WASHINGTON(March 6, 2006)—Bishop William S. Skylstad, President of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, urged Congress to make poor
people a priority when adopting a new budget, in a March 3 letter to U.S.
House and Senate Budget Committee members.
“As Congress takes on the annual duty of shaping and adopting a budget, I
urge you once again to give priority attention to the needs of poor and
vulnerable people both here and around the world,” he said. “As President
of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I want to remind you
that budget decisions reflect not only economic policies, but moral
choices as well. When setting national priorities, the Congress should
seek genuine bipartisan commitment focusing on the common good of all, and
especially the essential needs of the poor and vulnerable.”
“We ask that you support maximum budget authority in those accounts that
fund programs to assist poor families and vulnerable children,” he added.
The entire text follows.
Dear Senator/Representative:
As Congress takes on the annual duty of shaping and adopting a budget, I
urge you once again to give priority attention to the needs of poor and
vulnerable people both here and around the world. As President of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I want to remind you that
budget decisions reflect not only economic policies, but moral choices as
well. When setting national priorities, the Congress should seek genuine
bipartisan commitment focusing on the common good of all, and especially
the essential needs of the poor and vulnerable.
Providing an adequate safety net for poor and vulnerable families at home
and promoting human development in poor countries are both fundamental
moral obligations of a responsible society. These must not be neglected as
Congress addresses essential priorities like homeland security and the
defense of our nation, which can only be enhanced by wise investments to
protect human life and dignity at home and abroad. We ask that you support
maximum budget authority in those accounts that fund programs to assist
poor families and vulnerable children.
One of the basic functions of government is to raise sufficient resources
so that it can undertake efforts to promote the common good. When the
basic requirements of human life and dignity for many in our country and
throughout the world go unmet, it is essential that adequate federal
revenues be available to help meet these basic needs. The deficits, which
result from inadequate revenues, can be justified as a necessary response
to serious circumstances. However, if government continues to spend far
more money than it takes in year after year, it could seriously limit its
ability to meet our moral obligations to respond to basic human needs now
and in the future. Any new tax proposals should be evaluated in that light
before being adopted.
More specifically, Congress should shape and adopt a budget ensuring that
adequate funding is available to help families escape joblessness, move
beyond welfare, choose education for their children, gain needed health
care coverage, and overcome hunger and homelessness. Our nation also has
inescapable international responsibilities that clearly include increased
investments in promoting peace, security and international development. In
a globalized economy, stronger and more effective responses to the
development and health needs of the poorest people on earth, like those in
Africa, and our efforts to assist and protect refugees are moral
imperatives.
In his new Encyclical, God is Love, Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that:
“The just ordering of society and the State is a central responsibility of
politics…. Justice is both the aim and the intrinsic criterion of all
politics. Politics is more than a mere mechanism for defining the rules of
public life: its origin and its goal are found in justice, which by its
very nature has to do with ethics. The State must inevitably face the
question of how justice can be achieved here and now.”
As pastors and teachers, we are convinced that a fundamental moral measure
of our nation’s budget policy is whether it enhances or undermines the
lives of those most in need. Unfortunately, political and economic
pressures frequently leave poor children and families missing in the
national debate and without a place at the table when decisions are made.
These are tough times with few easy choices, but there are some right
choices. In a time of war, mounting deficits, and growing needs, our
nation’s leaders must ensure that there are adequate resources to protect
the lives and dignity of people who are poor and vulnerable both here at
home and around our world.