Update

FCNL’s young fellows are traveling around the country and inviting young adults to join our network. We’re excited to be visiting 20 colleges and universities this October!

If we were to take President Trump by his word alone, it might seem that we have an ally in the White House in our mission to end endless war.

It was one year ago on Oct. 2 that Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered by agents of the Saudi Arabian government. In memory of the Washington Post journalist, advocacy groups held a press conference in front of the Saudi Embassy, demanding justice and calling on the U.S. to reevaluate its relationship with Saudi Arabia. Our Middle East lobbyist, Hassan El-Tayyab, delivered the following remarks at the event:

The Quaker Welcome Center was envisioned as a venue for bipartisan dialogue and the promotion of peace, justice, and environmental sustainability. On Oct. 4, the space once again fulfilled that vision.

For more than 50 years, FCNL and William Penn House have worked to advance Quaker witness on Capitol Hill. After several months of discernment and worship, the boards of directors of both organizations agreed that the FCNL Education Fund would assume governance and management of William Penn House effective Sept. 1, 2019.

Returning from the 10-day Washington Summer Intensive, FCNL’s 20 Advocacy Corps organizers knew they would be faced with the difficult task of advocating for legislation to end gun violence. But they didn’t know that within days the issue would tragically return to the front pages after a terrible round of mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton.

New college graduates recently joined FCNL staff as the 2019-2020 Young Fellows. During their fellowship, they will work as program assistants with FCNL staff to build their advocacy expertise.

I got my first in-depth education on the Yemen crises at a panel featuring Shireen Al-Adiemi, a Yemeni activist and contributor to the magazine In These Times. Beyond the humanitarian catastrophe and the complex history of the Yemen war, Shireen’s description of Saudi Arabia’s use of Al-Qaeda fighters and Sudanese child soldiers in their war against the Houthi army really disturbed me.

FCNL constituents visited local congressional offices across the country this summer while Congress was home for the August recess. Working with staff from our Washington office, volunteers organized more than 129 lobby visits or in some cases just dropped by congressional offices.

The 1994 crime bill, formally known as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, reframed the U.S. attitude towards criminal justice. Instead of compassion and rehabilitation, the focus shifted towards being “tough on crime.” Through numerous cuts and changes, the 1994 crime bill extended this “toughness” to the treatment of our incarcerated population. One target of the bill was education: After 1994, incarcerated individuals could no longer access Pell Grants.