Comment

Comment by FCTP on December 10, 2015 at 9:17am

UPDATE  12/10 10 AM

Urgent Action  Chris Chmielenski   Congress to extend funding deadline to Dec. 16 -- Please continue to pressure GOP Leaders and your Members of Congress to halt refugee resettlement and block H-2B increases

Dear Friends, According to multiple reports, Congress will pass a short-term continuing resolution before the end of the week to keep the federal government funded through Dec. 16. That would set up a vote on the massive, must-pass spending bill during the middle of next week. We need your continued calls to both GOP Congressional Leaders and your three Members of Congress to prevent increases to the H-2B low-skilled guest worker visa program and to halt refugee resettlement and redirect the funds to helping support refugees closer to their homes. There are signs that a group of Senators, led by Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, are pushing to include his H-2B proposal in the spending bill. Sen. Tillis' bill would exempt any returning foreign worker who has received an H-2B visa within the past three years from the current year's caps. The H-2B visa is a low-skilled guest worker program used by seasonal employers (landscapers, golf courses, resorts, amusement parks, etc.) to fill low-skilled jobs that would ordinarily be filled by American workers. The Tillis' bill would effectively quadruple the number of low-skilled foreign workers allowed to compete with American workers for jobs each year. The current annual limit is 66,000. We're also pushing for inclusion of Rep. Brian Babin's, H.R.3314, in the spending bill that would halt the refugee resettlement program until the Government Accountability Office can examine the program's impact on state and local governments. We're asking for the funds to be used to help refugees closer to their homelands instead. Call Congressional Leaders HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN -- (888) 995-2106 HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY -- (888) 995-5306 HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP STEVE SCALISE -- (888) 995-5431 HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE CHAIR MCMORRIS RODGERS -- (888) 995-8349 SEN. MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL -- (888) 995-2026 SEN. MAJORITY WHIP JOHN CORNYN -- (888) 995-2065 SENATE GOP CONFERENCE CHAIR JOHN THUNE -- (877) 753-8801 Please use the toll-free numbers we've listed above and call most or all of the GOP Leaders on the list. When the staffer answers, tell him/her that you'd like the Leader to 1) remove any increases to the H-2B visa program in the upcoming spending bill and 2) defund refugee resettlement and reallocate funds to helping refugees closer to their homes. Once you've called GOP Leadership, please click on the following phone note that has instructions and the numbers for your three Members of Congress. Please call each one and use the same talking points. Additional talking points are included on the phone note.  Call your three Members of Congress or click https://www.numbersusa.com/phones?ID=17160 Additional talking points H-2B visa program Reports indicate that Congress will include Sen. Thom Tillis' H-2B visa bill into the spending bill that would quadruple the number of H-2B nonimmigrant work visas issued each year. The current cap on H-2B work visas is 66,000 per year. The H-2B work visa is most commonly used by seasonal companies -- such as landscapers, golf courses, resorts, and amusement parks -- looking for cheap labor during peak seasons. A recent BuzzFeed story exposes the H-2B program as a way for employers to replace American workers with cheap foreign labor. Refugee Resettlement According to analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies, each refugee from the Middle East that's resettled in the United States costs taxpayers $64,370 -- 12 times what the UN estimates it costs to care for one refugee in neighboring Middle Eastern countries. In the recent deadly terrorist attack in Paris, France, one of the attackers had gained entry to the European Union in October by posing as a Syrian Refugee. FBI Director James Comey told a Congressional panel that the United States can run background checks "until the cows come home", but our government simply doesn't have access to all the databases necessary to fully vet incoming refugees. The U.S. takes more than twice as many refugees as all countries from the rest of the industrialized world combined. Thanks! Chris Chmielenski

Comment by Franklin W. on December 10, 2015 at 8:12am

 "there is expected to be full funding of President Obama’s refugee resettlement program, which costs $1.2 billion annually to bring in 85,000 refugees from more than two dozen countries around the world.”

Yet there was no money to be found for a $18.00 to $20.00 dollar per month cost of living increase for Senior Citizens on Social Security.

As usual from the Federal government.   Americans get kicked to the back of the line while foreigners get handed a free ride to a middle class lifestyle in America.

Americans come last with it's own government.  Shameful.

I am no longer proud to be an American.   

Comment by FCTP on December 9, 2015 at 11:17pm

From Numbers USA..

another way to make contact and put the pressure on Key Leaders.
Call Congressional Leaders

HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN -- (888) 995-2106
HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY -- (888) 995-5306
HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP STEVE SCALISE -- (888) 995-5431
HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE CHAIR MCMORRIS RODGERS -- (888) 995-8349
SEN. MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL -- (888) 995-2026
SEN. MAJORITY WHIP JOHN CORNYN -- (888) 995-2065
SENATE GOP CONFERENCE CHAIR JOHN THUNE -- (877) 753-8801

Please use the toll-free numbers we've listed above and call most or all of the GOP Leaders on the list. When the staffer answers, tell him/her that you'd like the Leader to 1) remove any increases to the H-2B visa program and 2) defund refugee resettlement in the upcoming spending bill and reallocate funds to helping refugees closer to their homes.
Once you've called GOP Leadership, please click on the following phone note that has instructions and the numbers for your three Members of Congress. Please call each one and use the same talking points. Additional talking points are included on the phone note.
Call your three Members of Congress

or click https://www.numbersusa.com/phones?ID=17160