FCNL in the News

As a 15-year-old with a pre-existing condition, and whose self-employed family has health insurance through Medicaid expansion, FCNL Advocacy Teams member Sam Bruxvoort Colligan is personally affected by his representative’s health care vote. That doesn’t stop him from building a relationship with his members of Congress.

“Theo Sitther, Legislative Secretary for Peacebuilding at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, told ThinkProgress he was worried about the impact this ‘heavily militarized’ budget would have on conflict resolution.”

“According to the Friends Committee on National Legislation, prioritizing development would be 60 times less expensive than military intervention and the subsequent assistance required for helping nations rebuild in the aftermath.”

Kate Gould of FCNL told the Middle East Eye that she expects a much higher vote count in the senate against the U.S. weapons sale to Saudi Arabia this time. House letters and Murphy’s bill in the senate are indicative of a shift in how Congress views the Saudi war.

“Despair is not a long-term strategy.” A Warren Wilson College professor reflects on a conversation with her former student and FCNL Program Assistant, Jamie DeMarco. How can we learn from the example of lobbyists like David Culp who persistently lobbied over the course of decades for a better world? Can we balance that with necessary short term change?

Kate Gould said a vote on military action in Syria would be a first step for Congress to reclaim its war-making power. “When we see this blatant violation of US and international law when Congress has been sidelined, it is more than worthy to bring Congress back and force a vote. That’s essential,” she told MEE.

With this week’s Executive Order designed to dismantle Obama’s climate legacy, there are plenty of reasons for climate advocates to despair and feel despondent. However, many in the religious community are hopeful that a new dawn of bipartisanship has occurred in Congress.

In an interview with TeleSUR, FCNL Lobbyist for Human Rights and Civil Liberties Yasmine Taeb discusses support within the Trump administration for the recent executive order on immigration and refugee resettlement.

In the New York Times’ coverage of FCNL’s March 6th rally in opposition to President Trump’s recent executive order on immigrants and refugees, they published a video featuring remarks by FCNL Lobbyist for Human Rights and Civil Liberties Yasmine Taeb.

Sojourners featured FCNL’s Emily Wirzba for her interfaith work towards bipartisan recognition of climate change in Congress.