Take
ACTION!
Add Your Voice to the Bishops’ Message to Put a “Circle of Protection” Around Poor Families and Vulnerable People
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops urges Congress and the
Administration to protect programs for poor and vulnerable persons during the
current deficit reduction negotiations and in decisions to come.
Several Christian
leaders, including representatives of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB), met with President Barack Obama on July 20 to urge the
President and congressional leaders to protect programs for hungry and poor
people in decisions surrounding the deficit and debt. Bishop Ricardo Ramirez
told the President that the bishops are not advocating “a particular plan, but a
fundamental moral principle: put the needs of the poor first in allocating
scarce resources…The poor have no powerful lobbyists, but they have the most
powerful moral claim on this process. Please do all you can to defend the poor
and vulnerable in all you say and do at this moment of crisis and the hard days
ahead.” These leaders have also met with Congressional leadership of both
parties.
Your
Members of Congress need to hear the same message.
What you can do:
Urge the
Administration and Congress to give priority to poor and vulnerable persons in
the negotiations to reduce the deficit.
Fiscal responsibility is important and our current budget deficit must be
addressed; however, a just framework for future budgets cannot rely on
disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons. A balanced
approach requires shared sacrifice by all, including raising adequate revenues,
eliminating unnecessary military and other spending, and addressing the
long-term costs of health insurance and retirement programs fairly.
Urge Congress and the Administration to consider these moral criteria to guide
their budgetary decisions:
1.
Every budget decision should be assessed by whether it protects or threatens
human life and dignity.
2.
A central moral measure of any budget proposal is how it affects “the least of
these” (Matthew 25). The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without
work, or in poverty should come first.
3.
Government and other institutions have a shared responsibility to promote the
common good of all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to
live in dignity in difficult economic times.
Take Action Now!
To locate your Representative or Senators, visit
www.house.gov
<http://www.house.gov>
or
www.senate.gov <http://www.senate.gov>
, or call 1-202-224-3121 to be connected to the Capitol Switchboard.
Call 1-888-245-0215 to be connected to the White House comment line.
Background:
Poverty-focused international assistance provides agricultural assistance to
subsistence farmers, medicines for people living with HIV/AIDS, vaccines for
preventable diseases, assistance to orphans, food for starving people, relief
for people devastated by natural disasters, peacekeepers to protect innocent
civilians, support for refugees fleeing for their lives, and other essential
services. The enacted FY 2011 Foreign Affairs budget cut these life-saving
programs by an average of just over 8% from FY 2010; further cuts would be
disproportionate and life-threatening to the most vulnerable people in the
poorest places on earth.
Domestic anti-poverty programs not only help poor families meet their basic
needs, but also prevent families from falling into poverty. For example, the
most recent data demonstrate that the families of over three million children in
the United States were not living in poverty, because they received the Earned
Income Tax Credit. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on SNAP
(formerly known as food stamps) shows this to be one of the best run and most
efficient federal programs. It is a counter-cyclical program, so use has risen
but will come down as the economy recovers. Benefits go directly to families who
use them in the local community and local grocery stores. Food Stamp redemption
in military commissaries increased 38% in 2010.
Circle of Protection
<http://circleofprotection.us/>
(Includes the statement of principles and a list of programs)
Bishops’ Letter to House on FY 2012 Budget Resolution
<http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/2012-Budget-Letter-to-House-04-13-11.pdf>
Bishops’
Letter to Senate on FY 2012 Budget Resolution
<http://www.usccb.org/sdwp/Senate_budget_resolution_letter_May_5_2011_final.pdf>
USCCB News Release
<http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2011/11-144.shtml>
on Meeting with President Obama
Catholic News Service article <http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1102903.htm>
on Meeting with President Obama
Go to
http://capwiz.com/catholicbishops/home
<http://capwiz.com/catholicbishops/home>
to check
out the full alert. If you are on Facebook, join the USCCB page at
www.facebook.com/usccb
<http://www.facebook.com/usccb>
and
click on “Take Action” on the left side of the page to learn more.
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS MESSAGE AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE.
Thank you!
Dept. of
Justice, Peace and Human Development | US Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 4th St. NE, Washington, DC 20017-1194
(202) 541-3191 |
JPHDmail@usccb.org
<mailto:JPHDmail@usccb.org>
|
www.usccb.org/jphd
<http://www.usccb.org/jphd>
<http://www.facebook.com/usccb>
<http://www.twitter.com/usccb>
<http://www.youtube.com/usccb>