With Honor Action Thanks the Senate for Supporting Our Afghan Allies

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With Honor Action applauds the passage of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) bill, which includes key provisions of the Afghan Allies Protection Act, bipartisan legislation led by Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senator Roger Wicker. The legislation has now passed through both chambers of Congress and been signed into law by the President.

The bill will strengthen the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program by authorizing an additional 12,000 visas and extending the program through 2025. This is the largest increase in Afghan SIVs to date, and the much-needed extension will allow the State department more time to help resettle our Afghan allies.

“Thank you to the leadership in the Senate for coming together over the weekend and passing this critical bill. This legislation will give thousands of our wartime Afghan allies the chance to build a new life in the United States,” said Rye Barcott, Co-Founder and CEO of With Honor Action. “But the work isn’t done yet. Many of our allies are still on the run from the Taliban in Afghanistan, and With Honor Action will continue to advocate for their safety and well-being. We thank lawmakers in both chambers of Congress for joining together in a bipartisan manner to finally pass this crucial legislation.”

Supporting our Afghan allies has long been a top priority for With Honor Action. They fought with us through our nation’s longest war, and we promised them a new home in the United States. It’s past time we made good on that promise, and With Honor Action looks forward to continuing our work with Congress to support our Afghan allies.

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With Honor Action fights polarization in Congress by supporting principled veterans across party lines who pledge to serve with integrity, civility, and courage. With Honor Action works alongside the bipartisan For Country Caucus in Congress to pass critical legislation for our nation. Learn more about our work at withhonor.org 

With Honor Action is a 501(c)(4), which serves as the organization’s policy and social-welfare arm.
With Honor has an affiliated federally registered “super PAC” called With Honor Fund II.

 

With Honor Action Thanks the U.S. House for Supporting Our Afghan Allies

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Washington, DC – With Honor Action applauds the passage of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) bill in the U.S. House, which includes key provisions of the Afghan Allies Protection Act, bipartisan legislation led by For Country Caucus co-chair Representative Jason Crow and member Representative Brad Wenstrup.

The bill would strengthen the Afghan Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program by authorizing an additional 12,000 visas and extending the program through 2025. This would be the largest increase in Afghan SIVs to date, and the much-needed extension would allow the State Department more time to get this important work done.

“Thank you to the House for their leadership and passage of this important legislation. There are thousands of Afghans being hunted by the Taliban as we speak and our allies cannot wait any longer,” said Rye Barcott, Co-Founder and CEO of With Honor Action. “We need to get these people to safety, and passing this bill will give the State Department the ability to do so.”

Supporting our Afghan allies has long been a top priority for With Honor Action. They fought with us through our nation’s longest war, and we promised them a new home in the United States. It’s past time we made good on that promise. 

With Honor Action Endorses the Building Civic Bridges Act

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Washington, DC – With Honor Action is proud to endorse the bipartisan Building Civic Bridges Act, led by Rep. Derek Kilmer and Rep. Andy Barr. This bill would establish a new pilot program within AmeriCorps that would focus on building relationships between people and communities, in an effort to address the root causes of polarization.

The country is divided right now, and organizations like With Honor Action and AmeriCorps could be key to fixing this issue. The Building Civic Bridges Act would take a step in healing our divisiveness by establishing the Office of Civic Bridge Building within AmeriCorps, a long-time friend and partner of With Honor Action. This new program would support bridge building efforts across the country, train members in these programs, and support research on effective bridge building.

“With Honor Action fights polarization in Congress with principled bipartisan veterans who are united in the conviction that our country can be reunited through service,” said Rye Barcott, Co-Founder and CEO of With Honor Action. “We are proud to endorse the Building Civic Bridges Act and we look forward to working with AmeriCorps to enable more Americans from all walks of life to serve.”

With Honor Action Urges Lawmakers to Support the Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act

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March 4, 2024,

I am writing to inform you of With Honor Action’s endorsement of the bipartisan Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act, which is led by Representative Brian Fitzpatrick and your colleagues in the For Country Caucus, Representatives Don Bacon, Jared Golden, and Don Davis. I urge you to cosponsor H.R. 7372 – Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act. 

Representatives Fitzpatrick and Golden recently noted that this is a major opportunity for Congress to address some of today’s most pressing issues. From fentanyl flowing across our southern border to Russia’s relentless march westwards across Ukraine to the unsustainable burden of barely mitigated migration and resurgent threats in the Indo-Pacific and Middle East, our citizens and our allies must know that Congress can still rise to the moment.

Last June, Admiral John Aquilino, the former Commander of INDO-PACOM, likely noted to you during a For Country Caucus meeting the unfunded needs of the combatant command, which are indispensable to a strategy of deterrence in the Pacific theatre. We are especially supportive of the $542 million appropriated to address critical, unfunded operations for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. 

This legislation is an investment in America’s security at home and abroad and is the core of what is still achievable in this historically difficult Congress. By pairing responsible border policy reforms with much-needed foreign aid, Congress and America can underscore our commitment to securing the southern border and our allies worldwide. 

Sincerely,

Rye Barcott

Co-Founder & CEO, With Honor

With Honor Action Urges the Passage of the Defense Supplemental

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Washington, DC – With Honor Action is urging Congress to come together to pass this critical defense supplemental legislation. From the war in Ukraine and aggression of the Chinese Communist Party, to standing up for our wartime Afghan allies, national security needs to remain a top bipartisan priority for our lawmakers in Congress.

“With Honor Action has made defending our national security a top priority. It’s critical that Congress uphold our nation’s word to our Afghan allies and continue to defend democracy across the globe,” said With Honor Action Co-Founder and CEO, Rye Barcott. “We are urging Congress to pass the defense supplemental quickly to address these issues. Our national security cannot wait any longer.”

With Honor Action Announces First Round of Legislative Priorities for 2024

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Washington, DC – With Honor Action continues to focus on four major areas of legislation as we head into 2024: national security, national service, military quality-of-life, and countering the Chinese Communist Party. These four areas are critical as we look to strengthen our national security, support our military, and create a more united nation at home. With Honor Action is excited to roll out our first legislative endorsements of the year that tackle these significant issues:

Supporting Our Afghan Allies 

  • Following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, tens of thousands of Afghans whose support of American troops put their lives in grave danger were evacuated to the United States and granted temporary residency via humanitarian parole. Unfortunately, this is only a temporary solution that prevents these refugees from being able to move forward with their lives. The only pathways to lawful, permanent residency are claiming asylum and the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, neither of which were designed to respond to a crisis of this scale, and both of which are plagued by backlogs of thousands of cases. 
  • Legislation to adjust the immigration status of these Afghans, such as the Afghan Adjustment Act, would provide them with the opportunity to apply for permanent legal residence, expand eligibility in the SIV program, and provide additional vetting to address any national security concerns. In April of last year, the State Department estimated that we left behind over 152,000 allies. To help them escape the perils of Taliban rule and ensure America keeps her word, the Afghan Allies Protection Act would authorize an additional 20,000 SIVs to those remaining in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. 
  • Our Afghan allies stood beside us in our longest war and it is well past time that we uphold our promise to take care of them. The world is watching and our sacred national honor is at stake. 

Segal AmeriCorps Education Award Tax Relief Act

  • Unlike most service-connected scholarships, including Pell Grants and education benefits from the GI bill, stipends paid to AmeriCorps volunteers are subject to federal income tax, penalizing Americans who choose to pursue public service through AmeriCorps. This bill would remove the income tax on the education award granted to AmeriCorps service members, following states like Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa, which have passed laws to exclude the AmeriCorps education awards from state income tax.

Military Food Security Act of 2023

  • Rep. Bacon notes in his opening comments in the video below that at least 15% of our military are currently considered “food insecure” and lack consistent access to nutritious meals for themselves and their families. Bipartisan legislation we are championing to fix this issue includes the Military Food Security Act led by Reps. Bacon and Jimmy Panetta, who together also founded the For Country Caucus 4 years ago. This bill would increase benefits to an estimated 27,000 service members and their families who are currently struggling.
    • The video can be viewed here.

The Five AIs Act

  • The bipartisan bill would direct the Secretary of Defense to establish a working group to develop and coordinate an artificial intelligence initiative within the Five Eyes framework, America’s closest and strongest intelligence alliance between the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Canada. The Chinese government is rapidly expanding their AI capabilities and we need to be prepared to counter any threats they may throw at us and our allies. This bill is sponsored by Rep. Mike Gallagher, a member of the For Country Caucus and chairman of the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

“We had a busy year in 2023 and we don’t plan on slowing down. We managed to get 63 of our priorities in last year’s defense bill, and we hope to use that momentum to keep affecting real, bipartisan change in Congress,” said Rye Barcott, Co-Founder and CEO of With Honor Action. “Our organization looks forward to a year of improving national security, expanding national service, helping service members and their families, and countering the Chinese Communist Party.”

With Honor Action remains committed to our goal of advancing principled veteran leadership in Congress. The priorities and endorsements outlined above are bipartisan solutions to real problems we face as a nation, and we strongly encourage lawmakers to consider them for passage.

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