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.

Register Today

* 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.
  • Legislative Meeting Talking Points—House
  • Legislative Meeting Talking Points—Senate Democrat/Independent
  • Legislative Meeting Talking Points—Senate Republican

Learning Opportunities

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.