From: Marvin Mich [mailto:Mmich@cfcrochester.org]
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 4:51 PM
To: Marvin Mich
Subject: FW: ADVOCATE FOR REINSTATEMENT OF FUNDING FOR REFUGEE PROGRAMS

PLEASE HELP US ADVOCATE FOR REINSTATEMENT OF FUNDING FOR REFUGEE PROGRAMS.

As many of you know, the House passed a continuing resolution to keep the federal government going for the rest of the federal fiscal year.

This resolution called for drastic cuts to federal programs across the board. In terms of refugee programs the House measure would:

• Reduce funding to the MRA account by 45% (the MRA account includes funding for both overseas refugee assistance and R&P programs)
   

• Reduce ORR funding by 10% (ORR funds state refugee programs, Match Grant, unaccompanied minor programs, and RCA/RMA)

These cuts are now being deliberated by the Senate. Although our Senators are sympathetic to immigration in general, our Senators need to hear from us. In the absence of any sustained outcry, they may just follow the House lead since they’ll have to make compromises and cut somewhere. We obviously don’t want to let that happen. The Senate will likely take action on this in the first week of March so we need to act now.

Please consider either of these ways to have your voices heard on this issue:

Contact your Senator by e-mail.

• Simply click on the links below for Senators Gillibrand and Schumer

• You just need to complete the contact fields and either put your advocacy or personal experiences in your own words (this is always a more impactful approach) in the comments box or you can copy / paste from the sample letters attached.

• To contact Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand

• To contact Sen. Chuck Schumer

• The contact pages ask for the subject. For Schumer’s you can indicate “budget”, for Gillibrand’s you can leave blank

Contact your Senator by Fax

• Attached to this email are two letters – one addressed to Schumer and the other to Gillibrand

• Simply print these out, sign and complete with your name and address and fax to the fax number indicated in the Senator’s address section.

• If you’d like to compose your own letter – go for it! Personal experiences and your own words are always more powerful

• We’re faxing since time is of the essence and due to the length of time it takes to clear, open and sort posted letters to Senators, they would not get these until it was too late.

If you have friends, relatives, neighbors or others that you think could help, please forward this email on to them and encourage them to pitch in.

We are contacting the local offices of our senators to arrange visits so we can share more personal and local stories about the success and benefits of the refugee program. If you’d like to participate, please contact me or feel free to head to those offices yourself:
 

SUPPORT FUNDING FOR REFUGEE & MIGRATION ASSISTANCE (MRA)
& THE OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT (ORR)

February 23, 2011

The Honorable Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
US Senate
478 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(Fax: 202-228-0282)

Dear Senator Gillibrand,

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives recommended drastic cuts to refugee support programs including a 45% decrease for Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA), which provides overseas assistance to refugees and funds the Reception and Placement (R&P) Grant for refugees resettled in the United States; and a 10.4% decrease for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) which provides support for refugees already resettled in the U.S. in the form of job placement, training and other assistance promoting self-sufficiency. We urge you to support funding to these programs at the levels enacted for the 2010 federal fiscal year.

Refugee support programs have traditionally garnered bi-partisan support because these programs have proven successful, cost effective and smart. These are programs that underscore what America has always stood for – that we as a nation remain a beacon of hope for people from around the globe suffering persecution due to their race, religious beliefs or political opinion. The drastic reductions proposed by the House will have a devastating impact on over 12 million refugees living in already deplorable conditions overseas.

Here in our community of Rochester NY, 700 new refugees are welcomed each year sponsored by Catholic Family Center. Reductions to these programs would lessen Rochester’s dimension of diverse, gifted, and energetic residents - people all too happy to work entry level jobs that others won’t; new residents reenergizing city neighborhoods; and persons giving back to their communities locally and to the impoverished back in their former countries.

Not only are these proposed cuts devastating on a humanitarian level, but these reductions are tragically short-sighted and deny the clear and practical benefits of refugee assistance programs:

Smart investment: ORR provides critical funding to refugees and communities like Rochester that provide for employment services, case management and other upfront services that save resources in the long term, reduce reliance on welfare and promote early self-sufficiency.

Stabilizing assistance: Humanitarian assistance funded through the MRA account support
communities in countries of strategic importance to the U.S., such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia. Funds go towards such programs as access to economic opportunities, keeping kids in schools, and protecting and empowering women. These all serve as a crucial stabilizing presence, giving people hope for the future and supporting broader U.S. foreign policy interests.

Keeping us safe: U.S. national security rests upon a three-legged stool of defense, diplomacy, and development. These proposed cuts dramatically weaken diplomacy and development portions. By equipping our diplomatic core with the necessary funds for development and emergency assistance overseas, the Congress will provide invaluable tools that help stabilize potential hot-spots and ultimately uphold the positive image of the United States in the World.

Refugees around the world continue to live in some of the most desperate situations having been subjected to violence, torture and deprivation. Millions of children have lived their entire lives experiencing nothing outside the miserable existence of a refugee camp. We ask that you not rob these people of the small hope offered by US Refugee Assistance and support funding for these critical programs. To do otherwise results in an immediate tragedy for refugees worldwide, long term harm to broader U.S. interests and an enduring discredit to America's legacy.

Sincerely,




________________________
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__________________________

__________________________
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SUPPORT FUNDING FOR REFUGEE & MIGRATION ASSISTANCE (MRA)
& THE OFFICE OF REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT (ORR)

February 23, 2011

The Honorable Senator Charles Schumer
US Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building,
Washington, DC  20510
(Fax: 202-228-3027)

Dear Senator Schumer,

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives recommended drastic cuts to refugee support programs including a 45% decrease for Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA), which provides overseas assistance to refugees and funds the Reception and Placement (R&P) Grant for refugees resettled in the United States; and a 10.4% decrease for the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) which provides support for refugees already resettled in the U.S. in the form of job placement, training and other assistance promoting self-sufficiency. We urge you to support funding to these programs at the levels enacted for the 2010 federal fiscal year.

Refugee support programs have traditionally garnered bi-partisan support because these programs have proven successful, cost effective and smart. These are programs that underscore what America has always stood for – that we as a nation remain a beacon of hope for people from around the globe suffering persecution due to their race, religious beliefs or political opinion. The drastic reductions proposed by the House will have a devastating impact on over 12 million refugees living in already deplorable conditions overseas.

Here in our community of Rochester NY, 700 new refugees are welcomed each year sponsored by Catholic Family Center. Reductions to these programs would lessen Rochester’s dimension of diverse, gifted, and energetic residents - people all too happy to work entry level jobs that others won’t; new residents reenergizing city neighborhoods; and persons giving back to their communities locally and to the impoverished back in their former countries.

Not only are these proposed cuts devastating on a humanitarian level, but these reductions are tragically short-sighted and deny the clear and practical benefits of refugee assistance programs:

Smart investment: ORR provides critical funding to refugees and communities like Rochester  that provide for employment services, case management and other upfront services that save resources in the long term, reduce reliance on welfare and promote early self-sufficiency.

Stabilizing assistance: Humanitarian assistance funded through the MRA account support

communities in countries of strategic importance to the U.S., such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia. Funds go towards such programs as access to economic opportunities, keeping kids in schools, and protecting and empowering women. These all serve as a crucial stabilizing presence, giving people hope for the future and supporting broader U.S. foreign policy interests.

Keeping us safe: U.S. national security rests upon a three-legged stool of defense, diplomacy, and development. These proposed cuts dramatically weaken diplomacy and development portions. By equipping our diplomatic core with the necessary funds for development and emergency assistance overseas, the Congress will provide invaluable tools that help stabilize potential hot-spots and ultimately uphold the positive image of the United States in the World.  

Refugees around the world continue to live in some of the most desperate situations having been subjected to violence, torture and deprivation. Millions of children have lived their entire lives experiencing nothing outside the miserable existence of a refugee camp. We ask that you not rob these people of the small hope offered by US Refugee Assistance and support funding for these critical programs. To do otherwise results in an immediate tragedy for refugees worldwide, long term harm to broader U.S. interests and an enduring discredit to America's legacy.

Sincerely,



________________________
                 Print Name

__________________________

__________________________
               Print Address