A few weeks ago, we asked our members to join with MomsRising and Alicia Keys to sign our open letter to Speaker Paul Ryan and the rest of Congress, asking them to take action to end mass incarceration in America now—and over 13,500 of you did! Today, I delivered your signatures to each of the House and Senate majority and minority leaders on Capitol Hill in person, and electronically to the rest of our Congressional members.

We are still gathering signatures for our delivery to the White House coming up later this month so it’s not too late to add your name! Take action here: http://action.momsrising.org/sign/alicia_keys_valentines/

The over one million members of MomsRising are calling on Congress to take action to end mass incarceration now. Our nation has the highest incarceration rate in the world and more than five million U.S. children have had at least one parent imprisoned—with children of color, poor, and rural children being affected the most.

Our justice system is broken and is breaking small hearts, families, and our economy. This is a problem that we can, and we must, fix.

The U.S. has a higher incarceration rate than any other nation in the world which costs us $80 billion a year as the for-profit prison industry grows. It doesn’t have to be this way. Two-thirds of the women in the federal prison system, most of whom are mothers, are incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses. In fact, women are the fastest growing segment of the incarcerated population. This excessive incarceration is harming our nation, our economy, and our families.

For the love of all families, and for the health of our economy, we need Congress to work together to end mass incarceration. Sign our open letter NOW asking Congress to “Take action to roll back the incarceration industry in America.”