**UPDATED Feb 2014 **
We’re thrilled to announce that, in January 2014, Congress and the President passed a budget bill that included $30 million for efforts to help locate and arrest Joseph Kony. See the “What did we accomplish” section below for more details. Below is a rundown of the 2014 defense budget bill to help you better understand exactly what we lobbied for and what our Citizen activists helped accomplished.
WHAT IS IC|CITIZEN?
January through December 2013, the Invisible Children Citizen team* mobilized activists across the country to help make sure Congress stays committed to ending the LRA crisis. Our lobbying efforts focused mainly on the 2014 budget (or “appropriations”) process, urging members of Congress to continue funding efforts to end LRA violence and support affected communities until we have achieved zero LRA. Without these resources from Congress, the work of the U.S. advisors and other crucial efforts to address the LRA simply won’t continue, which would jeopardize all of the incredible progress we have made so far.
WHAT DID CITIZEN LOBBY FOR THIS YEAR?
Led by our Citizen team, activists have been working hard to influence Congress’ decisions on three budget-related bills: the 2014 defense budget bill, the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, and the 2014 State and Foreign Operations (or foreign aid) budget bill. Members of Congress recently made final decisions on each of these bills and we’re thrilled to update you on what our Citizen activists helped achieve.
WHAT IS THE 2014 DEFENSE BUDGET BILL?
Every year, Congress passes a defense budget bill, which specifies what the U.S. government will spend on our Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and any other defense-related programs. The work that the U.S. advisors are doing in central Africa to locate and apprehend top LRA commanders, and to encourage LRA fighters to defect, is covered within the defense budget bill, which is why we wanted to make sure that the 2014 budget included adequate funding for these efforts to continue.
WHAT WERE WE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH?
We lobbied members of Congress to include funding in the 2014 defense budget for efforts to help end LRA violence and bring top LRA commanders to justice. Specifically, we asked Congress to include $35 million in the budget for logistical support to regional efforts focused on the LRA, additional funding for intelligence-gathering equipment and personnel to help the U.S. advisors locate and arrest top LRA commanders.
WHAT DID IC CITIZEN ACTIVISTS DO TO INFLUENCE THE DEFENSE BUDGET?
The defense budget bill went through several decision-making stages in Congress before it was passed into law. In each of these stages, members of Congress had the opportunity to add, remove, or slightly adjust things in the budget, depending on what they believe should be a priority — and what the American people care about. Our Citizen team mobilized activists across the country to call, write, and meet with their members of Congress just before each of these decisions took place in an effort to make sure that funds for U.S. counter-LRA efforts were included in the budget and remained there when the final defense budget was passed.
And rather than trying to influence every member of Congress in Washington, we focused our attention on a few dozen key members of Congress whose support matters most because they sit on the committee in Congress that crafts the defense budget. It’s all about working smarter, not harder, people!
WHAT DID WE ACCOMPLISH?
When Congress and the President finally passed a 2014 budget bill in January of this year, it included $30 million for intelligence-gathering equipment and personnel to help locate and arrest Joseph Kony. Needless to say, our activists have done a fantastic job and it’s clear that their hard work had an impact in Washington.
What’s next?
It’s very important that we now take the time to thank our members of Congress for deciding to invest in efforts to end the LRA crisis. It doesn’t matter if you were a part of the lobbying efforts or not. Everyone should take a minute right now to call, email, tweet or write your representatives in Washington and thank them for including this $30 million in the defense budget, that will help locate and arrest Joseph Kony.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
If you’re interested in learning more about our Citizen Advocacy efforts and ways that you can be involved please email our Citizen team at [email protected].
OTHER QUESTIONS THAT MAY BE ON YOUR MIND
How will this defense funding be used?
This funding will go toward intelligence-gathering equipment to help locate Kony and other top commanders. This might include aerial surveillance planes and other devices that can be used to detect LRA activity and movements, as well as the trained personnel who know how to operated this equipment and analyze the information to help locate top LRA commanders.
Will defense money go directly to the Ugandan government or military?
No, these funds will not go to the Ugandan government or military. The majority of the funds enable our government to hire contractors, who provide and operate the equipment used to monitor movements and locations of Kony’s forces.
THERE IS A LOT OF TENSION AROUND OUR NATIONAL DEBT RIGHT NOW. WILL LOBBYING FOR THIS FUNDING INCREASE THE DEBT?
No. We are just asking that a small portion of our country’s existing defense budget be set aside for efforts to end LRA violence and bring top commanders to justice. What we’re asking for doesn’t increase the overall defense budget (or overall national budget) in any way.
* The Invisible Children Citizen team oversees our political advocacy efforts to help keep U.S. policymakers committed to ending LRA violence. Follow us on Twitter @IC_Citizen or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions or would like to get further involved.
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