Meet D.C. Experience Scholarship Recipient Rachel Fritz

Rachel Fritz is one of four recipients of the 2019 D.C. Experience Scholarship, which provides financial support for Drake University students interning in Washington, D.C., for the summer. She will provide bi-weekly updates of her time in D.C.

Currently, this week is a huge week for my internship as it is our advocacy week. At Bread for the World, we have a two-day summit in which individuals from all over the country come to Washington, D.C. to advocate for better policy that helps those individuals in the United States and around the globe who are malnourished.

Today, I just got done speaking with Senator Grassley’s and Senator Ernst’s staff about why they should sign on to be original sponsors for the Coons-Collins resolution that will be introduced on the floor of the Senate soon. I was able to explain why this resolution is so important for malnourished women and children all across the globe. This resolution essentially allows the United States to move forward with increasing the effort to help fight hunger. On top of that, I was able to urge them to vote to increase the spending to help fight hunger and malnutrition in the fiscal spending proposal for 2020, which is coming up.

Currently, the budget for this is $140 million. Our organization is asking that they increase the budget to $250 million, which is less than one percent of our entire budget. This lobbying experience has given me the tools and skills to be able to speak with members of Congress in the future in a way that allows me to address issues that are important to me.