Alexandria, Va. — Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) President and CEO Sister Donna Markham, OP, PhD, expressed the following in a letter to the Chairperson and Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee urging members to prioritize and protect programs that support and uplift the poor and vulnerable in our country.
“While CCUSA supports the responsible use of our nation’s fiscal resources and has worked consistently to improve effectiveness in anti-poverty programs, reforms that seek only to cut our nation’s social safety net will further strain efforts to meet individual needs and risk pushing more Americans into poverty. Today’s proposed budget is not targeted at improving our reach to the poor and vulnerable but instead seeks to cut $26 billion from Medicaid, $3 billion from Medicare and another $77 billion for other programs that help poor and vulnerable families. CCUSA urges Congress to work together to craft a Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Resolution that rejects dramatic cuts in key social safety net programs and work together to find a bipartisan solution that provides relief from sequester cuts and gives priority to programs that support the poor and vulnerable.”
Last year alone Catholic Charities agencies served 8.4 million individuals; provided more than 600,000 people with educational support; helped 155,000 expectant mothers with counseling, prenatal care and job training services; gave foster care support to over 63,000 children at risk of abuse and neglect; and provided mentoring and support services to 325,000 seniors.
Click here to read the letter that was submitted.
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