The issues they'll confront this fall—social service funding, military and education spending, and the fate of undocumented immigrants—should provide enough material to keep social-justice advocates buzy. Catholic lobbyists in Washington hope to get enough support from people in the pews this session so that our elected officials will pay attention to their views.

Some hot issues this September:

Minimum Wage
First on Catholic Charities USA's list of priorities this season will be passing a minimum wage hike. "We have to help low-wage people get higher pay," says Sharon Daly, Catholic Charities vice president for social policy. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. David Bonior (D-MI) introduced a bill in February that would increase the minimum wage by $1.50, to $6.65. The bill should finally come up for a vote in the House and Senate this fall, and observers expect some action this time.

"We think Congress will boost it," Daly says.

Housing
The House and Senate have both passed their 2002 appropriations bills for Veterans, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies, but the Catholic lobbying group Network is holding out hope for some last minute changes. The two versions will go to a conference committee to reconcile their differences, and Network wants the committee members to increase funding for Section 8 housing vouchers, federal subsidies that provide housing assistance to poor families.

The current House bill includes 34,000 new vouchers and the Senate's provides for 25,000. Last year Congress supported 87,000 new vouchers and Network says a similar increase is necessary for 2002. The lobbying group suggests concerned citizens write to their members of Congress and ask them to push the conference committee for improvements.

Food Stamps
Also on the agenda this fall is the agriculture appropriations bill. A key provision of the bill is the segment dealing with food stamp funding. Daly says Catholic Charities is working to help families coming off welfare automatically qualify for food stamps for one year. She's also hoping Congress will amend the legislation to allow families to apply for food stamps through the mail.

Currently applicants have to appear in person, which means full-time workers must take time off work.

"If you're working for minimum wage, you don't get paid time off," Daly says. "It's very important we make sure these people have some stability as they work."

Defense Spending
The Bush administration has asked for a significant increase to the defense budget this year: $18 billion on top of the $325 billion requested by the Pentagon. In late August the Commerce Department reported a weak .2 percent economic growth for the second quarter of the year. In response Bush advised Congress to put the defense budget at the front of the calendar this session. The president said he didn't want military funding to get squeezed at the end of the budget process, when Congress will have to make tough choices to stay within its spending limits in the face of a disappearing surplus.

But Catholic lobbyists say defense spending rarely loses in that game. The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations always come last in the Congressional schedule, Daly says. The package includes funding for child care, senior citizens' services, and programs for the disabled, she says, and "it takes the leavings after defense, highways, the space program, going to Mars..." Network has asked Catholics to urge their members of Congress not to reduce non-defense discretionary spending to cover military funding.

Immigration
Finally, Congress may take on several immigration bills. Daly considers the issues surrounding immigration among the country's most critical. "What should we do with the millions of undocumented immigrants who are here, working, but who are not legally entitled to work?" she asks. "We need a solution so that these people who've risked their lives to come here might become legal workers. Otherwise we're all exploiting them."

In August Sen. Edward Kennedy introduced a bill that would allow illegal immigrant farm workers to obtain temporary legal status if they worked in the United States for 90 days during the year and a half ending June 30, 2001. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) introduced a much more far-reaching bill in February. His legislation would grant green cards to undocumented aliens who had been in the country for five years.

Catholic Charities supports both bills. Daly says Congress may vote on the farm worker bill this fall, but she doesn't expect any action on immigrant amnesty legislation in the near future. She thinks discussion will grow around the issues, though, and may shape Congressional action later in the year.