This week’s news from Washington points out the power of resistance – thanks to thousands of voices raised against the Senate health care bill, Mitch McConnell backed away from calling a vote on it. Many of those voices were ours and I am very thankful to everyone who contacted Congress about AHCA and how it would affect Americans abroad and our families and friends back home.

Republican senators don’t seem interested in learning from their mistakes though, so we will continue in our efforts to push against their health care agenda – especially as the Senate threatens to vote on a repeal of ACA next week. More soon on our next health care initiative!  

Next week we’ll be rolling out our Resistance Summer membership growth program, designed to grow membership this year so we can better get out the vote next year! We will be asking every DA member to reach out to at least five American friends abroad and help them join Democrats Abroad. Anyone who signs up five new members earns a shout out on the DA website. High flying membership all-stars who bring in 25 new members or more earn a DA Resists t-shirt, and special prizes go to regional winners.

For all of you avid Get Out the Vote (GOTV) volunteers, now is the time to send in your comments on the latest version of the FPCA form. The Federal Voter Assistance Program (FVAP) team is being very responsive so it’s definitely worth taking the time to review and consider suggestions. Any feedback, please send to [email protected] and we will compile and send it in. 

The Senate Finance committee has just recently sent out a call for recommendations regarding tax reform. Our taxation task force responded this week with an in-depth document spelling out the difficulties for Americans abroad. For a summary and a link to our submission check out this article on the DA site. 

The DA France rally during Trump’s visit to Paris last week provided another great example of a country committee rallying for Democratic issues during a Trump trip abroad. We also love how DAF partnered with PAGE and Indivisible. Working together makes us all stronger. If you know a partner group that would be interested in working with us, get in touch and let us know. 

Thank you for all that you do.