From: Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) Website :
Written Testimony submitted Pertaining to Appropriations to the State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, April 4, 2025
Prepared for the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations’ Subcommittee on National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs
Bridget Moix, General Secretary, Friends Committee on National Legislation
“Chairman Diaz-Balart, Ranking Member Frankel, and Members of the Committee,
Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of robust funding for accounts that help prevent mass atrocities and violent conflict, support urgent humanitarian needs, and strengthen resilience globally at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Fiscal Year 2026 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations bill. I urge Congress to reject reckless cuts to U.S. foreign assistance and the dismantling of vital agencies and expertise that the administration has undertaken without legal grounding or congressional approval. More specifically, we urge you to continue investing in critical funding programs that address the urgent crises facing our country and world today. For FY26, we urge you to invest $25 million for Atrocities Prevention, $50 million for Reconciliation Programs and $270 million for Adaptation programs. Congress has a critical role to play as an independent branch of government entrusted by the Constitution with the power of the purse, and we urge you to uphold your role and your responsibility to the American people and the long-standing bipartisan support for funding an effective U.S. leadership role in the world.
The full list of FCNL’s FY26 SFOPs priorities has been included in the chart at the end of my testimony.
Founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), the Friends Committee on National Legislation is a national, nonpartisan Quaker organization that advocates for policies informed by our faith, morality, and belief that there is that of God in every person and that all creation has worth and dignity.[i] For more than 80 years, guided by the Religious Society of Friends’ historic Peace Testimony[ii] and the voices of hundreds of Quaker meetings across the country, FCNL has continually advocated for a world free of war and the threat of war, a society with equity and justice for all, a community where every individual’s potential may be fulfilled, and an earth restored.
Violence, climate shocks, and forced displacement are some of the most significant challenges faced by the world today–and the United States cannot address them through spending cuts, program closures, or the dismantling of critical agencies. In my testimony today, I will urge you to invest deeply in the tools needed to prevent, mitigate, and respond to these crises. The programs and accounts outlined below are cost-effective, proven approaches that Congress has supported and invested in for many years to confront these challenges.
I am alarmed and deeply concerned …” Continue READING on the FCNL site.