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Action
Alert:
Judiciary
Committee
Taking
Up
HEA
Drug
Provision
9/10/04
As you may know, earlier
this week DRCNet sent an action alert to subscribers living states which
have Senators who sit on the Judiciary Committee. The alert concerned
the Higher Education Act drug provision, a law that delays or denies federal
financial aid to students because of drug convictions, and which DRCNet
has worked since 1998 to repeal. The Committee had scheduled a vote
on this past Thursday.
As often happens in Congress,
the vote has been delayed -- which means there is still time to write,
fax, call or visit your Senator's office if you haven't already.
The vote will take place -- soon -- on a bill, S. 1860, whose main purpose
is to reauthorize the Office of National Drug Control Police. The
bill is certain to pass, and includes as part of it a change to the Higher
Education Act to scale back the financial aid penalty to only apply to
people who were in school and receiving aid at the time of their offenses.
This is good, but not good
enough. Please scan the following list to see if you have a Senator
on the Judiciary Committee, and to get his or her contact information if
so. Then please call and/or fax your Senator today to urge that the
Higher Education Act's drug provision instead be repealed in full.
Alabama: Jeff
Sessions (R-AL), (202) 224-4124, (202) 224-3149
Arizona: Jon Kyl (R),
(202) 224-4521, fax (202) 224-2207
California: Dianne
Feinstein (D), (202) 224-3841, fax: (202) 228-3954
Delaware: Joseph Biden
(D), (202) 224-5042, fax: (202) 224-0139
Georgia: Saxby Chambliss
(R), (202) 224-3521, fax: (202) 224-0103
Idaho: Larry Craig
(R), (202) 224-2752, fax: (202) 228-1067
Illinois: Richard
Durbin (D), (202) 224-2152, fax: (202) 228-0400
Iowa: Charles Grassley
(R), (202) 224-3744; fax: (202) 224-6020
Massachusetts: Edward
Kennedy (D), (202) 224-4543, fax: (202) 224-2417
New York: Charles
Schumer (D-NY), (202) 224-6542, fax: (202) 228-3027
North Carolina: John
Edwards (D), (202) 224-3154, fax: (202) 228-1374
Ohio: Mike DeWine
(R), (202) 224-2315, fax: (202) 224-6519
Pennsylvania: Arlen
Specter (R), (202) 224-4254; fax: (202) 228-1229
South Carolina: Lindsey
Graham (R) (202) 224-5972, fax: (202) 224-1189
Texas: John Cornyn
(R), (202) 224-2934, fax: (202) 228-2856
Utah: Orrin Hatch
(R), (202) 224-5251, fax: (202) 224-5251
Vermont: Patrick Leahy
(D), (202) 224-4242
Wisconsin: Herbert
Kohl (D), (202) 224-5653, fax: (202) 224-9787
Wisconsin: Russell
Feingold (D), (202) 224-5323, fax: (202) 224-2725
You can also contact your Senator
online, using a web site we've set up for this purpose, http://www.RaiseYourVoice.com/senate/
-- there is a prewritten letter there, which we encourage you to edit.
Our online grassroots lobbying system will direct your letter to your Senator,
if you live in one of the states listed above. Also, please write
us at [email protected]
to let us know that you've taken action and to report back to us on any
potentially important information about this vote that you learned.
Thanks for your help on this important issue.
Last but not least, please
visit http://www.RaiseYourVoice.com
for further information on this issue and the ongoing campaign to repeal
this bad law. Some talking points for your phone calls:
-
Over 150,000 people have been
affected by this law, all of whom had already been punished by the criminal
justice system.
-
The vast majority of Americans
convicted of drug offenses are convicted of nonviolent, low-level possession.
-
The HEA drug provision
represents a penalty levied only on the poor and the working class; wealthier
students will not have the doors of college closed to them for want to
financial aid.
-
The HEA drug provision has a
disparate impact on different races. African Americans, for example,
comprise 13% of the population and 13% of all drug users, but account for
more than 55% of those convicted of drug possession charges.
-
Access to a college education
is the surest route to the mainstream economy and a crime-free life.
Again, visit http://www.RaiseYourVoice.com
to write to Congress and get involved in the campaign! Students,
visit http://www.ssdp.org to learn about
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an organization playing a leading role
in this effort.
-- END --
|
Issue #353, 9/10/04
They're Back! Two DEA Raids on California Medical Marijuana Operations in Two Weeks |
Push for Medical Marijuana Legislation Underway in New Jersey |
CRCM Makes Final Court Bid to Get Marijuana Regulation Initiative on Nevada Ballot |
DRCNet Book Review: "My Cocaine Museum," by Michael Taussig (2004, University of Chicago Press, 360 pp., $22.50 HB) |
Action Alert: Judiciary Committee Taking Up HEA Drug Provision |
Newsbrief: Pittsburgh Gives Preliminary Okay to Continuing Needle Exchange Program |
Newsbrief: German Drug Deaths Down, Government Cites Harm Reduction Policies |
Newsbrief: Initiative Fails to Make Ballot in Arkansas, Another Gets Kicked Off Ballot in Tallahassee |
Newsbrief: MPP Sues Minneapolis over Medical Marijuana Ballot Access |
Newsbrief: Denver Post Says Legalize It |
Newsbrief: Canada's National Post Says Legalize It |
Newsbrief: US and Philippines in Joint "Narcoterrorism" Exercises |
This Week in History |
The Reformer's Calendar
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This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
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