Cantwell, Murray Raise Concerns over President Trump’s Cuts to Rural Development

President Trump’s drastic budget cuts, coupled with plans to eliminate the USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, would hurt small towns and rural communities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) joined 27 Senate Democrats to send a letter to President Trump expressing strong concerns over recent actions that would have negative impacts on families in rural America.
Last week, President Trump issued a budget proposal calling for drastic cuts that would undermine the important rural development mission at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). These damaging cuts come on the heels of recently announced plans to eliminate the USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development, an important advocate for small towns and rural communities across the country.
In the letter, the Senators objected to the proposed cuts, and urged President Trump to maintain the Under Secretary for Rural Development.
“Small towns and rural communities embody many of our nation’s greatest strengths, and the people of these communities deserve every opportunity to raise their families with well-paying jobs and a high quality of life,” wrote the senators. “Our small towns and rural communities, however, experience unique challenges in developing and maintaining infrastructure and providing high-quality health services and education. Understanding and responding to these unique challenges to help these communities create jobs and drive economic growth is the principal mission of USDA Rural Development.”
press release: https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-murray-raise-concerns-over-president-trumps-cuts-to-rural-development-
See full text of letter to President Trump


Cantwell and Bipartisan, Bicameral Group of Lawmakers Work to Reunite U.S. Families & Their Adopted Children

Adoption Ban Leaves 200 U.S. families & their Adopted Children in Limbo
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), along with 122 Members of Congress, urged the Prime Minister of Ethiopia to reconsider his April 21st decision to suspend international adoptions. The order has left more than 200 U.S. families, and the Ethiopian children they are trying to bring home, in a heartbreaking limbo.
In a bipartisan - and bicameral - letter to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Cantwell, 47 of her Senate colleagues, and 75 members of the House of Representatives said: “While we respect your government’s decisions regarding future adoption policy in Ethiopia, we ask for your help in resolving expeditiously cases that were already underway on April 21.  We are concerned that a failure to work with us to help these children join their adoptive families could have a negative impact on the relationship between our two governments.”
The group of lawmakers is particularly concerned about approximately 30 adoptions that have already been finalized but, because of the order, the parents are unable to obtain the final paperwork, or “vitals”, necessary to bring their legally-adopted children home.  The government of Ethiopia has provided the adoptive parents no legal justification for the delays, which have had an adverse effect on the children: “In many cases, children and families have already initiated the emotional bonding and attachment process.  We fear breaking these attachments by delaying these adoptions may be detrimental to the children and adoptive families involved.  Our constituents want to provide loving, safe families to those in need and simply wish to bring their adopted children home in a timely fashion and in accordance with the law.”
Press release: https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-and-bipartisan-bicameral-group-of-lawmakers-work-to-reunite-us-families-and-their-adopted-children-



For more news from our congressional delegation to Washington DC, and Advocacy Notebook headlines see page 2