CCI Action Fund and Center for Worker Justice co-sponsor meeting w/ Rep. Loebsack

On Saturday, August 31st CCI Action Fund and the Center for Worker Justice co-sponsored a meeting with Rep. Loebsack in Iowa City.CCI Action Fund and Center for Worker Justice met with Loebsack around 3 issues: strengthening Social Security, raising revenue through Wall Street, and immigration reform.Social Security: Members thanked Rep. Loebsack for standing against Chained CPI, a cut to Social Security, and asked him to continue standing strong against any and all cuts to Social Security. Loebsack confirmed his continued support for Social Security, and reiterated his support for strengthening the program by "scrapping the cap". CCI members also encouraged Rep. Loebsack to be an original cosponsor to L inda Sanchez's companion bill to Harkin's Strengthening Social Security Act of 2013. He promised to talk with Rep. Sanchez when he returned to Washington D.C.Raising revenue: Members talked to Loebsack about the importance of changing the narrative around taxes, and how corporations currently pay little in taxes. Loebsack agreed we need more tax fairness, and that corporations must pay their fair share. CCI members asked Loebsack to sign onto Keith Ellison's Inclusive Prosperity Act. This bill would institute a small tax on Wall Street stocks and target high frequency trading. He promised to talk with Rep. Ellison about the bill.Immigration reform: Loebsack said he would vote for the Senate version of the immigration reform bill; he said the Senate bill is a good start for immigration reform. Members asked Loebsack what the current outlook for immigration reform in the House is – he said the Republicans are “tearing it to pieces – taking it bit by bit”.Members later told Loebsack a story about an aspiring American community member, Eli. Eli's wife, Carmen, told the story of how he was detained by ICE for a traffic-related charge, and was unable to see him for six months. The Center for Worker Justice successfully petitioned County Attorney Janet Lyness to lessen his sentence - which she did. Before Eli was released, however, ICE requested Eli stay in jail for an additional 48 hours (standard practice) so that ICE can deport individuals. At the time, Eli was in the 48 hours window, and members asked Loebsack to call the sheriff and tell him not to grant the ICE detention request. After some pushing, Loebsack agreed to have his staff call and request that Eli be released.We will follow up with Rep. Loebsack and his staff when he returns to Washington D.C. around the status of him signing onto these important bills and for the strongest immigration reform bill we can get.