Dear Supporters:
   DC Vote traveled to Mississippi this week. We went to Memphis, Tennessee and Tupelo and Hernando, Mississippi to tell people that Representative Travis Childers is trying to restrict DC's local democracy by stripping the District government of the ability to pass gun laws. As you may know, Childers' gun bill from last fall was used as the basis for Sen. Ensign's gun amendment to the DC Voting Rights Act (H.R.157/S.160). This important legislation is stalled in the House due to threats of a similar gun amendment. Our trip to Mississippi reflected what's great about DC Vote and our coalition. We asked our coalition partners to help us find people in Childers' district. They delivered. We met with civil rights leaders, labor leaders, student activists and local media. People were outraged to learn that Childers was spending his time making laws for the District of Columbia, instead of addressing the problems facing Mississippi. In fact, we collected more than a dozen letters at a meeting of the NAACP branch presidents on Monday night. On Tuesday, we delivered those letters to Childers' office in Mississippi. Our goal is simple: we want Childers to ensure that the gun amendment which was attached to the DC VRA in the Senate is not attached in the House. We will follow up our trip with advertisements in Mississippi media and a letter writing campaign. DC Vote will continue to take on members of Congress who try to impose their will on the people of the District of Columbia. This effort is critical to us winning the fight for full democracy. Members of Congress believe they can attack DC without anyone knowing so we must expose their actions to their constituents. Our coalition partners play a vital role in that effort. But we also need the continued engagement from supporters like you. To date, we have been able to use DC Government grant funding for our trips and ad campaigns in the states. But starting next year, we will have much less funding from the DC government due to cuts in the District's budget. We will need more financial support from you. Thanks to your generous contributions, we raised thousands of dollars for our trip to Mississippi. If you donated, thank you! If you haven't donated yet, please consider making a secure online donation now. With your support, we will send a clear message to members of Congress: if you trample on DC's democracy, we will be aggressive in our fight to protect DC. Sincerely,
Ilir Zherka
Executive Director P.S. Our work in the states is a cost-effective and impactful way to affect change in Congress. Please consider making a donation today to these critical activities. | 
