1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

The California Legislature should initiate a “Letter of Instruction” to its U.S. Congressional delegation of Senators and Representatives, to help guide America through its worst crisis since the Civil War. By the actions of the Trump administration, acquiescing Republicans in Congress, and abetted by a reactionary and obliging supreme court, America’s democracy is at dire risk of being lost. A traditional responsibility and action of state legislatures from the founding of our country until about 100 years ago was to write “Letters of Instruction” to its federal representatives, asking them to take actions, perform investigations, and to generally prioritize certain issues high on the state’s agenda. Currently, as America descends into a fascist-like dictatorship, with centuries-old customs, decorum, and procedures cast aside, and volumes of laws ignored, there should be no higher priority for the California Legislature than to seek to preserve the United States of America as a democratic nation, with California at the lead as the largest economic and cultural force among the states. Therefore, the California Legislature should send a Letter of Instruction to it’s Senate and House delegation urging them to address the tragedy of our faltering democracy, including addressing these multiple crises: • Creation of a brutal and repressive police state, with masked and unidentified ICE troops arresting, detaining, deporting and even murdering legal residents and citizens alike • Corruption of the executive: the Trump’s family and wealthy associates are accumulating billions of dollars of bribes and ‘tribute’ from domestic and foreign entities, and now lawsuits have been filed by the President himself with the intention of personally collecting billions of dollars from the taxpayers. • Illegal attacks and threats to other nations are taking place, there are ongoing extrajudicial murders on the high seas and elsewhere, there are imposition of illegal tariffs on trade, threatening the livelihood of every American • Threats to free and fair elections with overt decrees to ‘nationalize’ federal elections that are Constitutionally mandated to be directed by the states • Ballooning of the debt to finance regressive billionaire welfare tax-breaks • Destruction of reason by ignoring science, regarding the climate crisis and human health A Letter of Instruction will not stop these travesties, but the process of drafting, debating, signing and sending such a document - especially if coordinated with similar and sympathetic state legislatures - would attract public and media attention and the response from the U.S. Congress could be powerful. Along with the important work that is necessary to address the specific needs of California, I urge the California State Legislature to address the developing dire national crisis by directing its congressional delegation to immediately and forcefully fight to preserve and restore the United States of America as a democratic state and become once again a beacon of freedom for the world.