Dear Unnamed,
Greetings from Washington where everyone has snow and ice on the brain! If you live in a place where winter storm is predicted to hit, I hope you are feeling prepared (and by that, I mean you have your sled ready and your skis waxed 😉). Wishing health and safety for all, especially those in areas unaccustomed to snow and ice.
Motivated perhaps by the impending bad weather and week-long recess, the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed the final four appropriations bills needed to keep the government funded after the January 30 deadline. Notably, this package includes funding for the Department of Education of which you’ll recall the administration said should be abolished, its funding zeroed out, and its international education programs transferred to the State Department.
With this bill, the House has allocated funds for the Department, including Title VI and Fulbright-Hays programs—albeit at a slightly lower level ($80.66 million)—and while the bill doesn’t prevent the administration from carrying out its education policy actions, it serves as an affirmation of the importance of these programs and Congress’ desire to see them funded. We have advocates like you to thank for sending this message loud and clear to Congress! These bills will be packaged with the earlier House-passed State Department and Financial Services funding bills and the Senate will consider them next week (assuming senators can get back to D.C. following the winter storm and agree to passing the package by January 30).
In other good news from the appropriations process, House lawmakers withdrew report language from a spending bill that would have ordered the Justice Department to resurrect the China Initiative, a program launched in 2018 and suspended in 2022 due to concerns it led to the profiling of Asian American scientists, scholars, and researchers. NAFSA joined more than 80 other organizations in urging the House Appropriations Committee to reject the language.
NAFSA also joined 22 other associations in an amicus brief filed on January 20 in support of the lawsuit brought by Harvard University last May in response to the presidential proclamation that sought to strip the institution of its international students. Amicus briefs are written by individuals or groups who are not directly involved in a legal case but have expertise to offer the court to assist in its decision-making.
Lastly, but definitely not least, we are closing in on the end of NAFSA’s virtual Advocacy Day registration window! We still have room for more international educators like you who believe strongly in the work we do and the need to make sure Congress hears our voice! See below to register by January 26—and to help us recruit folks from places where we don’t yet have participants.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Register for NAFSA’s (virtual) Advocacy Day and bring a friend! We’re especially keen to welcome folks from typically underrepresented states where we have key Congressional targets. That includes: Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, South Carolina, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Help us find willing folks in these states!
Thank you kindly.
Best,
Erica
Erica Stewart
Senior Director, Advocacy & Strategic Communications
NAFSA: Association of International Educators
