You Make A Difference:
Victories from Recent Offerings of Letters
2007
This Offering sought to win broad reform in the U.S.
farm bill—making commodity programs into a more equitable
safety net for our nation’s farmers, and shifting additional
resources into nutrition, conservation, and rural development
programs. Though commodity payment programs were not
substantially reformed, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act
of 2008 did include the largest-ever funding increase for food
stamps and food banks—an additional $10 billion over 10 years.
2008
Bread for the World pushed for more and better
international development assistance. Our efforts helped win
a supplemental appropriation of $1.8 billion to respond to the
global hunger crisis. Our efforts to garner cosponsors for the
Global Poverty Act helped build the political will that helped
initiate foreign assistance reform efforts in 2009.
2009
Bread for the World members urged Congress and the
administration to reform the way we deliver foreign aid to make
it more effective in fighting poverty. As a result of our efforts,
bipartisan bills were introduced in the House and Senate to begin
the process of reforming the Foreign Assistance Act. In addition,
President Barack Obama and the State Department ordered
reviews to better coordinate how the United States delivers foreign
assistance. Congress also increased funding for programs that
fight hunger and poverty worldwide.
2010
December was a historic month for Bread for the World,
as Congress passed two bills for which we had been advocating.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act—a five-year renewal of
child nutrition programs—authorized an increase of $4.5 billion
over 10 years, the largest increase of its kind. The Tax Relief,
Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation
Act of 2010—a compromise tax package—included key tax credits
for low-income working families. The law continued the Earned
Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit improvements
that were about to expire, which was the goal of this Offering.
Congress extended the benefits for another two years, which lifts
millions of low-income working families out of poverty.
2011 Because of an unprecedented pressure to cut programs
vital to hungry and poor people, Bread had to refocus the
2011 Offering of Letters. While we continued to press forward
with reforms to make U.S. foreign assistance more effective in
reducing poverty, we also worked to create a circle of protection
around programs that are critical to hungry and poor people. We
prevented disproportionate cuts to these programs in the fiscal
year 2011 budget. We also successfully advocated for important
reforms to U.S. foreign assistance. Working with both Republican
and Democratic members of Congress, Bread assisted in a House
of Representatives bill that would promote better accountability,
transparency, and efficiency in U.S. foreign assistance.
2012 In the face of continued unprecedented budget threats,
Bread for the World called on Congress to maintain a circle of
protection around funding for programs vital to hungry and
poor people. The House passed proposals that would have
cut the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP,
formerly food stamps) by nearly $170 billion over the next
decade. Yet, after two years of budget fights and over $2 trillion
of enacted deficit reduction, Congress made no major cuts to
programs for hungry and poor people. Congress also extended
for five years the current Earned Income Tax Credit and
Child Tax Credit Benefits—assisting millions of low-income
working families. In the final days of the 112th Congress, the
House unanimously passed the Foreign Aid Transparency
and Accountability Act, a bipartisan bill to improve efficiency
among U.S. foreign aid programs. Unfortunately, the b