WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two members of Congress will be honored during the Annual Meeting of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL). Senator Kristen Gillibrand (NY) will be honored with the Edward F. Snyder Award for Peace while Representative Deb Haaland (NM) will be given the FCNL Justice Award.
The two awards are among the highlights of the 76th FCNL Annual Meeting and Quaker Public Policy Institute. Starting today, FCNL will virtually welcome more than 800 members and activists from 44 states. This is record attendance for the Annual Meeting.
Annual Meeting’s focus will be addressing police abuse that results in murder and violence against Black people, police militarization, and legislation to reform/modernize policing. Therefore, the Justice in Policing Act must be a top priority for both Congress and the incoming Biden administration. It prohibits racial, religious, and other discriminatory profiling, along with a chokehold and no-knock warrant ban. Participants have already scheduled more than 200 virtual lobby visits with their members of Congress.
Aside from active lobbying on the Justice in Policing Act, an important part of the Annual Meeting is recognition for progress on issues Quakers have been working on for years. Accordingly, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will receive the Edward F. Snyder Peace Award while Representative Deb Haaland will receive the FCNL Justice Award.
“Senator Gillibrand has centered her agenda around ending nearly two decades of brutal war while preventing new ones, repealing the authorizations for the use of military force, and reasserting congressional war powers. We are grateful for her determination to build a world where violent conflict is prevented and endless war is not the norm,” said FCNL General Secretary Diane Randall.
The new FCNL Justice Award will be given to Representative Deb Haaland. It recognizes members of Congress who have advanced policies for a more just society built on the dignity of all people.
“I can think of no one who better embodies the spirit of the Justice Award more than Congresswoman Haaland. It’s fitting she’s our first recipient,” said Randall. “We commend her leadership in the fight to end the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, never more evident than the passage of her Not Invisible Act. We are also grateful for her commitment to Native communities as the Violence Against Women Act is reauthorized.”
To learn more, please visit https://www.fcnl.org/annualmeeting.