While we were all gripped today by the Trump Administration's actions against refugees entering our country, we at RISE Stronger want to draw the attention of the American people to another disturbing development -- Trump signed a memo today that gives Steve Bannon a seat on the National Security Council. The NSC is our nation's highest decision-making body overseeing the most sensitive of issues, and the appointment of Bannon elevates him to operate essentially as a Cabinet-level official. While Trump elevated Bannon, he demoted the Director of National Intelligence and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, two of the most important roles overseeing our entire intelligence and military operations who will no longer be allowed to attend every Principals (Cabinet) level meeting. These are major changes that will have vast implications, and Trump is once again placing politics over our nation's security. We urge the American people to speak out against Bannon's appointment as well as Trum...

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My name is Andy Kim and I'm the founder of RISE Stronger (www.risestronger.org), a new group of over 40,000 Americans who have come together to hold our government and our political leaders accountable. We strongly condemn the actions taken by President Trump against vulnerable people seeking to flee war and persecution. In my last job, I served at the White House as the Director for Iraq at the National Security Council and was a point person for coordinating the war against ISIS. In this position, I was reminded every day that the overwhelming majority of people murdered and massacred by ISIS were the people of Iraq and Syria. Sunni tribes were hunted down and massacred; thousands of Shia soldiers were lined up and executed in shallow graves. The Executive Order issued by President Trump does not distinguish between terrorists and victims and instead clumps everyone together. This extreme approach will only make us less secure as we play into the very narrative that ISIS and other...

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Join us at the Rise Above Conference over Inauguration Weekend in DC.After the historic Women's March on Washington, RISE and Lawyers for Good Government invite you to get out of the freezing cold and meet other amazing advocates from across the country. TICKETS FOR EVENTS ARE AS LOW AS $20! http://www.riseaboveconference.org/programDAY 1 – Saturday, January 21. We have a beautiful venue! We will be hosting Saturday events at The Lincoln Theater in DC, where Duke Ellington and other jazz greats used to play. We want everyone to be able to participate in some way, so we have tickets for some events as low as $20, as gathering at this beautiful theater will be the perfect capstone to a historic day. Stay for our leadership training workshop (beginning at 4:30pm) and the "Inspire Talks" (beginning at 6:00pm), featuring guest speakers like U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Kristen Clarke (President & Executive Director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law), and Sam...

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Rick Perry is deeply under-qualified and unprepared to lead a department responsible for ensuring the integrity and safety of the the world's second largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, maintaining a vibrant research community that includes 17 national laboratories, and developing a clean energy future. Given the dangers posed by mismanagement of these resources, putting Rick Perry in charge of the Department of Energy puts the country at risk.Despite calling Mr. Trump a "barking carnival act" and a "cancer on conservatism" during the 2016 Presidential campaign, Perry became an ardent supporter of Mr. Trump after himself backing out of the race. Although Perry began his career as a Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives, he switched to the Republican Party before serving as Texas Agricultural Commissioner, and later the longest-serving Governor of Texas. More worrisome than this career of contradictions and flip-flopping are Perry's conflicts of interest, record on issues r...

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Representative Tom Price of Georgia presents a threat to health care coverage for millions of Americans. His past voting records (voting against the Mental Health Act, the expansion of CHIP, the Violence Against Women Act) suggest a pattern of limiting health care coverage, especially to vulnerable Americans. He is a vocal opponent of the Affordable Care Act, which has provided health care coverage for over 23 million Americans. Furthermore, Price traded stocks in several health care-related companies while in Congress, which may present a major conflict of interest as Secretary for Health and Human Services. Tom Price was born in Michigan where he attended medical school at the University of Michigan. In 1979, he moved to Atlanta for his residency training in orthopedics and stayed to work there in private practice for nearly 20 years. He currently lives with his wife in an affluent northern suburb of Atlanta. From his days as a Georgia state senator where he served four t...

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RISE Stronger calls on Senators to oppose the nomination of Scott Pruitt for EPA Administrator as his values and priorities are in direct opposition to the core mission of the EPA. Pruitt, the Oklahoma Attorney General, presents a grave threat to the power of the Environmental Protection Agency and the progress it has made to safeguard clean air and water and fight climate change. Pruitt has challenged many EPA policies and has proven ties to fossil fuel interests.Pruitt led the charge to block President Obama's regulatory agenda, filing suit against several EPA regulations, notably the Clean Power Plan (to reduce carbon emissions), Waters of the United States (to protect vulnerable waterways), and Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (to protect air quality). Pruitt made weakening of EPA authority a goal of his career. Pruitt is personally and financially tied to the oil and gas industry. While Pruitt claims to support clean energy because of Oklahoma's wind capacity, the Atto...

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Betsy DeVos, nominee for Education Secretary, has little relevant experience or credentials as an education leader that would qualify her to set national standards and prioritize the billions of tax dollars that support our public schools. She lacks an education degree, and she has no experience in pedagogy, curriculum development, or school governance. She has not attended, taught in, or been a parent of a child in public schools. Moreover, she seeks to privatize public education and bring public dollars into private, religious schools. DeVos's financial disclosure form, given to the Office of Government Ethics, was so woefully incomplete that her initial confirmation hearing date was delayed to provide additional time for her to disclose relevant conflicts of interest within the last five years, as well as her plans to resolve those conflicts. DeVos has a net worth of $5.1 billion and is current chairman of the Windquest Group, a Michigan-based investment management compa...

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RISE When We Fall, a citizen watchdog organization with over 25,000 members, opposes the nomination of Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State. Tillerson, if confirmed for the post, would be the least experienced Secretary of State in our nation's history. Tillerson, despite his high-profile positions at Exxon Mobil, is an unknown quantity when it comes to his values and interests. He has been a company man for decades, and the conduct of Exxon under his leadership show a strong willingness to undermine and work against U.S. national interests around the globe. Due to Tillerson's lack of any public office experience, his deep web of conflicts of interests, and his clear record of actions taken against the interests of the United States, we strongly call on Senators to oppose his nomination.Tillerson's extremely close ties to Russia are well documented, which generates significant concerns given Russia's intervention to influence the U.S. election. Tillerson has publicly stated that he ...

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