U.S. Catholics lobby Congress

In session
March 2004

Legislative alerts
Procuring a free trade sneak attack on states' rights
U.S. Catholics lobby Congress

U.S. Catholics lobby Congress
Catholics active in social ministry came to Washington last month during the annual Catholic Social Ministry Gathering to attend workshops on a variety of social-justice issues, to trade strategies, and not least of all to descend upon Congress to offer the church's perspective on a number of pressing legislative issues.

Among the major priorites for 2004 identified by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department of Social Development and World Peace are:

Trade Policy
As Congress oversees on-going trade negotiations, relevant U.S. agricultural legislation, and acts on whether or not to approve trade agreements, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services urge that priority be given to:

• reducing domestic farm program subsidies to large farms and agribusiness and targeting limited farm benefits to small and moderate-sized farms;

• allowing developing countries some flexibility in using tariffs, subsidies and other supports to ensure their farmers can produce sufficient food for their people, maintain stable incomes and contribute to rural development;

• ensuring that the trade negotiations are more open to public scrutiny and participation by all elements of society;

• ensuring that protections for workers and the environment are integral elements of any trade agreement and that the impact on migration is addressed.

Development Assistance
What is the U.S. doing to fight global AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria? President Bush announced, and Congress approved, a U.S. commitment to contribute $15 billion to fight HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases in fiscal years 2004-2008. Congress provided $2.4 billion for 2004, and President Bush has requested $2.8 billion for 2005.

What should the U.S. contribute in 2005? Experts estimate the annual global need to be between $10 and $15 billion. The United States should stay on course in meeting its goal of providing $15 billion over the next five years to stem the growing global health crisis. In order to meet the commitments made by the President and Congress, we urge Congress to appropriate $3.6 billion for morally appropriate programs to fight global health crises in 2005.

We urge Congress to:

• provide at least $3.6 billion in 2005 for morally appropriate programs to combat HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, with particular attention to Africa;

• seek additional resources for Title II Food for Peace program to provide better nutrition for HIV/AIDS patients; and

• protect those provisions of law, including the conscience clause, that help provide for a more effective, morally appropriate global health program.

Housing Choice Voucher Program
The Administration’s budget proposes two major changes to the voucher program—namely, cutting funding and transforming the program into a block grant to the states—that could significantly hurt low income families.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opposes these changes to the housing voucher program. The proposed cut of Section 8 funding by over $1 billion this year and block granting it to state and local housing agencies, leaves local agencies with three unacceptable choices:

• Cut at least 250,000 families from the program; or

• Charge higher rents to low-income families who already struggle to make ends meet; or

• Transfer vouchers from poorer families to higher income families.

Farm Workers
Farmworkers have been among the most visible concerns of our Conference. They are among the most vulnerable and exploited people in our land. Their situation demands a response from people of faith . . . We renew our call for a comprehensive legalization program that would permit hard-working undocumented workers in agricultural industries to adjust their legal status to legal permanent residency. A legalization program would help stabilize the workforce, protect migrant workers and their families from discrimination and exploitation, and ensure that these workers are able to continue making contributions to society . . . A living wage for agricultural workers could help their families live a just and decent life and stimulate rural communities without significantly impacting food prices domestically and internationally . . . To participate fully in the communities where they reside and work, farmworkers and their families also need access to services and mobility in those communities.” (For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food" (Mt 25:35) Catholic Reflections on Food, Farmers, and Farmworkers; December, 2003)

Welfare Reform
The need to reauthorize the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program—which replaced the old AFDC welfare program in 1996—presents us with an opportunity and a challenge to sharpen our focus on the persistent problem of poverty in the most prosperous nation on earth. As the Congress works on TANF reauthorization, we must make clear that reducing poverty is a central goal of our national welfare policy.

In a contribution to the last national debate about welfare reform, the Administrative Board of the USCCB issued a statement, Moral Principles and Policy Priorities for Welfare Reform , outlining six criteria for reform:

Protects human life and dignity
Strengthens family life
Encourages and rewards work
Preserves a safety net for the vulnerable
Builds Public/Private Partnerships to overcome poverty
Invests in human dignity

Based on these principles, TANF reauthorization must be an opportunity to address the moral scandal of poverty in our country through a three-pronged strategy:

• Supporting low-income parents in work, by: (1) Providing at least $5.5 billion in new mandatory child care assistance for working parents, (2) Maintaining current law on hourly work requirements for participants, especially for parents with children under 6, (3) Giving states greater flexibility to count genuine education and training activities as work, and to address barriers to work like substance abuse and mental or physical health problems, and (4) Ensuring that those leaving welfare have access to transitional Medicaid benefits.

• Strengthening family life and marriage, by (1) Removing barriers and disincentives to two-parent families, (2) Affirming the value of marriage by providing couples access to voluntary marriage and relationship programs and helping those threatened by domestic violence, while continuing to assist single parent families, and (3) Involving non-custodial fathers in their children’s lives, through strategies such as allowing child support payments to go directly to their children.

• Sustaining the needy and vulnerable among us, especially our children, by (1) Restoring benefit eligibility to legal immigrants, (2) Ending state family cap laws that deny help to new-born children of parents on TANF, (3) Allowing TANF recipients to care for young children and disabled family members, and (4) Increasing state accountability for their sanction policies and follow-up with families who are sanctioned.

Find out more at the USCCB's Department of Social Development and World Peace

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