In this Update... Urge your Representatives to Co-Sponsor the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act Act Now! Give America’s Workers a Raise. Protect America's Treasured Wilderness Urge your Representatives to Co-Sponsor the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, legislation to expand federal anti-hate crimes law, will soon be introduced in the House. The bill would provide new authority for federal officials to investigate and prosecute cases in which the bias violence occurs because of the victim's real or perceived sexual orientation, gender or disability. It would also remove an obstacle to federal involvement by permitting prosecutions without having to prove that the victim was attacked because he/she was engaged in a federally-protected activity. While states would continue to play the primary role in prosecuting bias-motivated violence, the LLEHCPA would allow the federal government to address those cases in which local authorities are either unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute. Take Action Urge your Representative to be an original co-sponsor of the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act. To reach your Member of Congress, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121. To send email, visit our Chai Impact Legislative Action Center. For more information on hate crimes, contact Legislative Assistant Matthew Weinberg at 202.387.2800. Please consider opportunities to support this and other critical issues. Act Now! Give America’s Workers a Raise Last week, the Senate passed an amended version H.R.2, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 coupling a minimum wage increase with tax incentives. In early January, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2, authorizing a clean increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. Now, both chambers must agree on a bill before President Bush can sign a minimum wage increase into law. Now is the time to remind your Members of Congress that the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 must be passed into law without complications and without delay. A clean minimum wage bill is necessary to help meet the needs of the more than 13 million Americans who will benefit from an increase. Take Action Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support a clean minimum wage increase to $7.25 an hour. The Capitol Switchboard can be reached at 202.224.3121. You can also send an e-mail or letter by visiting our Chai Impact Legislative Action Center. For more information, please contact Gwendolyn Litvak, Legislative Assistant, at 202.387.2800. Please consider opportunities to support these and other critical issues Protect America's Treasured Wilderness The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (the Refuge) stands as one of America’s last true wilderness areas. Perhaps the most notable ecosystem in the refuge is found in the coastal plain, an area of about 1.5 million acres (about 8 percent of the refuge) along the Arctic Ocean. This coastal plain is being targeted for oil exploration and drilling, even though it represents the last 5 percent of Alaska’s vast North Slope not already open to oil exploration and drilling. The Refuge coastal plain has enormous ecological, cultural, and spiritual significance.  As a habitat for hundreds of native species, and home to the indigenous Gwitch’in tribe the costal plane is an invaluable part of our natural and human world.  The President’s 2008 fiscal budget, released on February 05, contains provisions to drill in this ecologically vital wilderness.   On January 4, 2007 Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced the Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act (H.R. 39).  This bill would designate the coastal plain (area 1002) within the Arctic Natural Wildlife Reserve as “wilderness” and would thus make it illegal for anyone to drill on the land. According to the definition of “wilderness” by the National Wilderness Prevention System, areas so designated are protected from any development that would harm the people, animals, plants, or landscape of the area. Currently, Rep. Markey is looking for cosponsors for this bill.  Take Action Please contact your Representative and ask him or her to cosponsor the Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act (H.R. 39), thus protecting the Alaskan Wildlife Reserve from drilling. The Capitol Switchboard can be reached at 202.224.3121.  You can also send an e-mail letter by visitng our Chai Impact Legislative Action Center. For more information, please contact Marc Katz, Legislative Assistant, at 202.387.2800.