Washington D.C., Nov 9, 2005 / 22:00 pm
As the House of Representatives takes up its budget reconciliation bill, the chairmen of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committees for domestic and international policy said they are “deeply disappointed” by the proposal, particularly its lack of concern for children.
In a Nov. 8 letter to the House, the bishops said several programs that serve vulnerable people—often children—would lose funds if the legislation passes in its current form.
The letter was signed by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, chairman of the USCCB Domestic Policy Committee and Bishop John Ricard, SSJ, of Pensacola-Tallahassee, chairman of the USCCB International Policy Committee.
Last February, when Congress began the process of developing the 2006 budget, USCCB president Bishop William Skylstad urged Congress to remember that budget decisions “will reflect not only economic policies but moral choices,” and “to give priority attention in the budget to the needs of poor and vulnerable people both here and abroad.”