Update

At the FCNL we are joined in our efforts to create a more just, peaceful, and equitable world by Quakers and friends around the globe who believe that change is possible. Together, we’re impacting policy and the political process through education, advocacy, and engagement with others.

Friend Tom Bertrand is following a long-held tradition of visitation, and a leading to invite Friends to Quaker advocacy.

In a pair of stunning victories last week, the House of Representatives adopted bipartisan amendments to the annual defense policy bill that would repeal the 17-year-old authority to engage in a war with Iraq and prohibit spending on an unauthorized war with Iran. The National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2020 (NDAA) then passed the House by a final vote of 220-97, without any Republican votes.

Here in Sonoma County, we know the impacts of climate change all too well. While our community is incredibly resilient, we have been beaten back numerous times by fires and floods. Our fire season is no longer a season — it’s fire year. Recently, a close friend lost her family home while her parents barely escaped the Bennett Valley hills driving through blinding smoke to safety. Too many here could tell similar stories.

In the 1990’s leaders in Washington, D.C. sought to increase punitive sentences and address crime through harsh punishment. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322) increased prison sentences, created incentives for states to build new prisons, and strengthened laws that made the incarcerated serve more of their sentence before their release. The law also eliminated Pell Grants in prisons.

Congress must break the status quo by divesting from enforcement spending and investing in true humanitarian assistance.

On June 19, for the first time in nearly two decades of endless war, a full chamber of Congress voted to repeal the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which has been used by three consecutive presidents to justify military engagements around the world with little congressional oversight.

The $1 trillion package of FY2020 spending bills that passed the House in June contained important victories for reining in the aggressive and militaristic U.S. approach to national security.

Washington has been a buzz of activity recently. While the news headlines may sound dour and dim, there were several major legislative victories on Capitol Hill.

The House passed several spending bills for fiscal year 2020 in June—including the Labor Health and Human Services (Labor-H), Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD), Commerce Justice Science (CJS), Interior Energy and Water, and State Foreign Operations (SFOPs) appropriations bills.