Alicia Keys is hoping a steamy Valentine’s Day card she sent to Rep. Paul Ryan will persuade the Speaker of the House to bring criminal justice reform to a vote this year.
“Dear Paul. Can I call you Paul?” the “No One” singer leads off a video Valentine released last week. “I recently saw a picture of working out, and I was like, ‘Mmmm.’ I never saw the Speaker of the House working out before, he must be cool.”
“Are you cool, Paul? Show me how cool you are,” Keys continues. “In fact, you can even maybe be my Valentine if you help me spread some love.”
The video is part of a larger Valentine’s Day campaign for Keys’ We Are Here social justice organization that is urging Ryan to bring criminal justice reform to a vote before President Obama leaves office this year.
“Help bring justice reform to a vote so we can keep families together and reunite those that have been unjustly torn apart by excessive incarceration instead of just getting the help they needed,” Keys says. “Can you do that, Paul? I know you can.”
Keys then reveals the Valentine’s Day card she sent Ryan, which reads “You Have A Heart of Gold,” and urges her fans to send the Speaker their own love letters.
“So you’re welcome in advance for the thousands of love notes that are coming your way,” Keys coos. The singer closes the video with a kiss and a wink.
Ryan responded to the video in an interview on Fox News last week, telling Greta Van Susteren that he hadn’t yet seen the video and that he “didn’t even know she knew who I was.”
“This bill is already out of the Judiciary Committee, these criminal justice bills, so it’s well on its way here in the House,” Ryan said.
Keys’ We Are Here Movement advocates for issues of justice and equality, women’s rights and climate change.
Watch Keys’ steamy Valentine’s Day video address to Ryan above.