Urgent call to action!!!

It's not often that I send an email to all my friends, even those not politically inclined, to call, email, and/or fax their House representatives and Senators down in DC about a pending legislative matter. But this is different.

According to an email I received from CQ Midday Update on Monday:

Energy Bill Conferees Poised to Endorse Extended Daylight-Saving Time
A House proposal to extend daylight-saving time by two months each year would be part of the final energy bill under a partial draft released today.
Conferees on the bill (HR 6) are scheduled to take up that proposal along with other staff-recommended language at an open session tomorrow morning. The agenda includes seven of the less controversial sections of the bill, covering issues such as energy efficiency, coal, nuclear power, and vehicles and fuels.
The House version of the energy bill, which passed April 21, included an amendment to extend daylight-saving time a month on each end by moving the start date to the first Sunday in March and the end date to the last Sunday in November.
The efficiency title also includes energy-saving mandates for improving federal buildings and procurement processes, consumer awareness programs, and new efficiency standards for a host of products such as battery chargers and commercial freezers.

The OU's political branch, the IPA, has issued an action alert today urging all its members to contact their representatives and urge them to oppose the legislation. I don't know when it will come up for a vote but it's essential that as many people as possible call now to get it out of the conference report so that it never comes up for a vote in the first place.

t's particularly difficult to oppose this from a secular perspective
because almost everyone is in favor of reducing the nation's
independence on foreign oil (something this bill would help us do).
However, as orthodox Jews we must be compelled to to oppose the means
used here for it would prevent daily tefilah b'tzibur on a very tragic
scale.

Here's why: if DST were extended, sunrise would end up somewhere around 8:15AM at its latest point and it would be near impossible for many working men to daven before they go to work, especially those who need to be in early.

Furthermore, as the action alert points out, it becomes a safety issue in that children will be forced to wait for their school buses in the dark and accidents are more likely to occur as children wait in the dark and drivers have less visibility.

To the extent that we can, we should all be committed to doing our utmost to block the passage of this part of the energy bill. It would be a tragedy for klal yisrael and we can't sit idly by and watch this pass. Click here, get a sample letter and email, fax, write, and call your representative NOW!