November 12, 2024

Dear Members of Congress:

Since our founding in 1893, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) has boldly imagined a world where women, children, and families are fully valued and supported. We have consistently dedicated ourselves to the pursuit of equity and justice through a powerful combination of community organizing, education, direct service, and advocacy. We carry with us the tradition of safeguarding the individual rights of freedoms for women, children, and families. United by our Jewish values, we mobilize our network of 50 local sections and over 225,000 advocates to make this vision a reality at all levels of government and in communities across the United States.

With few legislative days left in the 118th Congress, NCJW looks forward to working with you on critical issues central to our mission. We urge you to take this opportunity as this Congressional session closes to pass key legislation and take urgent action to ensure the health and well-being of every person. This should include passing a disaster relief package and a Continuing Resolution for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY2025) appropriations that helps all communities and funds life-saving programs; extending the Farm Bill to support families in need; and confirming fair, independent, and qualified judges.

First and foremost, the devastation wreaked by Hurricanes Helene and Milton continues to impact communities as homes and businesses were decimated, families are displaced, workers are on hold, and food remains scarce. We urge Congress to pass a disaster relief package to help individuals, small businesses, and communities recover and rebuild as quickly as possible.

Congress also has a responsibility to ensure that a Continuing Resolution for FY2025 helps all communities survive, if not thrive. How we plan to spend our money — personally, as families, and as a country — is a reflection of our values. We urge you to pass a Continuing Resolution that ensures every person, child, and community can access the critical care and support they need to live healthy, safe lives.

Anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ+ riders and cuts to vital funding that threaten reproductive freedom, gender-affirming care, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and other fundamental rights have no place in this or any other spending package. We urge you to reject these harmful riders. This package, or any legislative vehicle such as disaster relief, should instead support communities in need. Specifically, the emergency funding that saved the childcare industry and enabled parents to obtain care during the pandemic expired this fall, and one third of families have already experienced increased childcare costs. We ask that any domestic legislative vehicle include $16 billion for childcare and early learning.

Next, as Congress works on a Farm Bill reauthorization that protects and strengthens the nutrition safety net, we urge you to pass an extension of the Farm Bill so that the Department of Agriculture can continue to implement existing programs and families can continue to receive the support they need. The nutrition programs set by the Farm Bill provide critical support for tens of millions of Americans in need.

We also urge you to prioritize confirming federal judges, who have the power to impact every aspect of our lives and the lives of future generations. That is why nominees must be fair, independent, and qualified representing a range of backgrounds and experiences. Our diverse nation needs judges who reflect and represent all of us. During this Congress we have seen historic progress, but there are currently 69 current and future vacancies in which there are 30 lifetime nominees awaiting confirmation. The Senate must confirm the exceptional nominees pending including Amir Ali to the District Court of DC, Karla Campbell to the Sixth Circuit, and Adeel Mangi to the Third Circuit.

Judaism’s call to pursue justice inspires all of our work. From reproductive justice to economic justice to access to justice, we are guided by our values and tradition to ensure a world in which each of us has what we need to be healthy, live with dignity, and share in our nation’s prosperity. Our mission to advance the rights of women, children, and families means that we have a great deal of work to do together in the final days of this Congress.

It is time to act, before it is too late. Communities in need are counting on you to lead with courage and commitment before this Congress ends.

Do not hesitate to reach out to us if we can be of assistance.

Sincerely,

National Council of Jewish Women

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