Letter
Letter to House of Representatives Regarding 2005 Budget Reconciliation, November 8, 2005
Letter from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Chairman, Domestic Policy Committee and Bishop John Ricard, Chairman, International Policy Committee to the U.S. House of Representatives Regarding 2005 Budget Reconciliation, November 8, 2005
When Congress began the process of developing the 2006 budget for the United States government last February, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops president Bishop William Skylstad urged Members of Congress to remember that budget “decisions will reflect not only economic policies but moral choices as well,” and urged Congress “to give priority attention in the budget to the needs of poor and vulnerable people both here and abroad.”
As the House now takes up its budget reconciliation bill, we write to reiterate the Conference’s priorities and to share our views on how that bill may impact several key programs and the people they serve. We are guided by Catholic moral principles: respect for human life and dignity; the importance of family and the value of work; an option for the poor and the call to participation; and the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. We also draw upon the Church’s experience living with, and serving the poor among us. As perhaps the largest nongovernmental provider of health care and human services to vulnerable people, the Catholic community meets the poor in our soup kitchens, Catholic Charities agencies and health care facilities.
We are deeply disappointed by the budget reconciliation proposal before the House of Representatives, in particular, its lack of concern for children. Below are specific examples of programs that serve vulnerable people—often children—that will lose funds if this legislation passes in its current form.