Americans for Democratic Action

Fighting for progress and resisting reaction since 1947

ADA: Updates (via Facebook)

18 hours ago

Illinois’ newly configured 17th Congressional District, which includes most of northern Illinois and parts of Rockford, has become an open seat in the wake of Cheri Bustos’ (D) retirement announcement. As such, it is another must win district if we are to maintain and expand liberal majorities in Congress.The Democrat running for the seat is retired chief meteorologist for WQAD Eric Sorensen. Sorensen forcefully touts the need for science leadership in Congress as we face the disinformation campaigns surrounding the COVID pandemic and vaccines. He would bring his experience into play to work to fight against climate change and the ravages – both human and environmental – that are a result. As an openly gay man, he vows to protect the rights of all against discrimination. He will work to ensure health care for transgender people and protect marriage equality. He believes that everyone should have access to quality, affordable health care and will work to protect and expand the Affordable Care Act. He believes the right for women to determine their own health care choices – including the right to contraceptives and abortion – is a lynch pin of health care. He is a strong advocate for gun violence prevention with sensible gun control measures.Running against Sorensen in November is Republican Esther Joy King. King ran against Bustos in 2020 and got 48 percent of the vote. She is a conservative Republican but would not be a member of the Whacko Caucus – which, in some ways, makes her campaign even more dangerous. She is a JAG officer serving in the U.S. Army Reserve and spent time in Kabul serving as an aid worker for women’s rights. Currently, she is a lawyer focusing on real estate for economic development. She supports DACA. King advocates for agribusiness saying, “Our famers need federal support…but not federal interference.” She is pro-gun with some caveats. On abortion, however, “I am unapologetically pro-life. I am also for women’s rights, especially the rights of female babies who are still in the womb.” Wow!! We won’t even try to follow that up.Click here to get involved in ADA's efforts in the 2022 midterm elections! act.myngp.com/Forms/8121398602544185344 ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

4 days ago

Have you seen the latest issue of the ADA Education Fund's membership magazine The American Commentator? Take a look here: americancommentator.org In This Issue: As the House of Representatives continues its investigation into the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol Building, I find myself returning to my earliest days as a voter for evidence of how we got to this awful juncture. You see, I cast my first presidential ballot in 1980, the year of the Reagan Revolution. For years I have been touting that election—what political scientists call a realignment election—as marking a fundamental rightward turn that has profoundly shaped our politics and policy to this day. None other than Pat Buchanan has proclaimed Donald Trump as the “direct descendant and rightful heir to Ronald Reagan.” Follow this link to continue reading americancommentator.org/the-road-from-november-1980/ ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

6 days ago

Last week, the House passed the Respect for Marriage Act. This bill would codify gay and interracial marriage and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act which allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages. The bill comes in response to comments by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who, after overturning the constitutional right to an abortion suggested in his concurring opinion that SCOTUS may not stop there. Contraceptives and same-sex marriage could be next.SIGN THE ADA PETITION TO THE SENATE: PASS THE RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT NOW! ... See MoreSee Less

Sign and send the petition to Majority Leader Schumer: Bring the Respect for Marriage Act to a full Senate Vote!

actionnetwork.org

Sign and send the petition to Majority Leader Schumer: Bring the Respect for Marriage Act to a full Senate Vote! Take action here: actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-and-send-the-petition-to-majorit...

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Americans for Democratic Action

1 week ago

This week’s Spotlight is focused on California’s new 47th Congressional District. The Democrat running there is Katie Porter who currently serves the 45th CD. First elected in 2018 with the help of ADA's Southern California chapter, she quickly catapulted into national attention. With her intellect, style and sharp wit and an 88 percent ADA voting record, our Southern California chapter calls her a “progressive superstar.” The fact that she has earned that accolade despite coming from the notorious Orange County and being the first Democrat elected in her district merits our full praise and support. She even managed to increase her margin of victory in 2020 to 53.5 percent. But, we can’t take anything for granted and this promises to be a difficult year.Porter is a Yale undergrad who got her law degree from Harvard. Since then, she has taught and practiced law – almost always as a consumer advocate. In 2012, then California Attorney General Kamala Harris appointed her to be the state’s independent monitor of banks in a nationwide $25 billion mortgage settlement. In her campaigns, she has refused to accept corporate PAC donations and has stuck true to her liberal credentials. Her priorities include overhaul of campaign finance laws and protection of voting rights. She is a strong advocate against anticompetitive business behavior and for creating a competitive economy. She sees an urgent need to tackle the climate crisis and to treat climate change as a national security threat. Not surprisingly, she is pro-choice and for common sense gun control laws. She fully supports workers’ rights which include the right to organize free from corporate intimidation. She serves on the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Reform and is a vice-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.Porter is best known, however, for holding big banking and large corporate feet to the fire. In her best schoolmarm style with her ever-handy whiteboard, she points out the error of their ways, demonstrates the facts, brooks no nonsense and takes no prisoners. No wonder she has become a prime target for Republicans eager to take back the House of Representatives.Porter’s general election opponent is former GOP state representative Scott Baugh who also served as the one-time head of the Orange County GOP. His career is tainted by multiple scandals. Like so many other candidates, his statements about issues of concern to liberals are sheathed in meaningless platitudes, refusal to answer questions or simply dodging the issues entirely. There are, however, plenty of clues to underscore the fact that this is yet another MAGA Republican in sheep’s clothing. His undergraduate degree is from Liberty University and his campaign website states that Porter is a member of the “Congressional Progressive (Socialist) Caucus.” He opposes California’s “crazy sanctuary city laws” and is for repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He also refuses to admit that Biden won the election. Although nowhere does he take a position on reproductive health care, he has been endorsed by the California Pro-Life PAC, so one can safely assume he is anti-choice. What we do know is that Katie Porter is his polar opposite and deserves liberal support.Follow this link to get involved in the 2022 mid-term elections! act.myngp.com/Forms/7400822662164905984 ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

2 weeks ago

Have you seen the latest issue of the ADA Education Fund's membership magazine The American Commentator? Take a look here: americancommentator.orgIn This Issue: There is so much confusion about the reality of racial bias. Most of it is due to our refusal to admit how evolution has equipped us to safely navigate our daily experience. We are biologically predisposed to be suspicious of strangers because we are exceptionally prone to favor that which is familiar. In The Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam puts this in perspective: “Our blindness to bias seems willful—until you remember that the central feature of unconscious bias is that it is unconscious.” Our categorizing, in the sense of “us versus them,” is not something that we have conscious control over. Our brains have been doing this for us all our lives simply to make sense of what is before us. We stereotype automatically. Click here to continue reading. Follow this link to continue reading americancommentator.org/evolution-made-racism-inevitable-here-is-how-we-fix-it/ ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

2 weeks ago

At a time when mass shootings occur multiple times a week, survivors and their families are unable to sue gun manufacturers for justice. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee voted to advance the Equal Access to Justice for Gun Violence Act (H.R. 2814), clearing the way for a vote on the House floor. Tell Congress: End Legal Immunity for Fun Manufacturers! actionnetwork.org/letters/sign-on-end-immunity-for-gun-manufacturers?source=direct_link&referrer=group-americans-for-democratic-action-ada ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

2 weeks ago

This week we’re not focusing on a specific race but focusing on some of the more bizarre statements issued by candidates and incumbents. We do so to shine our Spotlight on what is at stake. We did not include everyone and specifically left out Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) and Louis Gohmert (R-TX) because they will not be on the ballot in November. Still, take heed and be very afraid. The quotes below are not all encompassing, by a long shot, but they should bolster our determination to see that these people do not serve in Congress.Herschel Walker (R-GA)"Since we don't control the air, our good air decided to float over to China's bad air. So when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So it moves over to our good air space. Then -- now we got we to clean that back up." Rolling Stone"Cain killed Abel and that's a problem that we have. What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. You know, you talked about doing a disinformation -- what about getting a department that can look at young men that's looking at women that's looking at their social media. What about doing that? Looking into things like that and we can stop that that way. But yet they want to just continue to talk about taking away your constitutional rights. And I think there's more things we need to look into. This has been happening for years and the way we stop it is putting money into the mental health field, by putting money into other departments rather than departments that want to take away your rights." CNN“At one time, science said man came from apes, did it not?...If that is true, why are there still apes? Think about it.” The Hill“Do you know right now, I have something that [you can bring] into a building, that will clean you of Covid, as you walk through this, this dry mist?” he told Glenn Beck in the summer of 2020. “As you walk through the door, it will kill any Covid on your body.” Black EnterpriseAndy Harris (R-MD)“The only thing I’m worried about is because of the media push and all of the hype about Covid is that the majority of Americans actually agree with these mandates,” he said of vaccine requirements. “What are we, a bunch of lemmings?” The Baltimore Sun“I wrote a prescription for ivermectin, I guess it’s now three weeks ago, four weeks ago, and yeah, couldn’t find a pharmacy to fill it… “It’s gotten bad. . . . The pharmacists are just refusing to fill it.” The Washington PostLauren Boebert (R-CO)“Well, the Constitution has God all over it.” MSN“I work for the people of Pueblo not the people of Paris.” Newsweek“My pronoun is Patriot.” Independent“Cancel culture has always been an issue. I mean, if you look at the Book of Genesis, Cain canceled Abel. This has always been an issue, the 'I don't like you, I don't like what you're doing, I don't like the attention that you're getting, so you shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have a voice. You shouldn't have a movement.” Fox News“President Joe Biden's administration is led by this particular brand of educated and out-of-touch staffers, freshly released from leftist ideology indoctrination camps - otherwise known as colleges and universities.” Congresswoman Boebert’s Homepage“I look to my left and there she is: Ilhan Omar. And I said, ‘Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine,’ I looked over and I said, ‘Oh look, the jihad squad decided to show up for work today.“ Rolling Stone“I will not comply with Pelosi's anti-science mask mandates, she can kiss my mask.” Washington Times“We're here to tell government: we don't want your benefits, we don't want your welfare, don't come knockin' on my door with your Fauci ouchie.” Newsweek“Even though I now work in one of the most liberal cities in America, I refused to give up my rights, especially my second amendment rights, I will carry my firearm in DC and in Congress.” New York Post“I learned to have limitless thinking from reading the Bible.” Fox NewsMatt Gaetz (R-FL)“Kneeling for the anthem does nothing to advance solutions to racial injustice, police brutality, or any other social plight. It is a slap in the face to patriotism itself. It is a statement that America as a country is no longer worth standing for.” Fox News“The new conservative movement has to take on Trump's sense of boldness.” The Washington Post"President Trump is not an isolationist and builds closer friendships when he can." South Florida Sun SentinelRon Johnson (R-WI)“I don't think we can do anything about controlling what our climate is.” Independent"I don't know about you guys, but I think climate change is — as Lord Monckton said — bullshit." The Hill“It's not law-abiding gun owners that are the problem here - it's Islamic terrorists.” Politico"We all hoped and prayed the vaccines would be 100% effective, 100% safe, but they’re not. We now know that fully vaccinated individuals can catch Covid, they can transmit Covid. So what’s the point?” MSNBC"By the way, standard gargle mouthwash, has been proven to kill the coronavirus.” Reuters"This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me.” Forbes"I mean 'armed,' when you hear 'armed,' don’t you think of firearms? Here’s the questions I would have liked to ask. How many firearms were confiscated? How many shots were fired? I’m only aware of one and I’ll defend that law enforcement officer for taking that shot. It was a tragedy, OK? But I think there was only one." Politifact"Even though those thousands of people that were marching to the Capitol were trying to pressure people like me to vote the way they wanted me to vote, I knew those were people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law, and so I wasn't concerned.” PoliticoMarjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)“Trans does not mean gender change, it just means a gender refusal and gender pretending! Truth is truth, it is not a choice!!!” GLAAD“The most mistreated group of people in the United States today are white males.” Politico“I'm fine with being kicked off of my committees because it'd be a waste of my time. So now I have a lot of free time on my hands.” Fox News“Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s forced Jewish people to wear a gold star.” Business Insider“January 6 was just a riot at the Capitol and if you think about what our Declaration of Independence says, it says to overthrow tyrants.” CNN“I'm a regular person.” Huff Post“The right to keep and bear arms is a God-given right protected by the Constitution.” Marjorie Greene U.S. House“You never want to give someone like me free time.” Atlanta Journal Constitution“At a time when the Socialist Democrats and the Jihad Squad are supporting terrorist Hamas, and their supporters are attacking Jewish people on the streets of America, it's never been more important than now to stand up against forced vaccinations and mask mandates that the left is using to discriminate against Americans who refuse to comply.” Newsweek“How do you get avid gun owners and people that support the Second Amendment to give up their guns and go along with anti-gun legislation?...You make them scared, you make them victims and you change their mindset and then possibly you can pass anti-gun legislation. Is that what happened in Las Vegas?” AP News“She’s a traitor to our country, she’s guilty of treason…And it’s, uh, it’s a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason.” SalonDebbie Lesko (R-AZ)“I rise in opposition to H.R. 2377…I have five grandchildren. I would do anything, anything to protect my five grandchildren, including as a last resort shooting them if I had to, to protect the lives of my grandchildren.” Salon“Border Patrol agents have apprehended more than 1,000,000,000 migrants at our southern border in just 6 months.” NewsweekBlake Masters (R-AZ, candidate for U.S. Senate)“… wars really are manufactured by government, often at the request or benefit of third party special interests…Wars can, and are, sold to the public through propaganda and murder. Unjust wars (and the U.S. hasn’t been involved in a just war in over 140 years) always benefit certain groups and ultimately serve the aspirations of the political class in general at the expense of thousands and millions of lives.” Jewish Insider“And the antisemitism problem, by the way, obviously not just confined to Iran, right I mean, look what’s happening in France. It’s in our own Congress. It’s in the Squad. Look at, you know, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. These women have been very clear about how they feel about Israel.” Jewish Insider“I’d love her endorsement. I think she’s just really impressive.” (nb “her” is Marjorie Taylor Greene) Denver GazettePaul Gosar (R-AZ)“If the Pope stuck to standard Christian theology, I would be the first in line. If the Pope spoke out with moral authority against violent Islam, I would be there cheering him on. If the Pope urged the Western nations to rescue persecuted Christians in the Middle East, I would back him wholeheartedly. But when the Pope chooses to act and talk like a leftist politician, then he can expect to be treated like one.” Esquire“Media reports indicate His Holiness instead intends to focus the brunt of his speech on climate change — a climate that has been changing since first created in Genesis,” Gosar writes. “More troubling is the fact that this climate change talk has adopted all of the socialist talking points, wrapped false science and ideology into “climate justice” and is being presented to guilt people into leftist policies.” Esquire“As a dentist and health care provider for over 25 years, I am fully committed to protecting the unborn and upholding the sanctity of life. We should not celebrate Roe v. Wade today, but rather pause and reflect on the nearly 50 million lives lost.” Paul Gosar U.S House“I’d rather die gloriously in battle than from a virus. In a way it doesn’t matter. But it kinda does.” AZCentral“The America First agenda is just in its infancy. There are 75 million of us, also. Did you know some Japanese soldiers kept fighting for decades after the war?” The American Independent“Justice was served for #KyleRittenhouse and he is fully exonerated. As I said last year, obviously self-defense. I will arm wrestle @mattgaetz to get dibs for Kyle as an intern.” Business Insider“You know George Soros is one of those people that actually helps back these individuals. Who is he? I think he’s from Hungary. I think he was Jewish. And I think he turned in his own people to the Nazis,” NewsweekMary Miller (R-IL)"Each generation has the responsibility to teach and train the next generation. You know, if we win a few elections, we're still going to be losing unless we win the hearts and minds of our children. This is the battle. Hitler was right on one thing: he said, 'Whoever has the youth has the future.” Chicago Tribune“I have observed multiple times when we open our daily session in prayer that we are praying to Creator God, acknowledging that God is our creator. He is also the giver of life. I am proud of my five daughters who cherish this blessing from our Creator and have blessed us with 17 grandchildren. The abortion industry talks about pregnancy as if it is a cancer diagnosis. How sad and tragic that Planned Parenthood and the chemical abortion industry have targeted and deceived young women for their own profit.” Life News“President Trump… I want to thank you for the historic victory for white life in the Supreme Court yesterday.” NPRJim Jordan (R-OH)In response to the news that a 10 year old rape victim had to travel to Indiana to get an abortion: "Another lie. Anyone surprised?" NBC NewsText to Mark Meadows re January 6: "On January 6, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, as President of the Senate, should call out all electoral votes that he believes are unconstitutional as no electoral votes at all -- in accordance with guidance from founding father Alexander Hamilton and judicial precedence. 'No legislative act,' wrote Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 78, 'contrary to the Constitution, can be valid.' The court in Hubbard v. Lowe reinforced this truth: 'That an unconstitutional statute is not a law at all is a proposition no longer open to discussion.' 226 F. 135, 137 (SDNY 1915), appeal dismissed, 242 U.S. 654 (1916). Following this rationale, an unconstitutionally appointed elector, like an unconstitutionally enacted statute, is no elector at all." CNBCFill out the form to get involved in ADA's efforts in the 2022 midterm elections! act.myngp.com/Forms/6608189127747698688 ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

2 weeks ago

Have you seen the latest issue of the ADA Education Fund's membership magazine The American Commentator? Take a look here: americancommentator.orgIn this issue: In the six months since its first victories in Buffalo in December 2021, the organizing campaign of Starbucks Workers United (an affiliate of Workers United-SEIU) has spread from coast to coast. As of late June, workers at over 300 stores in 35 states had petitioned for National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) elections. The union had won 169 elections and lost only 26. The number of stores petitioning for elections and winning NLRB votes had increased by the week. In recent decades, unions have rarely won at high-profile, wealthy corporations. Yet in the first few months of 2022, we have seen union victories at Starbucks, Amazon and REI, workers petitioning for NLRB elections at three different Apple retail stores (with three different unions), and at individual Trader Joe’s and Target stores. Some campaigns, like that at Starbucks, are affiliated with established labor unions, while others — most notably, the Amazon Labor Union, which won at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, in April — are independent. However, all of the union drives in this recent wave of organizing have shared a rank-and-file dynamism that appears contagious and, in the case of Starbucks at least, replicable. Continue reading here americancommentator.org/starbucks-union-workers-are-on-fire-and-howard-schultz-is-terrified-can-s... ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

3 weeks ago

Tipped service workers in DC, mostly people of color, are expected to survive on a wage of $5.35 an hour plus unstable tips? Let’s pass #Initiative82. Endorse it here: bit.ly/initiative82 @OneFairWage @bttrrstrntsdc ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

3 weeks ago

We didn't spend decades fighting against trickle-down tax cuts for the rich to have US Senators squander the opportunity to make the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share and properly fund our communities.Congress, #DontSellUsOut. ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

3 weeks ago

Today, we again focus on Ohio where we must continue to work diligently if we are to meet our goal of expanding the number of liberals in Congress. If the past few weeks have taught us nothing else, they have underscored the critical need of meeting that goal.Therefore, we are shining today’s Spotlight on Ohio’s 13th Congressional District, the seat left vacant when the incumbent Tim Ryan (D) decided to run for the Senate. It encompasses the city of Youngstown and areas east of Akron and should be receptive to a message designed to target heavily unionized workers. Still, it will be a challenge and one we must be ready to meet. The candidates vying to succeed Ryan are a study in stark contrasts.The Republican Madison Gesiotto Gilbert received both her undergraduate and law degrees from the Ohio State University. She worked on both of the former President’s campaigns and has served as an ambassador for the America First Policy Institute founded by Trump campaign people and designed to promote his agenda. Clearly, the 2014 Miss Ohio is an unabashed apologist for the former President. Although she has never held elective office and is only 30 years old, she is not to be taken lightly. She was a television commentator and the author of a weekly column which was published in the Washington Times. She touts herself as a “Christian small business owner” and is another of this year’s anti-choice, pro-gun candidates. She wants to remove federal government health care mandates. She supports charter schools and opposes Critical Race Theory. Needless to say, she wants to complete the building of the wall on our southern border. And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.By contrast, her Democratic opponent Emilia Sykes is a member of the Ohio House of Representatives where she has served since 2015 and was Minority Leader. She is a winner of EMILY’s List Gabby Giffords Rising Star award and holds psychology and law degrees. She has worked to protect victims of domestic abuse. Common sense gun control legislation is a priority for her. She has promised to expand opportunities for working Americans including higher wages and safer working conditions. If elected, she promises to work for expanded affordable, quality health care for all who live here. She will advocate for an increase in the federal minimum wage and work tirelessly to reverse the Supreme Court’s recent decision on Roe. She will also advocate for expanded access to voting in the face of those who want to restrict it.Click here to get involved in ADA's efforts in the 2022 midterm elections! act.myngp.com/Forms/5815555593330491392 ... See MoreSee Less

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Americans for Democratic Action

4 weeks ago

A billionaires' guide to rigging the economy:> Spend millions electing candidates> Candidate passes tax cuts for billionaires and corporations> Candidate blocks tax credits for families, minimum wage, paid leave, corporate taxes> Save billions> Repeat😡 #TaxBillionaires ... See MoreSee Less

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ADA: What You Should Know

ADA Vote 2022

Visit ADA's 2022 Election Resources Page.

ADA 75th All Stars

Check out ADA All Star Profiles as we celebrate 75 years of liberal progressive action.

A New Kind of Filibuster

Check out what ADA is supporting as an alternative to the filibuster. READ HERE.

ADA Mourns the Passing of Joe Duffey, former ADA National Chairperson

Joe was a champion of liberal causes and a loyal ADA member throughout. Take a look at the articles in the NY Times and Washington Post on his passing. RIP Joe.

ADA Convention sets agenda

January 15-17, 2021 ADA activists from around the country gathered via Zoom to share ideas, hear from experts, and set ADA's agenda for progress.

Congrats to President-elect Biden and VP-elect Harris!

PDF HERE November 7. 2020 President-elect Joseph Biden Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Biden Transition Congratulations, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris. Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) was proud to endorse your campaign and...

Americans for Democratic Action

ADA: Updates (via Facebook)

ADA: What You Should Know

ADA Vote 2022

ADA 75th All Stars

A New Kind of Filibuster

ADA Mourns the Passing of Joe Duffey, former ADA National Chairperson

ADA Convention sets agenda

Congrats to President-elect Biden and VP-elect Harris!

The American Commentator

ADA Awards Gala Video

ADA Voting Record

Covid-19 Resources

ADA Fireside Chats

ADA Time Machine