Black Catholic Chicago

Catholic leaders from around the country come to Washington every February to speak for “the least of these” (Matthew 25) at home and abroad. We seek to recommit our nation to overcoming poverty and building peace. In our country, too many families still suffer the consequences of unemployment and poverty. Our world is broken by violence. We come to our nation’s capital to seek alternatives to overcome terrorism and war, hatred and despair.

For us, the test for this Congress will be how its choices touch the lives and dignity of all, especially the voiceless and vulnerable in the United States and around the world. As Catholic leaders, we bring to Capitol Hill our moral convictions and everyday experience in serving those in need in our nation. Around the world, our Catholic relief and mission organizations know the pain and suffering caused by armed conflict, crushing poverty, disease, and famine. We support measures to make our country and the world not only safer places, but better places.

We seek to defend human life and dignity, especially in America, the Middle East, and Africa. We stand against the denial of human life by abortion and the assault on human dignity by poverty. In a time of budget deficits, we call on Congress to remember first the needs of the least, the lost, the forgotten at home and abroad. In a time of increasing violence around the world, we urge diplomatic engagement an investment in the path to justice and peace. We ask our leaders to promote human dignity and development around the world as an essential strategy in the “war” against terrorism.

The Congress faces difficult fiscal choices, but poor children and families should not bear the greatest burden. Poor families in our nation should not have to choose between rent and food. We welcome recent increases in development assistance abroad, but more is necessary. Steps toward democracy in the Middle East are encouraging, but more must be done to stem violence, promote dialogue and secure peace. We come to Capitol Hill to urge priority action in four key areas:

Standing with Poor Families at Home

A fundamental moral measure of our nation’s budget policy is whether it enhances or undermines the lives and dignity of the most vulnerable people at home and abroad. The needs of poor children and families of modest means are too often overlooked. We believe they deserve special priority as Congress allocates economic resources and burdens. Below are just two of the domestic issues of particular concern to us in this year’s budget debate.

Housing and Community Development

The Catholic Bishops have long supported a national commitment to safe and affordable housing for all and effective policies to increase quality housing, especially for families who are poor. The proposed budget would cut at least $3 billion in funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It eliminates the Community Development Block Grant that has helped low-income neighborhoods meet urgent needs. There are deep cuts in programs that serve the lowest income families and individuals, including public housing, housing for people with disabilities and persons with AIDS. The Catholic community is one of the largest providers of shelter in the nation. We know from our every day experience that low-income and poor families need greater access to affordable housing. We urge Congress to:

Health Care for the Poor

Catholic teaching insists that adequate health care is necessary for the development and maintenance of life and to safeguard human dignity. Our nation has long been committed to meeting basic health care and long-term care needs of low-income Americans through Medicaid, a system of shared federal and state responsibility. We believe this shared responsibility should not be diminished or undermined. As Congress makes decisions on the 2006 budget, it is absolutely critical to continue our national commitment to guarantee health care for the poor and vulnerable. We urge Congress to:

Oppose cuts in Medicaid funding in the budget resolution that could have a negative impact on the poor and vulnerable;

Maintain Medicaid as a fundamental guarantee to health care for the most vulnerable among us, including low-income families and children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.

Building Peace and Investing in Hope

Justice and Peace in the Holy Land

In the words of our Bishops, “The steps toward a just and lasting peace remain the same: real security for the State of Israel, a viable stare for Palestinians, just resolution of the refugee problem, an agreement on Jerusalem which protects religious freedom and other basic rights, an equitable sharing of resources, especially water, and implementation of relevant UN resolutions and other provisions of international law.” Recent actions by Palestinian, Israeli and U.S. leaders offer hope and a way forward. We urge”

President Bush to make a persistent pursuit of a just peace a top priority of the U.S.;
Congress to support the President’s request for $350 million for the Palestinians and ask that this support be delivered in ways that build Palestinian capacity to address humanitarian, economic, political and security needs;
The Administration and Congress to press Israel to conclude successfully negotiations with the Holy See to implement the Fundamental agreement between the Holy See and Israel.

Foreign Aid/Development Assistance

Poverty, hunger and disease have devastating impacts on the lives and dignity of our brothers and sisters in the world. Nearly three billion people continue to struggle on less than $2 per day. Health crises such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria threaten the future of whole generations, and poor countries continue to face enormous development and humanitarian challenges. Fighting poverty, hunger and disease by adequately funding foreign assistance is not an optional commitment. This investment in solidarity contributes to prosperity that improves our national security and promotes the human dignity of the poorest people in the world. We urge Congress to:

Provide at least $4 billion in 2006 for morally appropriate programs to combat HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, including the 15 targeted countries and other countries facing HIV/AIDS crises, particularly in Africa;
Protect those provisions of law, including the conscience clause, that help provide for a more effective, morally appropriate global health program;
Seek additional resources for Title II Food for Peace programs to provide better nutrition for HIV/AIDS patients and to meet other urgent food emergencies;
Provide $3 billion for the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) in 2006 in addition to funding for core development accounts, and give priority in the allocation of MCA funds to the poorest countries;
Provide an increase of at least $1 billion for development and humanitarian assistance for poor countries, especially those in Africa and Latin America.

We renew our call for a new kind of politics—focused on moral principles not on the latest polls, on the needs of the poor and vulnerable not the contributions of the rich an powerful, and on the pursuit of the common good not the demands of special interests.

Faithful Citizenship, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Administrative Committee, 2003

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops