Friends Committee Welcomes Bill to Prevent Genocide and Atrocities
Thanks Leadership of Senators Cardin, Tillis and Others
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) welcomes introduction of legislation that would focus the U.S. government at the highest levels on effective early prevention of violent conflict as an alternative to the often ineffective late military intervention that has become a hallmark of U.S. policy.
"We'd particularly like to praise Senators Ben Cardin, Thom Tillis and their colleagues for introducing the Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2016," said Diane Randall, Executive Secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation. "There is broad support within the faith community for action in Congress to address genocide and atrocities prevention and we plan to work with these Senators to secure passage in 2016."
Ronald Reagan was the president who signed the law ratifying the convention to prevent genocide. More recently, a bipartisan group of senators called on the president to establish structures within the U.S. government to prevent genocide. This new legislation would authorize a permanent, inter-agency Atrocities Prevention Board that will focus the U.S. government at the highest levels on early prevention of violent conflict. For more information on the bill go to www.fcnl.org/gapa-summary.
The legislation also establishes the Complex Crises Fund to provide much needed flexible funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development to prevent, mitigate and respond to emerging or unforeseen crisis and conflict, establishes training in atrocities prevention for State Department personnel and requires the Director of National Intelligence to report to Congress on countries that are at risk of mass atrocities and genocide.
FCNL is joined in its support of atrocities prevention efforts by over two dozen nongovernmental organizations, including the Enough Project, Invisible Children, Jewish World Watch, Pax Christi International, The Resolve: LRA Crisis Initiative, and United to End Genocide.
The full list of cosponsors of this legislation includes Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
The Friends Committee on National Legislation, the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, is a nonpartisan Quaker lobby in the public interest. FCNL works with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people from every state in the U.S. to advocate for social and economic justice, peace, and good government. Find out more at www.fcnl.org/successes
SOURCE Friends Committee on National Legislation
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