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ACTION ALERT!
Urge your Representative to support full funding of efforts that confront global poverty
Send your message now!
TAKE ACTION NOW! Urge your Representative to support full funding of the FY 2010 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill (H.R. 3081) and oppose any amendments that would cut funding for programs that reduce poverty.
WHY IS THIS APPROPRIATIONS BILL IMPORTANT NOW? This week, the House of Representatives will be voting on legislation that provides funding for poverty-focused international assistance programs that confront poverty and save lives. The $48.8 billion FY 2010 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill is already $1.2 billion below last year’s level and $3.2 billion below the President’s request. Any more cuts to this budget could affect efforts to help people living in poverty worldwide. We need to ensure Congress knows how important these programs are to poor and vulnerable people around the world and that they are supported by American Catholics.
HOW DO KEY PARTS OF THIS BILL CONFRONT GLOBAL POVERTY? The FY 2010 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill funds lifesaving programs that confront global poverty, including; provision of food and clean water; treatment of people affected by HIV and other deadly diseases; promotion of agriculture and microfinance to help people support themselves and their families; and delivery of education and health services to poor people. Passage of a fully funded FY 2010 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill is critical to ensure that adequate resources for programs that assist poor and vulnerable people around the globe are provided.
WHAT DOES THIS APPROPRIATIONS BILL HAVE TO DO WITH MY FAITH? Our Catholic faith requires that we uphold the life and dignity of the human person by alleviating human suffering and promoting justice and solidarity worldwide. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, speaks to this in his new encyclical letter, Charity in Truth:
“In the search for solutions to the current economic crisis, development aid for poor countries must be considered a valid means of creating wealth for all. What aid programme is there that can hold out such significant growth prospects — even from the point of view of the world economy — as the support of populations that are still in the initial or early phases of economic development? From this perspective, more economically developed nations should do all they can to allocate larger portions of their gross domestic product to development aid, thus respecting the obligations that the international community has undertaken in this regard.”
For more information contact:
Stephen Hilbert, Policy Advisor, USCCB Office of International Justice and Peace, shilbert@usccb.org; (202) 541-3149
Tina Rodousakis, Manager, Grassroots Advocacy, CRS, trodousa@crs.org; (410) 951-7462
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