WASHINGTON — On the same day that House Republicans rolled out a sweeping new tax plan that critics say favors the rich at the expense of the poor, Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network rolled into town Thursday in an effort to convert its activism into policy and law.
About a dozen Democratic lawmakers — including past and potentially future presidential contenders — dropped by to lend their support to the cause, which took place as a legislative conference under the theme “From Demonstration to Legislation.”
They also seized the opportunity to slam President Donald J. Trump for his anti-immigrant policies, his combative online proclivities, and to forecast his impeachment amid the ongoing investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 election.
The Democratic lawmakers gave attendees updates on entitlement programs that they say are wrongly in the crosshairs of the GOP — programs with well-known acronyms that ranged from SNAP to WIC — and urged them to oppose any legislative measure that cuts those programs in their planned interactions on The Hill.
Sharpton — in his role as convener — repeatedly urged the dozens of members and leaders from his network’s 13 chapters who attended the event to take notes.
“You must impact the law. You can’t teach what you don’t know,” Sharpton said. “This is connected to policy.
“The beauty of the King movement is that it led to the Civil Rights Act of ’64, the Voting Rights Act of ’65, the Open Housing Act of ’68,” Sharpton said in praise of the martyred civil rights leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
