Children's Defense Fund

We were thrilled to be on Jeopardy last week! Let's keep it going. As part of our 40th Anniversary Celebration, we'll be posting CDF history questions on our Facebook page throughout the year and the first correct answer will receive a free gift. Don’t forget to ‘Like’ our Facebook page.

Speak Out Today

Did you know 7 children or teens are killed by guns every day?

Did you know more children are killed by guns every three days than were killed in the Newtown massacre in December?

Jesse Lewis was 6 years old when he was shot multiple times and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. His father spoke with deep sorrow yesterday before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on banning assault weapons: "Jesse was the love of my life. He was the only family I had left. It’s hard for me to be here today to talk about my deceased son. I have to, I’m his voice. …I'm here to speak up for my son.” Join Jesse’s father in speaking up and speaking out for children. Take action right now.

Thanks to you and our coalition partners we’ve been sending a powerful message to Congress to “Protect Children, Not Guns” and to pass common sense gun safety measures. We’re grateful to all who sponsored a broken-hearted “Protect Children, Not Guns” teddy bear for their members of Congress and to those who created homemade valentines. Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton, mother of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, Shannon Watts from Moms Demand Action, Rep. Mike Thompson (chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Taskforce) and Rep. Elizabeth Esty (represents Newtown) joined us for a press event before Moms and CDF staffers delivered hearts and teddy bears to the hill. Watch videos from the day’s event.

We’ve updated our “Protect Children, Not Guns” webpage with a new look, new resources, and new ways to take action. Bookmark this page and check back often. We MUST continue the momentum. For every moment Congress fails to act, we lose another child. Speak out today.

Cuts Begin Tomorrow

Barring any last minute surprises, $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts (“the sequester”) are due to go into effect tomorrow. The Senate voted today on competing bills to replace the sequester; both failed.

If the cuts move forward, they will take food from the mouths of up to 775, 000 pregnant women and babies, kick 70,000 children out of their Head Start classrooms, deny 373,000 adults and children treatment for mental illness, and result in 750,000 Americans losing their jobs. There are other choices: ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, eliminating tax loopholes for corporate jets, or ending giveaways to prosperous oil and gas companies. Details about specific state by state cuts are available here. Stay tuned to CDF’s Budget Watch to see what happens with sequestration and the harmful cuts to children and families.

Finally, we expect there will be yet another budget showdown in Washington in March, when Congress must pass a bill to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year 2013 by March 27, or the government will shut down.

Your voice is needed now to tell Congress to make better choices and stop these shameful cuts to critical child investments for those most at-risk and most in need of intervention to be able to thrive and strive. It’s never been more important to tell your Members of Congress to “Be Careful What You Cut!”

If you’re a person of faith working in your community to improve the lives of children and pursuing justice, there is one place you need to be this summer, and it is home with us at Haley. Be renewed this July with a trip to Haley Farm. Faith leaders from across the nation will come together for CDF’s annual gathering of the Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry. Join CDF President Marian Wright Edelman and Proctor Co-Pastors-in-Residence, the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. and the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III for five days of great preaching and teaching. The Great Preachers series includes Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way; the Rev. Dr. Cleophas LaRue, Francis Landey Patton Associate Professor of Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary; the Rev. Dr. Raquel St. Claire Lettsome, Executive Minister of St. James A.M.E. Church in Newark, N.J. and the Rev. Dr. William Marcus Small, Pastor of New Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk, Virginia. Register today.

NEW: 2013 Full-Day K Factsheets

The President offered a bold vision of his Early Learning Initiative during his State of the Union. The public overwhelming supports providing quality early learning for all preschoolers. Now it’s up to us to make it a reality and we must continue to support Full-Day Kindergarten for every child in every school. Check out our new 50 state factsheets on the state of Full-Day K in your state.

Get Your ‘Protect Children, Not Guns’ Buttons

CDF staff has been wearing these buttons around town and everywhere we go people are asking where they can get them. Order a bunch of these buttons and hand them out to your friends, family, neighbors, and members of your faith community. Most importantly, wear them to public meetings and scheduled office visits with your elected officials. Let everyone know you are taking a stand to “Protect Children, Not Guns”.