Yesterday, millions of Americans cast their ballots. Republicans had a good night, and I congratulate all the candidates who won.

But what stands out to me is that the message Americans sent yesterday is one you’ve sent for several elections in a row now. You expect the people you elect to work as hard as you do. You expect us to focus on your ambitions — not ours — and you want us to get the job done. Period.

I plan on spending every moment of the next two years rolling up my sleeves and working as hard as I can for the American people. This country has made real and undeniable progress in the six years since the 2008 economic crisis. But our work will not be done until every single American feels the gains of a growing economy where it matters most: in your own lives.

While I’m sure we’ll continue to disagree on some issues that we’re passionate about, I’m eager to work with Congress over the next two years to get the job done. The challenges that lay ahead of us are far too important to allow partisanship or ideology to prevent our progress as a nation.

As we make progress, I’ll need your help, too. Over the weeks and months ahead, I’ll be looking to Americans like you, asking you to stay engaged.

I am optimistic about our future. Because for all the maps plastered across our screens today, for all the cynics who say otherwise, we are more than a simple collection of red and blue states. We are the United States.

And yesterday, millions of Americans — Democrats and Republicans, women and men, young and old, black and white — took the time out of their day to perform a simple, profound act of citizenship. That’s something we shouldn’t forget amid the din of political commentary. Because making progress starts with showing up.

Let’s get to work.

President Barack Obama

Since the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, BP and federal agencies have claimed that much of the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico simply “disappeared.” But recently, researchers discovered a massive, oily “bathtub ring” the size of Rhode Island on the Gulf’s deep ocean floor.

It’s now clear that the federal oil spill response was poorly planned, haphazard, and largely ineffective. This discovery highlights the alarming fact that the EPA still has not issued stronger protections to make sure that oil spill response techniques—such as the use of potentially toxic chemical dispersants despite lack of knowledge about their health and safety effects—are safer and more effective.

We have a chance to make sure this outrageous failure isn’t repeated. While the EPA has proposed stronger protections for chemical dispersants, it is still waiting for the Office of Management and Budget to move forward.

Let’s end the wait and ensure that companies like BP can’t just dump secret, toxic chemicals on oil spill disasters and call it a day.

Earthjustice has been fighting in court since the BP disaster to force the EPA to fulfill requirements mandated by the Clean Water Act for chemical dispersants. But we need widespread public urgency to move these protections forward.

Tell the Office of Management and Budget and the EPA to propose new safeguards for toxic dispersants now.

Toxic dispersants were used in response to the Gulf oil disaster without prior understanding of their effects on the marine ecosystems and human health. And Earthjustice had to sue to ensure that information about the dispersants—including their chemical ingredients—wasn’t kept secret.

EPA’s failure to have adequate dispersant protections in place was one of the many causes of the confusion, concern, and uncertainty surrounding the response to the BP disaster in 2010.

As the federal government and BP waffled on dispersant use in the middle of the crisis, it became apparent how little testing and study had been done beforehand. Even then, former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson readily acknowledged the agency’s lack of knowledge about dispersants. The result was a poorly planned, haphazard response, the effects of which—such as the recently discovered oil ring the size of Rhode Island—will be felt for years to come.

Please take action today to ensure stronger safeguards from toxic chemical dispersants like the ones used in the BP oil spill.

Take Action Now: http://action.earthjustice.org/oil-dispersants 

Sincerely,

Marianne Engelman Lado
Managing Attorney

Join me in asking Facebook to add physical appearance as an official category protected against hate speech.

Earlier this afternoon, President Obama spoke to the White House press corps to discuss the midterm elections and his next steps forward.

“What stands out to me,” he said, “is that the American people sent a message, one that they’ve sent for several elections now. They expect the people they elect to work as hard as they do. They expect us to focus on their ambitions and not ours. They want us to get the job done.”

The President made clear that “it’s time for us to take care of business,” and that there are things we have to do that can’t wait another two or four years.”

Watch the President’s full press conference here.

President Barack Obama responds to a question during a press conference in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 5, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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Wanted to make sure you saw this. It was a tough election night — but you made a real difference in this campaign. You should take a look at what you made possible.

And if you’re still fighting with us… if you’re still standing with the President… sign our note to President Obama thanking him for all he’s done and letting him know that we have his back.

———- Original Message ———-

This is a long email — but we hope you’ll read all the way to the end.

First off, you know we’re not afraid to be blunt. So we’ll just come out and say it: last night was rough. We registered more voters, and made more phone calls, and knocked on more doors than ever before. But we were still left with heartbreaking losses.

Although make no mistake: last night’s results were no accident. It was the result of Republicans’ cynical political strategy that put hurting President Obama before helping the American people. The President put it best just a few months ago:

In other words, the Republicans broke Washington. Then, they spent millions of dollars of secret money running against a broken Washington.

So yeah, last night was rough. It’s infuriating that Republicans’ cynical strategy worked. But we refuse to give in to them. We refuse to give in to the cynicism. As President Obama always says, “hope is a better choice.”

And believe it or not, there were some bright spots last night that give us hope. Here are just a few examples:

FLORIDA

Republican Congressman Steve Southerland is the poster-child for Republicans’ anti-woman agenda.
He opposed the Violence Against Women Act. He voted to defund Planned Parenthood. He even held an all-male fundraiser where the invite actually said, “Tell the Misses not to wait up […] because the after dinner whiskey and cigars will be smooth & the issues to discuss are many.”

WHAT YOU MADE POSSIBLE: We registered 9,958 new Democratic voters in the district.
For the first time in our history, we supplemented our field program with a voter registration program. In addition, our larger, more targeted field program knocked on 75,000 doors.

THE RESULT: We defeated Rep. Southerland by 2,193 votes.
We’re so glad you gave us the chance to execute that voter registration program — it made all the difference. And we’re so happy to welcome CongressWOMAN-elect Gwen Graham.

NEBRASKA

Republican Congressman Lee Terry voted to shut down the government.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, when Congressman Terry wouldn’t give up his government paycheck during the shutdown, he replied, “Dang straight… I’ve got a nice house and a kid in college.”

WHAT YOU MADE POSSIBLE: We launched a massive early vote program that gave Democrats a 5,262 vote advantage.
When we told you we could beat Boehner’s Republicans — even in deep-red states, we weren’t kidding. We personally reached out to nearly 40,000 voters on the ground. And when the Republicans ran an attack that was called “unspeakably racist,” we got on the air and fought back.

THE RESULT: We defeated Rep. Terry by 4,132 votes.
Because of the work you made possible, Congressman Terry is going to have a lot more time to spend in that “nice house” of his.

ARIZONA

Arizona House Speaker Andy Tobin was a chief architect of SB 1062, better known as the “No Gays Allowed” bill.
Under Tobin’s bill, businesses could deny service to customers simply because they’re gay.

WHAT YOU MADE POSSIBLE: We invested in community organizers early and often.
We knew defeating Tobin was going to be tough, so we made a huge investment on the ground. We put field staffers on the ground earlier than ever before. In particular, we focused on organizing tribal communities.

THE RESULT: We defeated Speaker Tobin by 9,346 votes.
None of this would have been possible without your support. You broke every grassroots fundraising record we have — and then some. And each one of those $5 and $50 donations allowed us to pull off these upsets — even in a tough year.

So now the question is: what’s next?

Let’s start with the obvious: Republicans have won control of Congress — so now they have no excuses. They can’t just sit back and blame Democrats like President Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi. They’ll have to stand up and try to convince people that the Republican agenda is better than the Democratic agenda.

That’s a fight we’re looking forward to.

So if you’re still fighting with us… if you’re still standing with the President… sign our note to President Obama thanking him for all he’s done and letting him know that we have his back.

Thanks again for everything you do.

All of us at the DCCC