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.
They lobbied on the most pressing legislation that will come to a vote in the fall, including ending forever wars, requiring background checks for gun purchases, and supporting a price on carbon to address the climate emergency.
More than one-third of the people who lobbied this summer had never visited a congressional office as part of the FCNL community. FCNL volunteer lobbyists made three times as many lobby visits as the average for the previous three years.
The big lobbying push this summer is part of our work as a community to accomplish the ambitious goals set out in FCNL’s Five-Year Forward Plan. The plan sets goals for doubling the number of grassroots advocates we bring into congressional offices. It also aims to develop the structures and tools to deepen our individual relationships with members of Congress and their staff.
We do this work not to add numbers on paper but to increase the power of our Quaker-grounded advocacy in Congress. The Forward Plan notes, “FCNL’s relentless advocacy on Capitol Hill and in congressional districts throughout the country will strengthen constituent voices and offer a compelling narrative for peace and social justice, empowering civil dialogue for policy change by Congress.”
Judging from the stories of advocates, FCNL’s approach works.
You can read more of this article, and the rest of the July-August Washington Newsletter, below.
