Update

Just before Memorial Day, the House passed its initial version of the bloated annual National Defense Authorization Act—the main military policy bill that Congress approves every year.

Last week, the Freedom Caucus challenged Republican party leadership to bring up a hardline immigration proposal to the floor in exchange for their votes on the Farm Bill. What now?

This Tuesday May 22nd, Senator Chuck Grassley joined FCNL at the Quaker Welcome Center to share why he supports sentencing reform. Diane Randall, José Woss, Interfaith Criminal Justice Coalition partners, and his Iowa constituents took part in the dialogue.

President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel the planned June 12 meeting with Kim Jong Un in Singapore is a huge mistake that increases the risk of war. We are particularly alarmed by the open allusions to the use of nuclear weapons by both the North Koreans and the United States. This loose talk of nuclear war undermines diplomacy and reflects a careless disregard for the real cost of any military conflict on the Korean peninsula.

This marks a momentous week for Congress on re-examining the U.S. role in Yemen, and its facilitation of the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in the country. Just this week, members of Congress in both the House and the Senate have voted in favor of reining in U.S. support for starvation, torture and war led by the U.S.’ Gulf allies in Yemen.

On Friday, May 18, the U.S. House of Representatives voted down H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, or the House Farm Bill by a vote of 198-238. This bill would have caused more than 2 million Americans to see their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) benefits cut or eliminated entirely. Furthermore, it would have created a massive new bureaucracy that would have overwhelmed states, prevented individuals from accessing benefits, and implemented even stricter work requirements, locking people out of the program if they couldn’t comply.

Truth be told, the past few days have worried me too. I had been encouraged this spring to see South Korea’s diplomacy open new possibilities. As someone who has focused a career on nuclear proliferation, I was happy to express my thanks and praise when President Trump embraced direct engagement to deal with North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

A key Congressional Committee just took the first major step in years to insist the U.S. government needs to invest more in preventing violence and war and put money, staff time and interagency resources into addressing the root causes of insecurity and violent conflict.

On May 16th, 2018, Representatives John Faso (NY-19) and Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) came to FCNL’s Quaker Welcome Center for a bipartisan conversation on climate change.

Today, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to move forward with the nomination of Gina Haspel for director of the CIA. As you may know, Gina Haspel has a record of overseeing torture by the CIA and destroying evidence related to the program.