PCCC Calls On Nancy Pelosi To Appoint Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez To The Ways & Means Committee

Received this e-mail today from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee:

This week, House Democratic leadership is considering whether to put progressives or corporate Democrats on key committees that control the fate of priorities like Medicare For All, challenging Big Pharma, and a Green New Deal.  

Vice News reports, “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is taking on a conservative Democrat for a huge committee seat.” That committee, Ways & Means, is one of the four “money committees” that legislate on economic issues — and that progressives often get passed over for.

We're teaming up with a dozen allies in asking Nancy Pelosi & House Democratic leaders to put Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Ways and Means — and other progressives on key committees. SIGN THE PETITION HERE.

(And if you're inspired by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), please pass this email to others and Tweet your support of this petition here. We'll deliver this petition with allies to Democratic leaders soon.)

Imagine what the world would look like if Alexandria were in the middle of the discussion about repealing the Trump tax cuts for corporations on Ways & Means.

And if Elizabeth Warren's protégé, Katie Porter (CA-45), were on the Financial Services Committee holding Wall Street accountable.

And if Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), were on Appropriations getting money to places like Flint, Michigan that have been left behind.

All of this is possible. In 2018, PCCC members helped elect all these champions to Congress, proving bold economic populism resonates in red, purple, and blue districts! And progressives inside and outside of Congress are more organized than ever!

But part of being organized is making our voices heard together. As congressional progressives push for powerful committee assignments on the inside, they need a visible show of grassroots support on the outside. PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TODAY.

Congressional Progressive Caucus leaders Mark Pocan (WI-2) and Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) secured a tentative commitment from Pelosi that progressives would get proportional representation on key committees. That could be a game changer.

But corporate Democrats are fighting back hard for the status quo. Congressman Tom Suozzi, a former Wall Street banker, is trying to take the Ways & Means seat that Ocasio-Cortez is pushing to get.

Vice News reports that he is “heavily funded by real estate, Wall Street, and defense industries.” And Suozzi just ganged up with other corporate Democrats to try to pressure Pelosi to give more control of the congressional agenda to Republicans! Likely, only one New Yorker will get an open slot on this committee.

We need a progressive champion on Ways & Means, not a corporate Democrat who will give Wall Street and Big Pharma veto power over the Democratic agenda.

SIGN THE PETITION asking Nancy Pelosi & House Democratic leaders to put Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Ways and Means — as part of her commitment to put many progressives on key committees. (And Tweet your support here.)

Thanks for being a bold progressive.

— Adam Green, PCCC co-founder

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