• Urged the Senate to reject any bill that, with drastic proposed changes, would significantly reduce access to asylum, creating a new authority to automatically return people to the border and place them in danger. The bill would raise the bar to qualify for asylum without meaningfully addressing the root causes of persecution. Urged President Biden and DHS Secretary Mayorkas to refuse to sign cooperation agreements with Texas under TX SB 602, new Operation Lone Star legislation now in effect, that would allow Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to enforce Texas state criminal laws at Border Patrol checkpoints and Ports of Entry. Letter to TX Attorney General Ken Paxton in support for Annunciation House, a ministry run by a Catholic organization, that accompanies migrants in El Paso, Texas. Annunciation House, along with other similar organizations, has been targeted by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. AG Paxtons decision to target Annunciation House through legal actions - with the ultimate goal of shutting it down - is designed to intimidate other faith-based and secular organizations that provide essential humanitarian services to people seeking safety in Texas. Urged advocacy network to contact House Representatives to support and pass the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauth Act, calling attention to the important provisions that address the root causes of forced migration and protect migrants from trafficking. Urged the Biden Administration to extend and redesignate TPS for Ethiopia. The Department of Human Services (DHS) must make the decision to re-designate/extend TPS for Ethiopia by April 11, 2024. Urged Biden Administration to extend and redesignate Haiti for TPS, and halt deportation flights and maritime interdiction removals. With all the violence in Haiti, it is nearly impossible to make a safe return to Haiti. Created action alert to advocacy network urging them to contact their senators and representatives in support of the Immigration Court Efficiency and Children's Court Act (S. 3178 / HR 6145) that would better support and protect unaccompanied migrant children entering the U.S. It would among other things better protect them from being trafficked. Drafted action alert urging advocacy network to contact their senators to co-sponsor and pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2024 (S. 4)
• Letter to House and Senate in support of proposed tax package that includes improved version of CTC; while the reported tax package isnt all we want, the CTC improvements would lift hundreds of thousands of children above the poverty line and make a meaningful difference for millions of families. It also would set us up in a better position for 2025. Urged the Senate to pass immediately, without any modifications, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 that the House passed on Jan. 31 with overwhelming and rare bipartisan support. The CTC provisions of this bill are a significant step in the right direction. Urged Senate to pass an expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) bill when they return from recess on February 26. The bill, which passed the House with strong bipartisan support, expands the CTC to benefit 16 million children. There is resistance to the bill from some Senate Republicans who are calling to cut back the CTC for immigrant families and some low-income children out of the 16 million. Urged Senators to reject any amendments that might weaken the CTC bill and/or reduce the number of children who would benefit from the CTC expansion passed by the House. Sent email blast to Senate offices urging support for an expanded and fully refundable Child Tax Credit; noted that Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 that contained an expanded CTC is s step in the right director. This bill passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support. Senate was urged to strengthen and pass this bill - and oppose any amendments that would eliminate the look back provision which provides needed flexibilities for families experiencing economic setback or doing essential caregiving work.
• With a topline funding deal having been reached, we reiterated our call to ensure WIC reached full funding for F24. This letter asked members of Congress to avert the looming WIC shortfall and guarantee that this program reaches all eligible low-income participants nationwide. Sent letter calling on Congress to oppose any version of a so-called fiscal commission, that we believe would fast-track cuts to vital programs including Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP, SSI, and Social Security, and likely much more (including appropriated programs). In Feb. asked advocacy network to urge Congress to come together on funding levels for three critical programs: 1.Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) 2.Housing Vouchers: 3.State Opioid Response (SOR) Grant Program Sent email blast to House and Senate offices, urging them to champion human needs in budget negotiations, in particular WIC, resources for schools, early childhood programs, and affordable housing.
• Urged the House to reject Republican attempts to create an artificial tradeoff between the full funding of WIC and cuts to SNAP in the upcoming Agriculture Approps bill. Made clear these two things are not truly linked - we can fully fund WIC without cutting SNAP. Letter called for lawmakers to both fully fund WIC and reject the notion that doing so requires changes to the SNAP program.
• Sent letter to Congress voicing concern about the massive numbers of small arms that the U.S. is exporting to Israel, and the violence and human rights violations that have and will continue to occur as a result of these exports. These violations are the result of extensive proliferation of weapons to Israelis who live in the occupied Palestinian territory and other end users who present a high risk of committing violence against civilians, both Israeli and Palestinian. The United States exported more than 15 times as many handguns to Israel in October 2023 as the previous October, according to U.S. official data. That trend continued, with November of 2023 showing exports of nearly $8 million in handguns alone. Sent letter to President Biden noting the recent alarming uptick of violence in the Middle East and urging the administration not to engage in retaliatory bombing, but to seek de-escalation - including pressing for a ceasefire in Gaza. Urged President Biden to lead with diplomacy, by pressing for a ceasefire in Gaza, to address the source of the violence and prevent further escalation. Given the deaths of the U.S. service people in Jordan, the Biden administration is deliberating a retaliatory response and there is alarm that further U.S. military responses/bombings in the region will deepen the entanglement of the U.S. in a disastrous open-ended conflict with a range of actors. There are irresponsible calls for a new unauthorized bombing campaign inside Iran, which would bring Iran directly into the fighting against U.S. forces. Urged House Committee and Sub Committees to increase investments and commitments to global gender equality programs in the FY 2025 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations bill and Committee report as well as fully fund the International Affairs Budget at $70.9 billion. U.S. leadership in advancing gender equality furthermore requires maintaining robust funding for the International Affairs Budget (function 150).
• Sent letter asking congressional leaders to consider including the PREEMIE Reauthorization Act of 2023 and the Preventing Maternal Deaths Reauthorization Act of 2023 in a final FY 2024 budget or as part of any other must pass legislative package. Both of these bills would greatly help address this crisis with a focus on increasing access to quality and equitable health care, supporting healthy moms and babies, and improving research and surveillance. Sent letter to the Biden Administration in support of its using march-in rights to lower prices for prescription drugs invented with public, taxpayer dollars. Urged the Administration to strengthen its use to better enable agencies to address pricing abuses, and to recommend agencies prefer domestic, proworker licensees when using march-in rights.
• Expressed support for the House of Representative's Childrens Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE), which offers significant protections for child farmworkers in the U.S (was to be reintroduced shortly in the House). CARE would: 1) Raise the minimum age of child farm work under federal law to at least 14 (from the current 12). 2) Raise the age for hazardous agricultural work from 16 to 18-the same as all other sectors for teen work. 3) Raise maximum child labor fines substantially (by a factor of 10, matching several pieces of federal legislation and levels that were passed in the House Build Back Better bill last session). 4) Establish minimum child labor fines of $1,000. 5) Codify current rules banning pesticide handling by child farmworkers. 6 Increase data collection and analysis of child farmworker injuries.
• Sent letter urging President Biden to close Guantanamo Detention Center as the country marks in Jan. 2024 the 22nd anniversary of its opening. By keeping the detention center open, the U.S. perpetuates anti-Muslim discrimination, and breeches international human rights and immigrants rights. Urged House to support The People's Response Act. Several Representatives are co-leading the reintroduction of The Peoples Response Act, a landmark bill that would create a Division on Community Safety within HHS, then use this new division to fund non-carceral safety programming nationwide. Sent letter to the White House (President and Vice President) urging support for the End Solitary Confinement Act and for administrative action to keep his campaign promise to end solitary confinement. In December, the End Solitary Confinement Act was introduced in the Senate, following its introduction in the House last summer. Even as the bill is under consideration, President Biden could take executive action to implement provisions of the bill for federal facilities. Letter sent to the Senate, in advance of the reintroduction of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by Rev. Sen. Warnock to the members of the Senate, as a strong offer of support. Urged senators to co-sponsor and pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2024 (S.4). This bill, introduced February 29, would stop state voter suppression efforts, safeguard critical voting rights protections, and restore and enhance the Voting Rights Act. Urged House to support the High School Voter Empowerment Act that would increase ballot accessibility for young voters.
• Encouraged members of the House and Senate to endorse the Increasing Access to Foster Care Through 21 Act. The following provisions were previously included and continue to be in a newer version: Participation in extended foster care remains optional for the young person. It provides that young people who choose to exit foster care can re-enter up until their 22nd birthday It drops participation requirements (such as employment or education participation) to expand access to extended foster care to more young people. New Provisions include: Extended care would go through age 21 to the young person's 22nd birthday, rather than stopping at 21. It drops the mandate that states extend foster care and instead relies on an incentive, delinking young people ages 18-22 from the AFDC eligibility requirements and therefore providing more Federal coverage for this population. It requires ACF and DOL to put forth guidance on how young people in extended foster care can be connected to Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs.

Duration: November 1, 2007 to December 31, 2021

General Issues: Immigration, Taxation/Internal Revenue Code, Budget/Appropriations, Agriculture, Foreign Relations, Health Issues, Labor Issues/Antitrust/Workplace, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Welfare, Law Enforcement/Crime/Criminal Justice, Housing, Energy/Nuclear, Trade (Domestic & Foreign), Family Issues/Abortion/Adoption, Defense, Education, Disaster Planning/Emergencies, Environmental/Superfund, District of Columbia, Economics/Economic Development, Indian/Native American Affairs, Alcohol & Drug Abuse, Clean Air & Water (Quality), Financial Institutions/Investments/Securities, Medicare/Medicaid, Government Issues, Science/Technology, Pharmacy, Veterans, Unemployment, Consumer Issues/Safety/Protection, Utilities, Postal, Banking, Religion, Firearms/Guns/Ammunition, Insurance, Homeland Security, Constitution

Spending: about $971,000 (But it's complicated. Here's why.)

It can be tricky to figure out how much an organization spent on a particular lobbying engagement. The law only requires lobbyists to report the amount they were paid for federal lobbying each quarter rounded to the nearest $10,000—and if it's less than $3,000 in a given quarter (or less than $13,000 for organizations with in-house lobbyists), they don't have to disclose it at all. Plus, some organizations include spending that doesn’t belong in the report—for instance, money spent lobbying state governments or other legal work.

Agencies lobbied since 2007: U.S. Senate, President of the U.S., Homeland Security - Dept of (DHS), House of Representatives, Vice President of the U.S., Health & Human Services - Dept of (HHS), Justice - Dept of (DOJ), State - Dept of (DOS), White House Office, Natl Security Agency (NSA), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Bureau of the Census, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Office of Administration, Agriculture - Dept of (USDA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Social Security Administration (SSA), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Office of Management & Budget (OMB), Education - Dept of, Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Housing & Urban Development - Dept of (HUD), Treasury - Dept of, Office of the Vice President of the United States, Centers For Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Natl Economic Council (NEC), Office of Natl Drug Control Policy (NDCP), Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Defense - Dept of (DOD), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Interior - Dept of (DOI), U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives, Army - Dept of (Corps of Engineers), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Commerce - Dept of (DOC), U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Postal Service (USPS), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Reserve System, Labor - Dept of (DOL), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), General Services Administration (GSA), Homeland Security - Dept of (DHS), U.S. Senate,, House of Representatives,, Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC), Justice - Dept of (DOJ), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Y Y, Y Y Executive Office of the President