Last Act of Congress, Native Languages & More - FCNL www.fcnl.org * Support FCNL* Sign up for weekly updates from Washington * Update your email address December 12, 2006 From the Hill: Winners and Losers in the Last Act of Congress Report Back: Counting Congressional Successes in 2006 From the Hill: Native Languages From FCNL: Do You Know Someone Over 70 Who Loves FCNL? Quote of the week: Kofi Annan's Farewell Address Photo of the week: War is Not the Answer Read this newsletter online at: http://www.fcnl.org/email/e-newsletter/12dec06.htm From the Hill: Winners and Losers in the last Act of Congress Having failed during their 103 working days this year to pass nine of the 11 appropriations bills necessary to fund the federal government, around midnight on Friday, December 8, Congress punted and passed a “continuing resolution” to keep government programs operating through mid-February. This is bad governing and bad policy-making that will have horrendous consequences for the poor and the vulnerable in our society. The consequences of this bill include 630,000 children who will lose access to health care in the new year and 600,000 families who will lose heating or cooling assistance. Read more... Report Back: Counting Congressional Successes in 2006 As we start to gear up for the 110th Congress that will come to Washington in January, we at FCNL also took a look back at what 2006 meant for FCNL’s work. The 109th Congress has been labeled the “do-nothing Congress,” but we at FCNL can count among both their actions and inactions small steps that Congress took toward the world we seek. From no permanent bases in Iraq to new green building legislation, read more about FCNL’s top successes in Congress in the past year. From the Hill: Native Languages In their last working hours members of Congress passed legislation to help preserve a core part of the cultural heritage of the United States and ensure the survival of languages spoken by the first Americans. The Native American Languages Preservation Act brings funds to tribal communities highly motivated to keep their original language alive. Read more... From FCNL: Do You Know Someone Over 70 Who Loves FCNL? This e-newsletter is a weekly description of the work that you do and the work you support through your contributions. We need your help to continue this work into the future. We want to let you know about a special opportunity in 2006 and 2007. A new tax law provides for tax free charitable giving from an IRA for people over the age of 70. Click here ( PDF) for additional details. FCNL also welcomes the support of friends under the age of 70. Quote of the Week "As things stand, accountability between states is highly skewed. Poor and weak states are easily held to account, because they need foreign assistance. But large and powerful states, whose actions have the greatest impact on others, can be constrained only by their own people, working through their domestic institutions." ~ Kofi Annan, outgoing Secretary General of the United Nations, in a speech this week. War Is Not the Answer Photo of the Week Hubert Morel-Seytoux with a War is Not the Answer sign at a rally in Palo Alto, CA. Order your War is Not the Answer sign! ________________________________________ Contact Congress and the Administration Subscribe to other FCNL legislative, policy, and action alert lists. ________________________________________ Friends Committee on National Legislation 245 Second St. NE, Washington, DC 20002-5795 fcnl@fcnl.org * http://www.fcnl.org phone: (202)547-6000 * toll-free: (800)630-1330 We seek a world free of war and the threat of war We seek a society with equity and justice for all We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled We seek an earth restored.