500 signatures reached
To: House and Senate Budget and Appropriations Committees
Tell Congress- Education Not Walls with Our Tax Dollars
Dear Members of Congress,
Please do not approve a budget that uses our hard-earned tax dollars to build walls, tear families apart, and militarize our borders. Immigrant families alone pay more than 100 billion in federal and state taxes each year. As our elected officials, we count on you to spend our tax dollars wisely in improving the quality of life for all communities, guaranteeing universal access to health-care, quality education, decent housing, clean air and water, and good public transportation. These are the real priorities that should guide our budget choices, not lining the pockets of military contractors and private prisons.
Remember that people worked hard to contribute their tax dollars to our shared future. Don’t throw them away on border walls, immigrant detention, and aggressive attacks on immigrants that serve merely to tear apart hard-working families. Investing in families makes better communities and a stronger America for all of us and the generations to come.we call on you to remember the millions of working families who contribute to our country’s tax base.
We affirm that the desire for healthy thriving communities cuts across party lines, so we ask all policymakers to heed this call.
Why is this important?
The President submitted a proposed 2017 budget supplemental 2018 budget that includes a big increase in immigration enforcement and the military. This will come at the expense of many social, scientific and other programs that benefit working people. Among many other things, these proposed cuts would:
- Reduce help for low- and moderate-income students to afford college;
- Make it harder for cities and rural communities to invest in economic development
- Eliminate housing and energy supports for families and seniors
- Drastically reduce the capacity of agencies that monitor pollution and toxic contamination--threatening our water, air and other natural resources.
Did you know that a billion dollars spent on domestic priorities such as mass transit, home weatherization, education and health care, would each produce more jobs than the same amount spent on the military?
How it will be delivered
The petition will be delivered at press conferences around the country during the budget negotiations. We will also drop them off for all Appropriations and Budget Committee members as they begin deliberations.