These FCNL Legislative Priorities for the 2023-24 Congress were approved by the General Committee of FCNL on November 19, 2020. They provide the framework for FCNL advocacy in 2023 and 2024.
The order in which they are presented here does not represent a priority order. Each priority provides a framework for lobbying as way opens.
● Promote peace building and confront the paradigm of global militarism at home and abroad.
● Work towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and, as opportunity occurs, conventional and newly emerging weapons.
● Enhance diplomatic capacity to end current wars and prevent new ones. Reassert Congress’ role in the use of military engagements.
● Advocate for democracy by working to remedy threats to our electoral processes that limit access to voting and undermine open, secure, and fair elections.
● Advocate for a re-imagined justice system that is fair, equitable, and transparent for all. Eliminate mass incarceration and police brutality and uphold restorative justice.
● Work to end gun violence. Encourage the use of nonviolent conflict resolution methods and support programs that promote community safety.
● Center the voices of Tribal nations, Alaska Native villages, and Native Hawaiians as we work together to uphold community rights and concerns. Ensure enforcement of the federal government’s treaty and trust responsibilities to protect tribal sovereignty and enhance tribal self-determination.
● Work for comprehensive immigration reform policies to establish inclusion and prosperity for immigrant communities, regardless of their status. Reject systems and processes that violate fundamental human rights.
● Center the voices of Black, Indigenous, and people of color as we work together to ensure genuine equity by dismantling institutional racism and discriminatory laws. Promote measures to uncover truth and repair slavery’s ongoing societal impact.
● Address structural economic inequality, through measures such as a more equitable tax system, a living wage for all, and repairing and strengthening the social safety net programs.
● Support expansion of programs that meet basic needs, such as affordable, accessible housing and universal access to quality, affordable healthcare.
● Address the existential threat of climate change by reducing the use of fossil fuels and harmful land use practices; employ science-based mitigation and adaptation approaches.
● Strengthen environmental protections and advance environmental justice, mitigating both global and local impacts with particular focus on vulnerable or exploited populations.