On Memorial Day, our nation offers plenty of nods to patriotism and military service. But there is not as much focus on the high cost of our militarism. The price tag for the U.S. military is staggering: Congress is proposing a budget of $733 billion for the Pentagon in Fiscal Year 2020. This is more…
May 6, 2019 Syria: Rebuilding the ruined cities Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) staff who have visited Homs, Aleppo and other Syrian cities report mile after mile of destroyed buildings. Before the war, these cities were hubs of activity, bustling commercial centers and home to millions of people. MCC has been present in Syria since 1991,…
Today the MCC U.S. Washington Office joined other faith-based organizations in sending a letter to President Trump on Syria. The letter begins: As faith-based denominations and organizations…we are writing in support of your decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. We urge you to take steps toward a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops, while addressing…
“If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends, you talk to your enemies.” –Desmond Tutu These past few years, I have noticed that I have had an increasingly hard time extending love and compassion across the political/ideological divide that has our country in gridlock. Essentially, I have not been talking to my enemies.…
Rachel Leininger, a senior at Bethany Christian High School in Goshen, Indiana, has won the $750 top prize in the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) U.S. Washington Office 2018-19 annual essay contest. Leininger’s essay, “Communication in Place of Isolation,” calls for the U.S. government to engage with the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea…
Read more Contest winner calls for engagement with North Korea
On December 19 President Trump announced that he would be withdrawing all U.S. troops from Syria. This is a step in the right direction, and we urge the U.S. to follow through on this commitment. We also continue to support an end to all foreign military involvement in Syria, as our partners in Syria have…
Read more Withdrawal of troops a step in the right direction
On June 25, the No Way to Treat a Child campaign, which Mennonite Central Committee U.S. and Canada have endorsed, organized a congressional briefing on the situation for Palestinian children. As is often the case in wars and social unrest, the most vulnerable group often suffers the most; and Palestinian children face extremely harsh circumstances…
MCC Washington Memo 