Over the last week we have met and briefed the staff of a dozen members of Congress. There are currently 96 cosponsors of H.J. Res. 76, with the three newest cosponsors being Representatives Menendez and Norcross of New Jersey and Representative Gallegos of Arizona. Many thanks! See the House legislation cosponsors here.

This week we passed 3,800 signatures that are part of the online petition. That is awesome! Twenty states and the District of Columbia have more than 50 signatures, 23 states have between 11-44 signatures. Tennessee with 44 signatures is sooo close. We've seen new signatures in HI, MS, NE and VT. Seven other states, ME, AK, NH, MT, SD, WY and ND have less than 10 signatures. We added one signature in South Dakota this week bringing the number of signatures there to 5! Yay!

Your signatures represent citizens in every state, several territories and 16 foreign countries. 2,464 individual US zip codes are represented. 428 of the nation’s 435 Congressional Districts (CD) have citizens who have signed this petition. That means there are 7 CDs with no signatures to date. Help us change that. These CDs need signatures: GA-06, Rep. McCormick; IL-13, Rep. Budzinski; IN-09, Rep. Houchin; MN-02, Fischbach; NH-01, Pappas; PA-09, Meuser; and WI-07, Tiffany.

To build support for H.J. Res. 76, we understand the need and importance of making this a bipartisan effort. There are currently 96 cosponsors, but none of those cosponsors are members of the Republican Caucus. For this legislation to get the traction it needs to reach the floor of a struggling Congress, we must raise our collective voices and ask our elected officials to support this legislation. Signing the petition is great, but writing your member of Congress can move the needle. In fact, during my hill visits this week, House members’ staff indicated that while the petition indeed shows interest, having their constituents write to share their thoughts in a short email goes a long, long way.

Some Democrats indicate they support the legislation, but will sign on only if we can illustrate the legislation is bipartisan. They indicate that “we want to see at least one Republican cosponsor.” To that end we are strategizing on how to attract Republicans' support.

We plan to approach members of the House Problem Solvers Caucus. Here is how they describe themselves on their website. “Beginning in 2017, the Problem Solvers Caucus became an independent member-driven group in Congress, comprised of representatives from across the country – equally divided between Democrats and Republicans – committed to finding common ground on many of the key issues facing the nation. The Caucus’ aim is to create a durable bloc that champions ideas that appeal to a broad spectrum of the American people. It is a group united in the idea that there are commonsense solutions to many of the country's toughest challenges. Only when we work together as Americans can we successfully break through the gridlock of today’s politics.” Refreshing, right?! The caucus currently has about 60 members with the Republican and Democratic caucuses represented evenly.

You may have seen or read that a number of members of Congress have announced that they plan to retire or not seek re-election. At least 15 Republican House members are on that list. We also will meet with a select few of these members to seek support by helping them to listen to their conscious versus following the party line.
Here are two examples of House Problems Solvers Caucus members we hope to influence to support the legislation.

First, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01) is a Co-chair of Problems Solvers Caucus AND he has indicated that he will not seek re-election. Second, Congressman Don Bacon (R-NE-02) sits on the Armed Services Committee where our legislation was referred. As a Whip on the Problem Solvers caucus, he writes “My goal as a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus is to find areas of consensus with the other side of the aisle so we can make progress on the critical challenges facing our country. We need leaders in Congress who search for areas of agreement and not just where we disagree.” We’d welcome the support of Congressmen Fitzpatrick and Bacon. I think this group of legislators would agree that sharing the inclusive history at Arlington House is important and redesignation of the site will show bipartisan congressional leadership. With the help of these members, you - their constituents and others, we may have success in adding their support to make this legislation bipartisan.

Reminders on how you can help and support this effort:
- Sign the petition - https://www.change.org/RedesignateARHO
- Send your representative a note and ask for their support. If you hear from them, reply to this post.
- Pass the word to others, help grow support in states with fewer that 50 signatures on the petition.
- Let's find supporters in those 7 Congressional Districts without a signature.

Thanks for the support!
We can do this by "Finding Our Voice" together and speaking up!