This month Catholic Relief Services (CRS) chapters in Washington will be meeting virtually via zoom with US Senator Patty Murray, Senator Maria Cantwell, and select US Representatives: Rep. Suzan DelBene (district 1), Rep. Rick Larsen (district 2), Rep. Derek Kilmer (district 6), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (district 7), Rep. Adam Smith (district 9), and Rep. Marilyn Strickland (district 10).  You are invited to join us to advocate for CRS international development and humanitarian priorities.  Click here to identify your US Representative and district.

As constituents and supporters of Catholic Relief Services, we want to connect with our US Senators and members of Congress about the need to promote policies that ensure our immigrants and refugee brothers and sisters on the move can exercise their right to lead dignified lives and ultimately thrive. The threat and spread of COVID-19 only exacerbated the challenges we face-almost 80 million people are forcibly displaced around the world, 26 million of whom are refugees, and we anticipate 270 million people to require emergency food assistance this year.

In the August meetings, we will urge our US Senators and Congress members to ensure the highest funding levels possible for poverty-reducing international development and humanitarian assistance in the Fiscal Year 2022 Federal Budget.  We will also strongly urge Congress to maintain the Helms Amendment in Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations, which prohibits the use of U.S. funded foreign assistance for abortion.

If you would like to attend a meeting, please contact Kelly Hickman, kellyhickmanmats@gmail.com, and provide her your zip code, and we will communicate the date and time for the zoom meetings. 

“Whenever we do something together, something good, something beautiful, everyone changes. All of us change in some way and this does us good.”

– Pope Francis