Since our last update, over 20,000 letters have been sent to Members of Congress, urging them to reach out to the U.S. Department of State and advocate for the timely distribution of essential funding for exchange programs. Your involvement in this effort has been instrumental in generating continued positive momentum, and we are deeply grateful for your support. 

While there has been no formal lift of the 15-day freeze, we continue to hear that a trickle of funds to address emergency situations and active programming have been released. 

What You Can Do Now 

Rep. Chellie Pingree is leading a Dear Colleague letter to Secretary Rubio about the grants freeze. You can see the text of the letter here. We ask that you please reach out to your Members of Congress to ask them to co-sign the letter. You can download and use this template to email your Members of Congress asking them to sign on. You can find your Representative using this tool. 

Current co-signers are: 

• Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL, 7)
• Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-HI, 2)
• Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY, 20) 

We are hopeful that this letter will gain bipartisan support, and we truly appreciate your continued advocacy. 

Thank you for standing with us and for the future of exchange programs. 

With gratitude,

Tara Hofmann  

President & CEO
AFS-USA