currently experiencing.
❄️Stay Cool! ❄️
GOV. MURPHY UPDATE
Vice President Kamala Harris was in Atlantic City this week to speak at the NAACP’s 113th national convention and then meet with NJ legislators and leaders to discuss abortion rights. VP Harris praised New Jersey as doing “model work” in “protecting a woman’s ability to make decisions about her body.”
This same week, Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman was arrested protesting outside the Supreme Court alongside other Democratic leaders taking a stand against attempts to limit and ban abortion access.
I am proud to be from a state where our elected Democratic leaders have made it a priority to protect a person’s right to make their own decisions about their body. Gov. Murphy has already enshrined that right into state law, but we know that the fight is not over and that it is critical to continue to work to ensure that right exists for every woman across the entire country.
Sign up here to volunteer with our pro-choice congressional candidates.
CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE
On Tuesday, the Respect for Marriage Act passed in the House of Representatives which would codify protections for same-sex marriage into federal law. Only 47 Republicans joined with Democrats to vote in favor of protecting people’s right to marry whoever they love.The bill also includes federal protections for interracial marriages.
The disappointment in hearing that 157 Republicans were capable of voting in favor of discrimination, homphobia, and bigotry was exacerbated by learning that New Jersey’s own GOP Rep. Chris Smith was one of them. We are already watching the Supreme Court roll back major human rights protections, and openly discuss which ones they are coming for next (like same sex marriage and contraception) – we don’t have time for inaction. While Rep. Smith’s vote didn’t end up swaying the vote, we can’t afford to have people representing us who will not go to bat for New Jerseyans when people’s rights are at stake.
PRESIDENT BIDEN UPDATE
President Bident promoted the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act this week, which NJ Senator Cory Booker helped craft in the aftermath of Uvalde, that makes it harder for guns to end up in the wrong hands. Some of the different measures include:
- Closing the “boyfriend” loophole; not allowing anyone convicted of assault against their partner to buy a weapon
- Requiring people younger than 21 to undergo enhanced background checks before being able to purchase a gun
- Providing $750 million for state grants to implement crisis intervention order programs, also referred to as red-flag laws, that would allow authorities to confiscate firearms from individuals who have been determined by a court to be a significant danger to themselves or others.
We know that the majority of Americans believe in common sense gun safety legislation, and the Biden administration has been working to pass legislation that restricts access to dangerous weapons across the country in the face of a continuous barrage of gun violence and inaction from the right. President Biden commented “yes, there’s a right to bear arms. But we also have the right to live freely without fearing for our lives in the grocery store. In a classroom. And in a movie theater…”
— Chairman LeRoy J. Jones, Jr.
P.S. Final reminder that our Veterans Caucus Kick-Off event is next Wednesday, July 27 – find more details here!
Additionally, our AANHPI, Black, Latino, and South Asian American Caucuses will be hosting a Meet & Greet event on Thursday, July 28. Click here to learn more about the event!