August 6 and 9 will mark the 75th anniversary of the US’s bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The consequences of the attacks were devastating. The bombings killed an estimated 214,000 people, and the resulting radiation caused higher rates of cancer, leukemia, and...

Tell Your Senator to Support the HEROES Act As COVID-19 cases continue to rise nationwide, there is a need for legislation that protects Americans across the country. On May 15th, the House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency...

Tell Congress: Restore Funding for UNRWA and Humanitarian Needs, and Urge Israel to End its Blockade of Gaza Every place in the world is in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The disease does not discriminate: people of every race, gender, class, and identity are...

The Impact of Economic Sanctions Against Iran Amid COVID-19   COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on Iran and on March 20 the Presbyterian Church (USA) joined 25 faith-based organizations and NGO's to urge Trump to ease Iran sanctions to combat the coronavirus...

We are in the midst of a global crisis and are in need of immediate action. The Office of Public Witness has joined with leading faith and advocacy organizations calling upon Congress to address the coronavirus pandemic. Congress recently passed an $8 billion package...

On January 31st, the Trump administration announced the expansion of the Muslim ban, which will now suspend immigrant visas that can lead to permanent status in the United States for nationals of Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Burma, and Nigeria. It will also ban...

The targeted assassination of a top Iranian military commander is a dangerous escalation of the conflict between the US and Iran.  After withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal in May of 2018, the Trump administration took several steps that increased tension in the...

On November 18, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US no longer considers Israeli settlements inconsistent with international law, reversing a 1978 Department of State legal opinion that asserted that inconsistency, a position the US has affirmed since...

Food insecurity is a life-threatening issue globally especially for the LGBTQIA+ community. The National LGBTQ Task Force has determined that more than 1 in 4 LGBTIA+ adults, approximately 2.4 million people, experienced food insecurity within the last year. According to...

While U.S. allies, leadership of the the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and hundreds of past and present world leaders advocate for the the IMF to release Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to help countries combat the global pandemic, the Trump...

The Criminalization of Protest By Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, Director of the Office of Public Witness PC(U.S.A.), and Langley Hoyt, Fellow for Domestic Issues In the weeks following the death of George Floyd, as protestors continue to fill the streets with largely peaceful...

On March 19, 2020, three armed men assassinated local farmer and human rights defender Marco Rivadeneira. Marco was a community leader who promoted peaceful and voluntary coca substitution efforts in his community. He also represented his region in the national network of...

In September 2017, the Trump administration announced the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). In response, over three groups or individuals filed lawsuits which went before the Supreme Court of the United States June 28th, 2019...

Tell Congress to Cosponsor Bipartisan Resolution Commemorating 40th Anniversary of the Refugee Resettlement Program and Honor Refugees on World Refugee Day on June 20th   Crises test who we are as a nation – and we are stronger when we are united. The COVID-19 pandemic...

On May 15, Palestinians commemorated Nakba Day.  “Nakba,” an Arabic word that means “catastrophe,” is how Palestinians describe what happened to them following Israel’s declaration of independence in May 1948 and the corresponding war.  During the period, more...

From Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, Director of the Office of Public Witness PC(USA): George Floyd was the trigger for the protests; Donald Trump is the reason for their continuation.   Let us not deceive ourselves, the murder of Mr. Floyd was the initial event which triggered...

One of the most tragic components of the COVID-19 pandemic is that populations already suffering disproportionately from poverty, incarceration and health disparities are also the same ones hit the hardest by the virus. Many cities have reported that Black and brown...

A Faith Response to COVID-19: Part II Webinar The Office of Public Witness is co-sponsoring part II of the “A Faith Response to COVID-19” webinar series. This webinar will explain important details of the recently passed C.A.R.E.S. Act, the positive provisions, and the...

Urge Congress and the Administration to Lift Sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela to Help Fight COVID-19   The Impact of Economic Sanctions Against Cuba Amid COVID-19 Cuba has been under U.S. economic sanctions for over sixty years, costing the island nation billions of...

On January 24th, seven Democrat and Republican Representatives introduced H.R. 763: The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act. This carbon pricing bill is an exciting advancement of Congressional effort to limit carbon emissions, by placing a fee on each metric ton of...

January 22, 2020 The security situation in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon continue to deteriorate. Over 2,000 people have been killed and more than 200 villages have been partially or completely burned due to the armed conflicts between separatist groups and the...

“Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, ‘Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”’” (1 Samuel 3:8–9, NRSV). We are called to accompany the most vulnerable—to seek justice and...