Next week, the Senate is expected to vote on a bill with life-or-death consequences for millions of the world’s most vulnerable people.
Right now, the Trump administration is pushing Congress to cancel, or “rescind,” funding it has already directed towards life-saving foreign aid for people in need.
Sadly, this “rescissions package” passed narrowly in the House last month by a 214-212 vote – effectively providing legal cover for the Trump administration’s authoritarian efforts to usurp Congress’s power of the purse.
But we can still stop it. Our senators must defend Congress’s constitutional powers and the millions around the globe whose lives and dignity hang in the balance.
The numbers are staggering and devastating. According to experts:
Around 88 people die every hour that U.S. foreign assistance programs remain shuttered.
More than 225,000 children and 110,000 adults have already died in the six months since DOGE terminated almost all foreign aid.
More than 14 million people could die over the next five years because of these aid cuts and the administration’s dismantling of USAID.
With the fate of so many at stake, we joined an interfaith coalition of 15 organizations this week imploring senators to stand up against these cruel cuts. Our groups come from different faith traditions. But we all recognize a clear moral obligation to defend the vulnerable and prevent needless death and suffering.
Beyond the horrifying humanitarian toll, the loss of these highly cost-effective programs threatens to worsen global conflict, instability, and the spread of deadly infectious diseases.
That’s why, over decades, Congress has time and again demonstrated a firm bipartisan commitment to these crucial investments in foreign aid and international development. Lawmakers must not walk back on this commitment now.
Hundreds of thousands of people have already died. People who were mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, siblings and friends. People who had hopes, dreams, and aspirations. People who had the same equal, inherent worth and dignity as you or me. People who had that of God within them.
So many more lives are now at stake.
Urge the Senate: Save lives and protect aid!
Elsewhere
Out-of-Control Immigration Enforcement
Immigration enforcement is terrorizing our communities. Right now, we are seeing outrages in California and plans to escalate raids throughout the country following a massive funding boost. Following arrests at churches, one California Catholic bishop issued a special dispensation from the obligation to attend mass because of fear of immigration enforcement.
Reports from a recently opened detention center in the Florida Everglades sheds light on the inhumane and unsanitary conditions facing people detained by immigration enforcement. Local officials are being rejected when they attempt to conduct oversight visits.
Members of Congress have a particular legal responsibility and authority to conduct oversight of ICE and CBP facilities. By drawing attention to serious abuses, senators and representatives can act right now to help their constituents who are facing these appalling abuses .
War is not the Answer – at home or abroad!
FCNL’s general secretary, Bridget Moix, reflected on a major theme of FCNL’s work –that War is Not the Answer at home or abroad!
The Army is parading through Washington, D.C., marines are mobilized against peaceful protestors in California, a senator was manhandled by federal agents, legislators were assassinated in Minnesota, and President Trump bombed Iran. Through all this, as Moix said: “our communities, our children and our country are relying on us to keep putting our faith into action.”
FCNL updates
- Join us July 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET for a network call, Persistent Advocacy in the Face of Disappointment. We will pair reflection with action, be in community together, and learn about the opportunities ahead to make a difference.
- FCNL’s Amelia Kegan spells out what is in the massive reconciliation bill that Congress just passed and how advocacy helped alleviate harm in the final legislation.
- Myriam Sabbaghi, National Organizing Director at the National Iranian American Council, shared her experience and her work on FCNL’s website about how Iranian Americans want peace and reject war with Iran.
- Ellie Kline, FCNL’s Program Assistant for Peacebuilding, wrote a report about how the peace process for ending the Ukraine war must be inclusive and comprehensive for a permanent peace.
