December 18, 2020 
WEEK IN REVIEW
This week was a barrage of good news, bad news and a sobering milestone. As Congress begins to wind down the year and our attention turns more and more toward the new Biden administration, we feel even more desperate for good government. 
 
It was an electrifying moment to watch the trucks pull out from Pfizer with the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine. It was a historic public/private partnership with a company founded by immigrants, that resulted in the vaccine. But it was also a bittersweet moment knowing that the Trump administration could have done more to save lives.
 
America is counting on our infrastructure of bridges, roads, electrical girds and even the internet to deliver this vaccine. However, that system is dangerously overstretched, outdated, and underfunded.
 
Our public transportation system is inadequate and generally doesn't meet the needs of low-income families. Transportation is often cited as barriers to healthcare access, including reproductive healthcare. According to the American Hospital Association, transportation challenges prevent 3.6 million Americans from receiving medical care each year. 
 
Our government's top secrets were hacked this week, highlighting the need for bi-partisan efforts to strengthen our nation's cyber-infrastructure. Congress has passed a handful of cybersecurity bills this year, but it is clearly not enough to keep us safe.  
 
This week marked the 8th Anniversary of Sandy Hook. We hoped that after the horrific, tragic moment that Congress and states would pass meaningful gun safety measures. But today, too many shootings later, we are still struggling to make changes. 
 
Gun sales are on the rise as well as mass shootings - even with a pandemic and stay at home. Experts nervously await the opening of schools when gun violence will again plague our children.
 
Joe and Kamala won't be sworn in until January, but they are already making plans to improve our country. But they can't do it alone. It will take a Congress that is willing to put aside partisan politics and loyalties to special interest and do what is best for our country. 
 
We can't afford to wait any longer. 
UPCOMING EVENTS
Discussion on Reproductive Rights with
Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO)
A Special Conversation on what to expect regarding Reproductive Rights with the Co-Chair of the Pro-Choice Caucus

Monday, December 21
4:00 pm ET | 3:00 pm CT | 1:00 pm PT
Be a Part  of Joe Biden's Inaugural Committee 2021
GET OUT THE VOTE FOR THE 2020 GEORGIA SPECIAL ELECTION
Help send Jon Ossoff & Raphael Warnock to the 
U.S. Senate on January 5, 2021
ISRAEL
Trump's Mideast Deals Are Good for Israel. But They Involve Bad Trade-Offs.

In the deal with Morocco, President Trump offered U.S. recognition of the kingdom's claim to the disputed territory of Western Sahara, something Morocco has been seeking for decades. But if there was a gain for the United States in the bargain, it wasn't readily apparent. On the contrary, the recognition of Morocco's claim to Western Sahara isolated Washington from its European allies, other U.N. Security Council members and dozens of African nations, which have supported U.N. resolutions calling for a referendum on the future of the former Spanish colony.
Continued Reading

ANTISEMITISM & BDS
Europe Can't Fight Antisemitism While Ignoring Threats To Israel 

Dear European Union, we have to talk about a major foreign policy blind spot: your relations with Israel. Countless times, I have heard European leaders, on commemorative anniversaries and at memorial sites, express their anguish over the Holocaust, the extermination of 6 million European Jews and the fertile European soil that nurtured antisemitism over centuries. I have heard them vow repeatedly, "never again." But - and it's a big but - too many European leaders are not connecting this painful past to present policies.
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CHOICE
 
U.S. Asks High Court to Halt Mail Delivery of Abortion Pills
 
The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate a requirement that women visit a medical facility to obtain abortion-inducing pills, seeking to lift a lower-court order that has allowed delivery by mail during the pandemic. The filing renews a request the court temporarily rejected in October, when it was shorthanded after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Supreme Court now has a stronger conservative majority with Justice Amy Coney Barrett having filled Ginsburg's seat.
Read Full Article
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SEPARATION
Before Exiting, Team Trump Takes Aim at Church-State Policy
 
In new rules coordinated across nine federal agencies, the administration said it was clearing barriers that make it difficult for religious groups to participate in federal programs. Chief among the changes is the elimination of a rule requiring faith-based groups to tell clients about their religious affiliation and to refer clients to a different program upon request. It also removes a rule telling religious groups to give clients written notice about their rights, including that they can't be forced to participate in religious activities. 
Continued Reading


BEYOND THE CORE
Biden's Climate Team Begins To Take Shape

Joe Biden named prominent leaders in the climate and clean-energy world to two senior positions: Gina McCarthy, a former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, will be his senior adviser on climate change, and Jennifer M. Granholm, a former governor of Michigan, will lead the Department of Energy. 
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POLITICAL BYTE
Stacey Abrams On "What's At Stake" In Georgia Senate Runoff Elections

Georgia residents will vote in two Senate runoff elections on January 5, and early voting has begun. Runoff elections are held when no candidate wins the the required majority of votes. Both Republican and Democratic leaders have been campaigning for their respective party challengers, including Stacey Abrams, a Democrat and founder of the voting rights organization "Fair Fight." She told "CBS This Morning" that early voting shows an upward trend for the Democratic challengers.
Continued Reading

FYI
Gal Gadot Gets Jimmy Fallon to Try Gefilte Fish for the First Time
 
Gal Gadot may act in American blockbusters these days, but she's still an Israeli through and through. So there are some quintessential foods she has never tried. Jimmy Fallon took advantage of this fact for a tasty segment with the "Wonder Woman" actress on his late night show Monday night. Gadot tried egg nog and Taco Bell for the first time - and in response, Fallon tried two Jewish delicacies on camera: a sufganiya, or the jelly donut popular during Hanukkah, and gefilte fish.
Continued Reading

The Last Word
"A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior. Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household made me fierce. I'll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land."
- Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM), chosen to lead the Interior Department
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