Letter to Speaker O'Neil on Aid to Nicaragua, February 1, 1980

February 1, 1980

The Honorable Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.
House of Representatives
Washington, D. C. 20515

Dear Mr. Speaker:

The supplemental request for Nicaragua soon to be voted upon by the House is of great importance both to the reconstruction needs of Nicaragua and to our own future relations with that country. Indeed, if the House approves the measure without further change and by a comfortable margin, that vote could well symbolize the beginning of a new and more mature relationship with all the democratic societies of the hemisphere.

In December 1979, the Catholic bishops of the United States urged the prompt passage of the Administration bill in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The bishops of Nicaragua have also spoken in strong support of such aid from abroad. Archbishop Miguel Obando Bravo of Managua is himself coming to the United States next week partly to convey to us the real and urgent needs of Nicaragua today.

I sincerely hope that the members will be duly sensitive to the critical opportunity that is theirs to provide essential humani­tarian assistance to the people of Nicaragua, and to help assure the orderly process of the new society that is taking shape there.

With cordial good wishes, I remain

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Rev. John R. Quinn
Archbishop of San Francisco
President, NCCB/USCC

letter-to-speaker-of-the-house-on-aid-to-nicaragua-1980-02-01.pdf