Defense Appropriations (H.R. 2863)

Nuclear Weapons

The Senate approved defense appropriations conference agreement. The conference report does not include the President’s request of $4 million for the Energy Department and $4.5 million for the Air Force for research on the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator or “nuclear bunker buster.” However, it provides $4 million for the Air Force to study whether the B-2 bomber could be modified to carry a conventional (non-nuclear) version of the bunker buster.

USCCB Position: The USCCB actively opposed the President’s request for funding for research on the nuclear bunker buster, but took no position on funding for research on the B-2 bomber. This was a win for us.

Detainee Abuse

The conference report contains language offered by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) that would prohibit any U.S. personnel, including civilians, from engaging in “cruel, inhumane, or degrading” treatment of prisoners. On December 14, the House overwhelmingly voted (308 to 122) for a motion to instruct conferees to accept the Senate language in the conference report

USCCB Position: The USCCB actively supported the McCain detainee abuse measure and urged conferees to keep the Senate language in tact in the conference report. This was a win for us.

Landmines

The Senate included language in its Committee Report supporting the non-self-destruct landmine alternative and the Intelligent Munitions System. The goal would be to develop technologies to replace anti-personnel landmines that are unable to distinguish between an innocent civilian and an enemy combatant. Thus, the Committee included language directing the Secretary of the Army “to conduct a review of the potential indiscriminate effects of such a feature, and to submit a report to the congressional defense committees detailing the findings of this review prior to any full rate production decision for these systems.” The Senate language apparently was not included in the final conference agreement.

USCCB Position: The USCCB supported the inclusion of the Senate landmine language in the conference report. This was a defeat for us.

Defense Authorization (H.R. 1915)

Detainee Abuse

The Senate approved the conference report on H.R. 1915, which also contains the McCain language prohibiting any U.S. personnel, including civilians, from engaging in “cruel, inhumane, or degrading” treatment of prisoners. The House had passed the measure on Dec. 19 by a vote of 374-41.

USCCB Position: The USCCB actively supported the McCain detainee abuse measure and urged conferees to keep the Senate language in tact in the conference report. This is a win for us.

Labor-HHS (H.R. 3010)

Global HIV/AIDS

The Senate approved the conference agreement on H.R. 3010, which includes $100 million in funding for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

USCCB Position: The USCCB supported the inclusion of the funding for the Global Fund. This is a win for us.

Debt Relief

The International Monetary Fund approved cancellation of 100% of the debt owed by 19 countries. This represents the first major step in the implementation of the debt cancellation proposal announced by the leaders of the major industrialized countries (The G-8) last July. Similar action is expected by the World Bank and the African Development Bank within the next three months. The IMG debt to be cancelled will total $3.3 billion and is expected to be delivered to the countries within the next few weeks. The 19 countries include:

Latin America and the Caribbean: Nicaragua, Honduras, Bolivia and Guyana

Africa: Benin, Burkino Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal

Asia: Cambodia and Tajikistan

USCCB Position: The USCCB continues to support debt relief for the poorest countries. This is a significant step forward in the bishops’ ongoing Campaign Against Global Poverty.

Domestic Social Development

Second Change Act S. 1934

On November 17, Bishop DiMarzio, Rev. Larry Snyder for Catholic Charities USA, wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Specter (R-PA), thanking him for introducing S. 1934, the Second Chance Act of 2005. The bill, which had significant input from both USCCB and CCUSA staff, was introduced with bipartisan support in order to address some of the many issues facing the more than 600,000 men and women wo re-enter society each year from federal and state prisons. The Second Chance Act of 2005 will provide funding and other incentives to the states if they adopt programs (including faith-based programs) and procedures that will help reduce recidivism rates.

USCCB and CCUSA staffs have been meeting with House Representatives and their staffs to garner support for the House bill that was introduced earlier in the year. Currently, there are about 100 co-sponsors of the House version and 12 in the Senate.

Streamlined Procedures Act of 2005

The Streamlined Procedures Act (S. 1088) proposes to restrict the jurisdiction of federal courts to hear habeas corpus petitions and revise deadlines for filing appeals to federal courts of state habeas corpus decisions. The bill was scheduled for mark-up in July, again in September and again in November but Chairman Spector (R-PA) has repeatedly delayed any Committee vote on the bill because of the negative response from several organizations including the USCCB and the efforts of local Catholic grassroots. The House of Representatives may begin hearings in January.

USCCB Position: On July 13, Bishop DiMarzio, Chairman of the Domestic Policy Committee, wrote to Senate Judiciary Committee members opposing any legislation that would dramatically diminish the federal courts’ ability to consider habeas corpus petitions in death penalty cases, even in cased of actual innocence.

Minimum Wage

The USCCB continues to urge Congress to increase the minimum wage but there was no legislative movement on an increase this year. The issue may come to the forefront next year as this has been the pattern in an election year.

Housing

After years of effort, an affordable housing fund was created as part of House legislation that would reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This fund would earmark a percentage of the pre-tax profits to build or rehabilitate low-income housing. Unfortunately, a provision was added to the bill that would prohibit any non- profit organizations (or its affiliates) that conducts voter registration from receiving money from this program. This affects many Catholic groups.

The USCCB supports the creation of the Affordable Housing Fund but opposes the prohibition provision that essentially excludes faith-based groups from receiving money from the Fund as they seek to provide decent housing for poor families. The legislation awaits Senate action.

Budget Reconciliation

On December 21, the Senate passed. 51-50, a budget reconciliation conference agreement that would reduce net mandatory spending by $39.7 billion over five years. Vice President Cheney cast the tie-breaking vote. The Senate successfully stripped three provisions that were in the conference agreement so the budge reconciliation agreement must be returned to the House for a final vote could happen soon. Of concern to the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Policy:

• Proposed cuts to the Food Stamp Program were not in the final bill. This was a victory for us.
• Conservation Security Program (CSP): the budget will cut more than $1 billion from the CSP, a program that the Conference supported during the passage of the 2002 Farm Bill. CSP is designed to reward farmers for good stewardship practices that benefit all of society. The new cuts will leave CSP with little or no growth possible for the next three years. Another $760 million was cut from the agriculture budget by eliminating the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS). These two programs, combined, make up a majority of the agriculture funding cuts-even through they represent only 1 percent of total agriculture spending. This was a defeat for us.
• Medicaid cuts: The package includes changes in Medicaid that will result in low-income families and individuals losing health care. The cuts result from increased co-pays and premiums as well as reduced benefits with a net result of $16 billion in cuts over ten years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. This was a defeat for us.
• Funding for state enforcement of child support was also cut which will result in $2.9 billion in child support that otherwise would be collected over the next five year ($8.4 billion over 10 years) will go uncollected. This was a defeat for us.
• The bill also reauthorizes TANF. This reauthorization is unrelated to budget issues, but was inserted by the House of Representative. Changes to the current Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program include expensive and unfunded new requirements to be imposed on states; the elimination of state flexibility in designing work requirements for low-income families; and, provisions would encourage states to exclude poor two-parent families from assistance. This was a defeat for us.
• Certain Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments would be delayed for up to a year for many poor individuals with disabilities who are found eligible for SSI. This essentially shifts costs from one year to the next.

Human Testing of Pesticides

On December 12, 2005, the USCCB comments to EPA on its proposed final rule that includes a “categorical ban that EPA will neither conduct nor support any intentional dosing studies that involve pregnant women or children.” In addition to other concerns, there was opposition to a public health exception at the end of the rule that allows the EPA to consider whether the data, from human tests that “involve intentional exposure of a pregnant woman, fetus, newborn or child are crucial to a regulatory decision that would be more protective of public health than could be justified without relying on the data.”