The Trump administration’s recent actions to freeze almost all U.S. foreign assistance has put at risk millions of the world’s most vulnerable people who rely on these programs for their healthcare, livelihoods, and other basic needs.
Hundreds of people joined us for a call on January 28 to learn how to effectively engage the new Congress. As we hold in the Light people who have been harmed by actions taken in the first week of the Trump administration, FCNL is mobilizing to respond. Your advocacy will be critical throughout the new Congress and the Trump administration. Deepen your engagement now!
If you were unable to attend or want to revisit our conversation, you can watch and share the recording:
Washington, DC, and the whole country are gearing up for President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, January 20. How do we navigate this new political era as Friends?
Around the FCNL office on Capitol Hill, proliferating security fencing makes even a short walk more difficult. This week, as I stepped through one of the gates in the fencing that was left open, for the time being, I realized I could feel a kind of fence growing inside me as well.
2025 is a special year for FCNL’s Advocacy Teams as we celebrate our 10th anniversary. Over the past decade, FCNL has grown its Advocacy Teams network to 135 teams across 48 states and D.C. Each year, Advocacy Teams work on one foreign policy issue and, this year for the first time, a domestic issue as well. In 2025, Advocacy Teams will advocate under the theme, Aid, Not Arms: Opening the Way to Peace in the Middle East.
This is a critical step forward for peace, but the work is far from over. We must secure a permanent ceasefire, ensure the return of all remaining Israeli hostages and Palestinian political prisoners, provide unfettered access to humanitarian aid, and work toward a just and lasting peace for all.
On January 11, 2002, the first 20 so-called “War on Terror” detainees arrived at Guantánamo Bay detention camp. Over its history, the prison has housed nearly 800 detainees, today, 15 remain.
The Republican Congressional majority is talking about quickly moving reconciliation packages, legislation that could dramatically impact millions of lives. They would drastically limit access to healthcare and food assistance for millions of people, dramatically shift the tax code to further benefit wealthy individuals and corporations, heavily invest in border militarization and immigration enforcement, and reverse historic gains in promoting clean energy.
A 226-Year-Old Law with a Xenophobic Legacy
The World We Seek guides the efforts of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Whether through our team of expert lobbyists meeting with policymakers on Capitol Hill or our grassroots network of passionate advocates building power for the voices of people across the country, these words form a foundation for our work.
This year, 675 Advocacy Team members lobbied 342 times and published 103 times in the media, urging Congress to rein in wasteful Pentagon spending. We also launched new Advocacy Teams in Maryland, Virginia, and Oklahoma, expanding our power to 48 states plus D.C.
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