Catholic Leaders Urge Congress To Protect Housing and Agriculture Funding That Serves Poor and Vulnerable People

WASHINGTON—As it makes budget appropriations decisions, Congress should protect funding to housing and agriculture programs that serve poor and vulnerable people, said leaders of national Catholic social service providers, as well as the bishops who chair the U.S. bishops’ committees on domestic and

WASHINGTON—As it makes budget appropriations decisions, Congress should protect funding to housing and agriculture programs that serve poor and vulnerable people, said leaders of national Catholic social service providers, as well as the bishops who chair the U.S. bishops’ committees on domestic and international justice issues, in separate letters, March 19.

In letters to the leaders of the House and Senate Subcommittees on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chair of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Dominican Sister Donna Markham, president-elect of Catholic Charities USA, urged greater resources for programs that assist the elderly, people with disabilities, veterans and others afford housing.

“As Catholics, we believe that housing is a human right, and that society has a shared obligation to ensure that individuals and families have access to safe and affordable housing,” Archbishop Wenski and Sister Markham wrote.

The full letter is available online: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/housing-homelessness/letters-to-appropriations-subcommittees-from-usccb-ccusa-fy-2016-thud-approps-2015-03-19.cfm

In letters to the leaders of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, Archbishop Wenski, Sister Markham, Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chair of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace, and Carolyn Y. Woo, president of Catholic Relief Services, defended funding to programs including international food assistance and nutrition programs to women, infants and children.

“We urge you to protect and fund programs that feed hungry people, help the most vulnerable farmers, strengthen rural communities and promote good stewardship of God’s creation,” they wrote.

The full letter is available online: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/agriculture-nutrition-rural-issues/letter-to-appropriations-committees-from-usccb-ccusa-crs-fy-2016-agriculture-approps-2015-03-19.cfm
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Keywords: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Congress, appropriations, budget, housing, agriculture, food, nutrition, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services, Bishop Oscar Cantú, Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, Sister Donna Markham, Carolyn Woo, USCCB, International Justice and Peace, Domestic Justice and Human Development
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