CRS: Urge leadership on Darfur!

In session
December 2005

CRS: Urge leadership on Darfur!
The conflict in Darfur, Sudan has cost thousands of lives, displaced millions of people and caused great suffering and turmoil. Join Catholic Relief Services as we urge President Bush and Members of Congress to:

STOP THE VIOLENCE.

PROVIDE THE AID.

RESOLVE THE CONFLICT.

Urge Congress to supports global trade rules that work for the poor
ACTION REQUIRED: Trade rules that could help poor countries are currently being negotiated among the 148-members of the World Trade Organization. These talks are at a crucial moment, and the United States is a key player. The US needs to show leadership in overcoming current roadblocks on the path to a more fair global trade system. Please call your Representatives and urge them to sign a letter to President Bush authored by Representatives Kolbe (R-AZ) and Smith (D-WA) – there is a copy of the letter below. The letter asks President Bush to take the lead in getting rich countries to take the necessary steps in making trade work for the poor.

WHY THIS ISSUE IS IMPORTANT: International trade—the flow of goods and services across national borders—can be one instrument for poverty reduction and development in poor countries. Since 2001, world leaders recognized that trade was not working for the poor since most of the benefits of increased trade remained in rich countries.

The next key moment in this process is the WTO Meeting in Hong Kong in December 2005. The United States is a key player. The US needs to show leadership in overcoming current roadblocks on the path to a more fair global trade system. In the lead up to the WTO meeting, Representatives Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) and Adam Smith (D-WA) have authored a letter that asks President Bush to assume leadership in getting rich countries to move towards making trade work for the poor. USCCB and CRS consider this letter a good statement of where we consider WTO trade talks should be heading.

Take Action Now! Contact your member of Congress. Urge them to sign the letter to President Bush being circulated by Representatives Jim Kolbe and Adam Smith in support of a successful outcome in the WTO trade negotiations that will reduce global poverty. Although the principal U.S. negotiator is the US Trade Representative, any trade agreement needs to be passed by the US Congress for it to become US law.

BACKGROUND: In November 2003, the U.S. Catholic Bishops adopted For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food: Catholic Reflections on Food, Farmers and Farmworkers. In this letter, Bishops looked at the whole system of food and food production in the United States and around the world. As part of their reflections, the Bishop recognized that the billions of dollars that rich countries such as the US and the European Union spend on supporting their agriculture sectors prevent farmers in poor countries from selling their products on local and international markets. This prevents farmers in poor countries from becoming self-reliant and therefore decreases food security.

Behind the complicated economics and the necessary trade-offs that will need to take place to reach an agreement in Hong Kong, USCCB and CRS are reminding officials from the US Administration and the Congress to keep the needs of the poor front and center in the negotiations. We are reminded that Catholic Social Teaching calls on us to uphold the dignity of the poor and vulnerable among us, whether they live in the United States or overseas, and help meet poor people’s basic needs as well as promote peace and justice.

What More You Can Do: In addition to contacting your Representatives, as suggested above, you can also take the following actions:

1. Visit CRS/USCCB’s Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty website to learn more about issues of aid, trade and debt, and what you can do. Visit the web site here

2. Forward this action alert to your family, friends, and fellow parishioners.

3. Read more about global trade issues and the role the U.S. plays.

NETWORK alerts:
Human needs are worth every penny; Reject tax cuts that disadvantage our social programs
The tax reconciliation package that narrowly passed in the Senate is now before the House of Representatives. The House comes back in session Tuesday, December 6, and a vote could happen soon after that.

We know that Americans do not object to paying for human needs, but this tax package suggests just the opposite. It extends tax cuts that benefit the wealthiest Americans almost exclusively, at the same time that the House has slashed funding from vital human needs programs.

Please urge your Representatives not to support these tax cuts.

We deserve a fair and compassionate budget;
Keep the House cuts out of the final version!
Since the federal budget was first proposed last February, NETWORK has made the case that the budget is a moral document. It represents our priorities as a nation in a profound way. We won some key concessions in the Senate's final vote on budget reconciliation, but that package looks substantially different from the reconciliation passed in the House. The next step in the process is a Conference Committee, and we anticipate lots of backstage arm-twisting to create a budget that can pass.

At this stage, we need Senators to pledge not to vote on a budget that includes the disastrous cuts to social programs like food stamps, Medicaid, and TANF inflicted by the House of Representatives. Please contact your Senators today. Your Senators are at home for one more week! We also encourage you to plan a meeting with them or attend an event in your area!

Dignity, equality and justice for all;
Make the development round about the developing world: WTO Ministerial December 14-18
NETWORK is a member of the Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment (IWG) which focuses on the effects of U.S. Trade Agreements on the most vulnerable people and groups, both domestically and globally. Consequently, NETWORK is signatory to a statement which raises concerns about the possible outcomes of the World Trade Organization Ministerial to be held in Hong Kong, December 14-18, 2005.

The basic question: What is fair or just trade? Three members of the House of Representatives, Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Michael Michaud (D-ME) are circulating a letter to Members of Congress requesting that Representatives not only take seriously the concerns of the IWG, but also bring them to the attention of the U.S. Trade Representative, Rob J. Portman, and to delegates to the Hong Kong Ministerial. Urge your Representative to sign the letter. Be sure to edit this letter if you live in Rep. Brown, Kaptur or Michaud's districts and thank them for their efforts!

Dream on!
Last month NETWORK got to share the good news of the DREAM Act's (Development, Relief & Education for Alien Minors act) reintroduction; this week, you can help this DREAM become a reality.

If your Senator was among the bi-partisan group of original co-sponsors, take the time to thank him/her. Immigration is a very contentious issue right now, and the anti-immigrant voices are often louder than those calling for justice. To help build momentum for DREAM, your Senator needs to know she/he has your support.

If your Senator has not yet signed on to this bill, ask him/her to become a co-sponsor. Last year, the DREAM Act had 48 co-sponsors—let’s try to get at least that number this time!

Sample letters are available here (the Legislative Action Center will check whether your Senator is already a sponsor and provide the appropriate letter)

The DREAM Act is just one bill among many pieces of immigration reform legislation. You can expect to see a lot of media attention to this issue as President Bush is promoting his principles for reform. NETWORK firmly believes that any new immigration legislation should be comprehensive and not only a border enforcement bill. As the immigration debate heats up again, visit NETWORK’s issues page for more information about this complicated issue.

About the Dream Act:

Each year, around 65,000 undocumented immigrant students who have lived in the U.S. for at least five years graduate from our U.S. High Schools. Some of these students are honor students, class valedictorians, optimistic youths dreaming of “bettering the world”. Yet, current federal law impedes their path to this dream; undocumented students are unable to: 1) pay in-state tuition to a State University, even if their parents have been residents of the State and paid taxes; 2) access Pell Grant funding; 3) change their immigration status, thereby, prohibiting them from obtaining a “green card” and possible employment.

The DREAM Act gives states the option of providing in-state tuition to undocumented students and provides a path for legalization after graduation. It was introduced in the 107 th Congress but never got out of the Judiciary Committee; and, then, it was re-introduced in the 108th Congress but was never brought to the floor for vote. In the 108th Congress, a sister bill to the DREAM act, the Student Adjustment Act, was introduced in the House.

On November 23, 2005, the DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2005 ) was re-introduced in the Senate as Senate bill, S. 2075.

The DREAM Act is based on the principle that it is unfair to punish children for the actions of their parents. The courts have found that “legal burdens should bear some relationship to individual responsibility wrongdoing.” (Plyer v. Doe, 1983) Thus, undocumented students cannot be held liable for an immigration status that resulted from their parents’ actions and the federal government should not punish them by denying the opportunity for adjustment of status and a higher education.

The DREAM Act would advance the common good:

It would increase tax revenues; besides increasing the income of affected immigrants, it would stimulate spending and investment;

It would free young immigrants to join the legal workforce, helping business and economy fill crucial needs;

It could address the long-term labor needs such as teachers, nurses and service employees.

It would encourage undocumented students to stay in school and graduate. Currently 5-10 percent of undocumented young people who graduate from high school go on to college, compared with about 75 percent of their classmates. (National Immigration Law Center)

Back to page top