Join this Interfaith Immigration Coalition Grassroots call on June 4th to learn more about the Arizona Supreme Court case and prosecutorial discretion for DREAM students. Read the alert.
Action alert: June 4 immigration call
May 31, 2012
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Posted by Tammy Alexander
Washington Memo: Give us this day our daily bread: U.S. food and farm policy.
May 29, 2012
The Spring/Summer Washington Memo focuses on the upcoming U.S. farm bill. Every five years Congress renews the farm bill, comprehensive legislation that sets most U.S. food and agricultural policies including SNAP (formerly food stamps). The farm bill is also the primary legislation that determines the country’s international policies on agriculture and food, including trade, farm subsidies and international food aid.
This edition of the Memo includes articles on food and farm policy, stories from farmers, worship materials, principles for a faithful farm bill and facts about the role of U.S. policy in combating hunger both domestically and around the world.
Mennonite Central Committee seeks to bring the voices of our partners around the world into food policy discussions and speaks from the conviction that God has called us to be stewards of the earth (Genesis 1:26) and a blessing to our neighbors (Jeremiah 29:5-7).
The Washington Memo can be found on the tab at the top of this page, or can be viewed as a full pdf here.
Sign up here to receive print copies of the Washington Memo.
Leave a Comment » | Articles, Office Publications, Resources | Tagged: farm bill, hunger, washington memo | Permalink
Posted by jesseeppfransen
Spring Immigration Update
May 24, 2012The Spring Immigration Update is now available! This immigration policy update gives a summary of developments in Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Obama administration. Topics include:
- Supreme Court oral arguments on Arizona’s SB1070 law
- New 3/10-year bar waiver process and comment period
- Haiti: H-2 visas and family reunification
- Violence Against Women Act
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Posted by Tammy Alexander
Hunger and Systemic Injustice
May 21, 2012Jesse Epp-Fransen writes about hunger and systemic injustice in the latest Third Way Cafe.
Economic justice in the United States is an incredibly complex topic. It covers far more than the simple math of the cost of food and shelter compared to the average wage. Economic justice must be rooted in the ability to meet not only immediate needs, but future needs as well.
[...]
Food insecurity not only inhibits households from having enough food, but decreases their chances of being able to be successful in work and school. Hunger combines with interrelated issues such as unemployment and lack of health insurance to create a larger structure of economic injustice from which there is no simple escape.
Read the entire article here.
Leave a Comment » | Issues, U.S. Economic Justice | Tagged: hunger, Third Way Cafe, U.S. economic justice | Permalink
Posted by jesseeppfransen
Join MCC in supporting an international Arms Trade Treaty
May 17, 2012
Armed Violence in Numbers
2 of 3 people killed by armed violence die in countries at peace
2 bullets are produced each year for each person on the planet
700 people are estimated to be killed with arms each day in Latin America
As MCC workers in Latin America, we see firsthand the injuries, deaths, and suffering caused by guns and other weapons. The current violence in Mexico and Central America, the on-going internal armed conflict in Colombia, and violence in marginal urban neighbourhoods throughout the region are evidence of the easy availability of weapons…
Read the entire blog entry on the MCC Latin America Advocacy Blog. To add your support to a petition in favor of the treaty, follow this link: http://www.controlarms.org/home.
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Posted by Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach
Lectionary Reflection for May 27, 2012 (Pentecost)
May 14, 2012
Melissa Engle/MCC
Rachelle Lyndaker Schlabach, Director of the Washington Office, reflects on Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit in the latest lectionary reflection.
For those of us working in Washington, DC, Ottawa or at the United Nations, there is a natural draw to another description of the Spirit: Advocate (John 15:26, 16:7).
Sometimes Mennonites ask me if I am a lobbyist. I usually reply that if lobbying means trying to change policies by making large campaign contributions, that is definitely not the case. All we have is moral suasion.
Read the entire reflection here.
Leave a Comment » | Faith Reflection | Tagged: lectionary reflection, pentecost | Permalink
Posted by jesseeppfransen
Action alert: protect immigrant victims of domestic violence
May 14, 2012At the end of April, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), S.1925. The House, however, is set to vote on a bill this week (H.R. 4970) that would roll back protections for immigrant survivors of violence. Take action.
Leave a Comment » | Action Alerts, Immigration | Tagged: Immigration, VAWA HR4970 | Permalink
Posted by Tammy Alexander
