​The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released the "Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2024." The report contains the Budget Message of the President for Fiscal Year 2024, information on the President's priorities, and summary tables. Visit the OMB President's Budget webpage.

​The U.S. Breastfeeding completed a detailed analysis of the Fiscal Year 2024 President’s Budget and associated agency reports on the Federal Appropriations For Breastfeeding webpage. ​

​​The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee hosted its Winter Membership Meeting on Thursday, February 23. The biannual event brings together representatives from the more than 120 member organizations which comprise the USBC and work collaboratively to drive policy and practice changes that create a landscape of breastfeeding support.

At the opening of the meeting, USBC Executive Director, Nikia Sankofa delivered the Mission Moment, reflecting on the organization's ongoing journey to embedding and advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in our work in the First Food field and emphasizing our renewed commitment to working towards not just DEI but also justice and belonging. Below is an excerpt from Nikia's mission moment.

The membership of the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee represents the most unified voice in advocating for breastfeeding-related policy and practice change in the United States. 

​Joining the USBC membership network provides an organization access to a variety of benefits, including:

• peer to peer networking and learning opportunities
• discounted and complimentary event registrations
• input on identifying and selecting USBC’s policy priorities for each Congressional session
• complimentary access to the First Food Connection Hub, the new USBC online community for breastfeeding and human milk-feeding stakeholders

Learn more about membership and review frequently asked questions.

Organizations that complete the membership application and onboarding process by Sunday, March 12, at 11:59 p.m. will be entered into a raffle to win one complimentary registration to the June 8-10, 2023 National Breastfeeding Conference and Convening in Bethesda, MD. Additionally, new members are eligible to apply to the Creating Space Scholarship, which awards complimentary membership for 2023. Apply today!

Please email membership@usbreastfeeding.org with questions about USBC membership. We look forward to receiving your organization’s application and having you join our national collaborative!

The Welcome Congress package they received includes:

• Their individual State or Territory Breastfeeding Report depicting how breastfeeding rates and other policy, environmental and systems-related measures compare to national rates, the coalitions serving communities in their state, and a comprehensive look at the state and community-based lactation projects made possible through federal funding.
• The Welcome Congress organizational sign-on letter with nearly 300 national, state, and local organizations signed on. The letter outlines the breastfeeding field's top five policy priorities and calls on Congress to take action to advance these priorities to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding, including: 

The 118th congressional session has just begun and policymakers are busy finalizing their policy agendas for the 2023-2024 session. It's extremely important that they hear from constituents about their priorities. Join us by contacting your legislators today!
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Last year, the USBC network helped us win important workplace protections for lactation parents. This year we will continue this work to eliminate the barriers to human milk feeding.

​Thank you for taking action with us!