Congressional Visits
Congressional Visits
Join Catholic Relief Services in a nationwide effort to advocate for our global family during August Recess! This key period—when members of Congress will be working from their home state or district—is an opportunity to meet with your legislators on critical humanitarian issues.
Click on the blue dropdown bar in each section to view additional information.
Registration
To participate in district or state legislative visits, register today to ensure you don't miss out on important communications and training resources. View the registration form in Spanish.
* Please only fill out the registration form if you are 18 years of age or older. If you are a high school club member, only your CRS Club Advisor should fill out the form.
Legislation
Legislative Ask
During this time of dire global food insecurity, I urge you to protect Food for Peace Title II programs in the Farm Bill and oppose the inclusion of the American Farmers Feed the World Act (H.R. 4293/S. 2862).
State of Play
U.S. House of Representatives
The House Agriculture Committee passed the Farm Bill out of Committee at the end of May. The bill does contain some elements of the AFFWA and CRS’ concerns are: the bill requires that at least half of the Food for Peace budget be spent on purchasing U.S. commodities and ocean freight; it creates unnecessary new earmarks to procure ready-to-use-therapeutic food out of scarce humanitarian funding; and it shifts decision-making authority away from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
U.S. Senate
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (MI-D) released her Farm Bill proposal in May. Her proposal continues the international food assistance programs that help save lives in emergencies and improve the livelihoods of small farmers so they can feed their families. Her proposal continues to provide food from the U.S. to address global hunger, while making overall positive changes to these international food assistance programs, including improvements for Resilience Food Security Activities in Food for Peace Title II. CRS is uneasy about some proposed changes, such as altering the USAID waiver authority but recognizes that compromises are necessary to reach consensus in the Farm Bill.
Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member John Boozman (AR-R) released his proposed Farm Bill package in June. While he does note support for continuing the programs overall, he also includes a key element of the AFFWA. Specifically, he has included a requirement that at least 50% of the Food for Peace costs be used for purchasing U.S. grown commodities or paying for their ocean freight. He also included the concerning waiver authority in Sen. Stabenow’s package.
Meeting Preparation
Please review the legislative resources in preparation for your meetings:
- CRS Farm Bill Backgrounder (View in Spanish)
- Legislative Meeting Talking Points
- Advanced legislative talking points (Optional)—These documents are for individuals and groups that have been advocating regularly on the Farm Bill and/or feel comfortable delivering nuanced and/or complex talking points and asks.
Preparing for Visits
We recommend that visits take place during the scheduled congressional recess, Aug. 5–Sept. 6, as it is an ideal opportunity to connect with members or their staff. Virtual meetings are encouraged for Senate visits when traveling for an in-person meeting may not be ideal. Consider reaching out to legislative offices early July to begin scheduling meetings.
- Meeting Lead Checklist in English (View in Spanish)
- Congressional Office Outreach Email Template
- Bilingual Congressional Visits Planning Worksheet
Legislative Materials
We recommend emailing the Send Ahead/Leave Behind to congressional offices prior to your meeting, in addition to handing staff a printed copy during the meeting.
After Visits are Complete
Log Your Visits: Tell us more about your meetings, including insights, lessons learned and meeting notes. Reporting back also helps us better track which offices have received visits and provide appropriate follow-up, if necessary. Prior to your meeting, designate a specific person who will be responsible for reporting the congressional visit back to CRS, preferably a chapter member or club advisor who has access to the CRS Chapter Community.
Send a Thank You: The meeting lead or a designated person from your group should send the email as soon as possible following your visit.
Learning Opportunities
You are invited to join or watch the recording of these events to learn more information and to continue building your skills as an advocate and leader.
CRS National Chapter and Club Conference Call
These calls are open to all August Recess participants.
Playlist of National Call recordings (View in Spanish)
- July 2024: Guest Speaker on Farm Bill Program—Food for Peace.
Meeting Leads Training
This training is for anyone interested in leading a legislative meeting during August Recess, or to learn more about how to lead a visit.
Watch the Meeting Leads Training Recording.
August Recess Q&A Sessions
These optional sessions are an opportunity to ask questions about the legislative asks or about conducting effective legislative meetings.
Tuesday, July 16
8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT / 5 p.m. PT
Join on Zoom
Wednesday, July 24
3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT / 12 noon PT
Join on Zoom
Power and Relational Analysis Workshop
Learn how to map the informal political landscape of your community to increase your influence on Congress.
Wednesday, July 31
7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT / 4 p.m. PT
Register to join on Zoom
- Farm Bill Video Playlist.
- CRS Press Releases:
- CRS Responds to New Farm Bill Proposed by Senate Agriculture Committee Ranking Member—June 2024.
- CRS Opposes Changes to Food for Peace Programs Included in Farm Bill Passed by House Agriculture Committee—May 2024.
- CRS Joins International Food for Peace Partners in Calling for Protection of Farm Bill Programs.—May 2024.
- CRS Responds to Proposed farm Bill Packages—May 2024.
- CRS National Call recordings playlist:
- March 2024: Guest Speaker on Farm Bill Program—Food for Peace.
- January 2024: Guest Speaker on Farm Bill Program—McGovern Dole.
- May 2023: Guest Speaker on Farm Bill Program—Farmer to Farmer.
- The Impact of Food for Peace Development Programs—July 2024: The CRS chief of party for a Resilient Food Security Activity in Ethiopia shares about the potential negative impacts of provisions from the American Farmers Feed the World Act on non-emergency Food for Peace programming.
Questions
Thank you for joining in this united effort to enact change in our world! If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your CRS staff contact.