Letter
Letter to Congress on Hunger-free Communities Act, April 3, 2006
April 3, 2006
The Honorable Saxby Chambliss
416 Russell Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Bob Goodlatte
2240 Rayburn Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Chambliss and Chairman Goodlatte:
On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I write to join Bread for the World and other anti-hunger groups in support of the Hunger-Free Communities Act, S. 1120/H.R.2717.
Since 1999, food insecurity as measured by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been steadily increasing. In 2004, over 38 million people lived in food-insecure households. Almost 11 million of that number lived in households that experienced hunger. We must reverse that trend.
The Hunger-Free Communities Act will take steps to do just that. The bill reconfirms our nation's commitment to reducing hunger and food insecurity in the United States. It also supports and builds on local community efforts and public-private partnerships to help meet that pledge. This is very much in the spirit of the bishops' 2002 statement, A Place at the Table, which emphasized that both community and faith-based organizations and the government have essential and complementary responsibilities in the struggle to overcome poverty and advance human dignity.
The bill has already received the strong, bipartisan support of 42 co-sponsors in the Senate and 159 co-sponsors in the House, including members of both the Senate and House Agriculture Committees.
We hope that you will move this bill forward in your committees at the earliest possible time.
Sincerely and with thanks,
Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Ph.D., D.D.
Bishop of Brooklyn
Chairman, Domestic Policy Committee