May 18, 2020 FedEx 3875 Airways Memphis, TN 38116 To: Frederick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO Rajesh Subramaniam, President and COO Mark Allen, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Lance Mangum, Staff Vice President, Government Affairs Brie Carere, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer We are writing to urge that you cease your association with, and end your funding of, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which is leading an effort to lobby government officials—including President Trump—to ignore public health officials and discontinue mitigation measures before the COVID-19 outbreak is under control. ALEC’s work in this effort, which your company is funding through its support of ALEC, poses a serious threat to the health and safety of all us all. Recently, ALEC teamed up with a coalition of far-right lobbying groups to launch the “Save Our Country” campaign protesting the public health quarantine orders put in place to reduce the health risks of COVID-19. As The Washington Post recently reported, the ALEC-led coalition’s focus is on “pushing for the White House and GOP lawmakers to push back against health professionals who have urged more caution." Among health professionals, the consensus is clear on the risks of rolling back protective measures too early. As a prominent epidemiologist from Columbia University put it, “The math is unfortunately pretty simple. It’s not a matter of whether infections will increase but by how much.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading infectious-disease expert at the National Institutes of Health, has warned that “unless we get the virus under control, the real recovery economically is not going to happen.” Prematurely moving to lift public-safety regulations poses a clear threat to public health. ALEC’s own partner organizations, such as the Convention of States and FreedomWorks, are organizing and promoting dangerous protests in a variety of states in direct violation of public health orders, which we know will lead to the increased spread of COVID-19. These organizations have previously sponsored ALEC conferences and have been active members of ALEC along with your company. Make no mistake, your continued financial support of ALEC is an active endorsement of this dangerous effort. The money your company is contributing to ALEC is helping fund this campaign—one which is direct contravention of public health guidelines. ALEC has a long and well-documented history of opposing what is in the interest of the public for the sake of profit. The organization’s agenda has included limiting people’s access to lifesaving healthcare, denying climate science and repealing environmental safeguards that keep our air and water safe and clean, restricting workers’ right to safe working conditions, lobbying on behalf big tobacco corporations against commonsense public health interests, promoting laws that have led to more gun violence, privatizing social safety nets like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security—the list goes on. ALEC pushes this dangerous agenda behind closed doors, skirting state gift and lobbying laws at lavish resorts where legislators and lobbyists conspire in secret to rig the rules of the game without the public’s consent. Much like ALEC’s anti-transparent operating style, it has also pushed anti-democratic laws that block Americans’ right to vote and restrict voters’ right to know who is funding political campaigns. We, the undersigned organizations, work on a variety of issues and don’t always agree on every policy, but are well aware of the suffering and anxiety many people are feeling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those who have gotten sick, are dealing with emergency family care issues, or have lost their job are members of our organizations. We understand the damage the COVID-19 crisis has caused to our communities and economy and support lifting public safety measures when it’s safe, but now is not the time to rush a political agenda or jump to unfounded conclusions. To get through this crisis together, we must follow science and listen to public health experts instead of shutting them out of the conversation. At this time of crisis, we are asking your company align its values with what’s best for the health and safety of everyone, reject this dangerous political campaign that will only prolong this crisis and put us all at risk, and immediately cease all funding and sever all ties with ALEC. Sincerely, Adrian Dominican Sisters AFL-CIO African American Ministers In Action Alliance for Retired Americans Amalgamated Transit Union American Family Voices American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Americans for Democratic Action Battleborn Progress Boston Common Asset Management Brave New Films Campaign for America’s Future Center for Biological Diversity Center for Common Ground Center for Constitutional Rights Center for Media and Democracy Center for Popular Democracy Centered Wealth Clean Yield Asset Management Common Cause Communication Workers of America (CWA) Congregation of St. Joseph Courage California Daughters of Charity, Province of St. Louise Democracy 21 Democracy Initiative Franciscan Action Network Free Press Free Speech For People Friends of the Earth Greenpeace USA Harrington Investments, Inc. Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, JPIC-USA In The Public Interest Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility International Brotherhood of Teamsters Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Jefferson County Teachers Association Malden Education Association Mercy Investment Services Missionary Oblates/OIP Trust Money Out Voters In Montana Environmental Information Center National Council of Urban Education Associations New Progressive Alliance NorthStar Asset Management, Inc People Demanding Action People For the American Way People's Action PolicyLink Progress Florida Progress Iowa Public Citizen Rise and Resist rootsaction.org Save Our State - Alaska Science and Environmental Health Network Sierra Club Sisters of the Presentation of Aberdeen SD Social Equity Group Stand UP to ALEC Teamsters Local 104 (Arizona) The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia The Wildfire Project True North Research UnChainDemocracy.org Union of Concerned Scientists Unitarian Universalist Association UnKoch My Campus Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press Zevin Asset Management