~~~~~Call To Action ~~~~~~
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Sharing from the Coalition for American Heritage PLLC
The deadline for signatures is March 31st, so we need to act quickly.
Please email your senators today and ask them to sign onto Sen. Brown's letter in support of the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program.
Click on the link below.":
I'm writing to ask you to sign on to Sen. Brown's letter to the Appropriations Committee requesting $3 million in FY 24 funds for the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program at the National Park Service.
Use the links below to contact the senators who represent your state. Feel free to add any information you'd like to share about why this issue is important to you. If there's a burial ground in your state that is especially significant to you, please include that information to make an especially compelling case.
Thank you for your help in preserving this important piece of history. Please, share this email with family and friends. The more people who contact their senators, the greater chance we have of securing funds for this vital work!
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"Text of Sen. Brown's letter to the Appropriations Committee"
Dear Chairman Merkley, and Ranking Member Murkowski:
As you prepare the Committees’ Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, we write to request a $3 million appropriation in FY 2024 for the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program. Congress authorized this program last year in Sec. 643 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328), and the President’s FY24 Budget includes $3 million for the program. The program will be administered by the National Park Service in consultation with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and African American heritage groups.
As you know, too many African American burial grounds from both before and after the Civil War are in a state of disarray or inaccessibility. Beginning with slavery and continuing through the Jim Crow era, African American burial grounds were often confined to remote areas or marginal property, and they frequently were not provided the same sort of state or local support or assistance as predominantly white cemeteries. The African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program will provide grant opportunities and technical assistance to local partners to research, identify, survey, and preserve these important and historic African American burial grounds.
Congressional authorization of the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program was a critical first step toward helping communities preserve these sacred spaces. Fully funding the African American Burial Grounds Preservation Program at $3 million in FY 2024 will provide grant opportunities and technical assistance to local partners to research, identify, survey, and preserve these important and historic African American burial grounds.
We thank you for your consideration of this request, and we look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
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Sen. Katie Boyd Britt
Alaska
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Sen. Dan Sullivan
Arizona
Sen. Krysten Sinema
Sen. Mark Kelly
Arkansas
Sen. John Boozman
Sen. Tom Cotton
California
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Sen. Alex Padilla
Colorado
Sen. Michael Bennet
Sen. John Hickenlooper
Connecticut
Sen. Richard Blumenthal
Sen. Christopher Murphy
Delaware
Sen. Thomas Carper
Sen. Christopher Coons
Florida
Sen. Marco Rubio
Sen. Rick Scott
Georgia
Sen. Jon Ossoff
Sen. Raphael Warnock
Hawaii
Sen. Brian Schatz
Sen. Mazie Hirono
Idaho
Sen. Mike Crapo
Sen. James Risch
Illinois
Sen. Richard Durbin
Sen. Tammy Duckworth
Indiana
Sen. Todd Young
Sen. Mike Braun
Iowa
Sen. Chuck Grassley
Sen. Joni Ernst
Kansas
Sen. Jerry Moran
Sen. Roger Marshall
Kentucky
Sen. Mitch McConnell
Sen. Rand Paul
Louisiana
Sen. Bill Cassidy
Sen. John Kennedy
Maine
Sen. Susan Collins
Sen. Angus King
Maryland
Sen. Benjamin Cardin
Sen. Chris Van Hollen
Massachusetts
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Sen. Edward Markey
Michigan
Sen. Debbie Stabenow
Sen. Gary Peters
Minnesota
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Sen. Tina Smith
Mississippi
Sen. Roger Wicker
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith
Missouri
Sen. Josh Hawley
Sen. Eric Schmitt
Montana
Sen. Jon Tester
Sen. Steve Daines
Nebraska
Sen. Deb Fischer
Sen. Pete Ricketts
Nevada
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto
Sen. Jacky Rosen
New Hampshire
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen
Sen. Margaret Wood Hassan
New Jersey
Sen. Bob Menendez
Sen. Cory Booker
New Mexico
Sen. Martin Heinrich
Sen. Ben Ray Lujan
New York
Sen. Charles Schumer
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
North Carolina
Sen. Thom Tillis
Sen. Ted Budd
North Dakota
Sen. John Hoeven
Sen. Kevin Cramer
Ohio
Sen. Sherrod Brown (no need to email- he's leading the effort!)
Sen. J.D. Vance
Oklahoma
Sen. James Lankford
Sen. Markwayne Mullin
Oregon
Sen. Ron Wyden
Sen. Jeff Merkley
Pennsylvania
Sen. Robert Casey (He signed the letter already, please send your thanks!)
Sen. John Fetterman
Rhode Island
Sen. Jack Reed
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
South Carolina
Sen. Lindsey Graham
Sen. Tim Scott
South Dakota
Sen. John Thune
Sen. Mike Rounds
Tennessee
Sen. Marsha Blackburn
Sen. Bill Hagerty
Texas
Sen. John Cornyn
Sen. Ted Cruz
Utah
Sen. Mike Lee
Sen. Mitt Romney
Virginia
Sen. Mark Warner
Sen. Tim Kaine
Washington
Sen. Patty Murray
Sen. Maria Cantwell
West Virginia
Sen. Joe Manchin, III
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito
Wisconsin
Sen. Ron Johnson
Sen. Tammy Baldwin
Wyoming
Sen. John Barrasso
Sen. Cynthia Lummis
