As stated in a letter of support for HR 6021, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Catholic Relief Services believe that the recovery efforts in Haiti require a strategy for long-term recovery and sustainable development that coordinates different U.S. government agencies in a comprehensive approach while engaging faith-based organizations and other groups with expertise and experience in Haiti. CRS and the USCCB believe that this bill represents a serious effort to address the long-term recovery needs of the Haitian people.

Please contact your Representatives today and urge their support for H.R. 6021 which provides a strategy and funding for long-term reconstruction and development in Haiti.

Climate Change: We asked you to urge key senators to include and strengthen provisions in climate legislation that would protect poor and vulnerable people, in our country and around the world, from the impacts of climate change and the effects of policies needed to address it. Unfortunately, the Senate will not consider climate legislation this year. When Congress takes up this important legislation in the future we will call on you again to urge your members to strengthen these protections. In the meantime, we will continue to engage the Administration and members of Congress about the bishops’ priorities and to educate Catholics about this important issue.

Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Due to your successful advocacy efforts, provisions are now included in the financial reform bill requiring large U.S. companies to take steps, including regular audits, to ensure that the minerals used in their products are not financing militia violence in the eastern Congo. The bill also allows companies to label goods as “conflict mineral-free” and directs the U.S. government to develop a strategy that addresses the links among human rights abuses and illegal extraction of minerals from the Congo.  Thanks to your advocacy efforts, the prayers of the Church and people in DRC have been answered.

Accountability and Extractive Industries: Thanks to your efforts, the financial reform legislation also now includes a provision requiring large U.S. companies that extract minerals, oil, and gas to publish what they pay to the governments of the countries in which they work. This requirement will make it easier for civil society in those countries to hold their governments accountable for how these revenues are used.  Thanks to your successful advocacy efforts, poor and vulnerable people throughout the world will benefit.

Haiti: We asked you to urge Congress to provide much-needed emergency relief and funds for long-term reconstruction in Haiti. Congress passed the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP, S. 3275 and H.R. 5160) and the Debt Relief for Earthquake Recovery Act for Haiti (H.R. 4573 and S. 2961) and both pieces of legislation were signed by the President.   These are huge victories that will help Haiti to recover and rebuild. We are deeply thankful for your support of Haiti as it struggles to recover from the devastating earthquake.

FY 2010 Supplemental Budget Request: Thanks in part to your advocacy around the Emergency Supplemental, Congress approved $ 2.8 billion for Haiti (our ask was $2.5 billion), of which $1.23 billion went to relief and reconstruction, $943 to debt relief, and $150 million to food assistance.  Of the $1.597 billion we requested for global emergency needs, Congress approved $165 million for migration and refugee assistance and $460 million for International Disaster Assistance.  Although the amounts allocated for global emergency needs did not reach the levels CRS and USCCB had requested, in these difficult economic times, the additional funds are welcome and will save lives and help protect human dignity.

Peace in the Holy Land: We continue to urge strong U.S. leadership for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—a secure and recognized Israel living alongside an independent and viable Palestinian state.  In addition to your grassroots advocacy, Christian leaders, including Bishop Dennis Madden, have met with a high ranking Administration official to urge action for a just peace.

Sudan: We asked you to urge President Obama to do everything he can to support full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and other efforts to promote peace and stability in Sudan.  Thanks to your efforts and the recent visit by Bishop Daniel Adwok and Bishop Rudolf Deng of Sudan to meet with key Administration officials and a number of members of Congress, Sudan is getting more attention.  A number of members of Congress are now contacting the Administration about this issue.  In addition, Special U.S. Envoy Scott Gration met with the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC), of which the Catholic Church is a member, to listen to their concerns.

Reduce Nuclear Weapons and Enhance Child Survival: We urged members of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs to support the Global Security Priorities Resolution (H.Res. 278) which would use savings from nuclear weapons reductions to secure nuclear materials from terrorists and to support child survival programs in developing nations, a real “swords into plowshares” initiative.  The Committee has not yet acted. If your representative is a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, please continue to express your support for this Resolution.

You can find out if your Congresspersons co-sponsored particular legislation and how they voted on particular legislation by entering the bill number at www.congress.gov.  We hope that during the Congressional recess that ends on September 12  you will visit or contact your Congresspersons to thank them for their support when appropriate and to ask for their support on other issues.

Thank you for your continued advocacy in support of human life and dignity!

Office of International Justice and Peace
Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

What was the Church’s position? As stated in letters to House and Senate appropriators, CRS and USCCB requested:

• $2.5 billion for longer-term reconstruction in Haiti and
• $1.597 billion for other global emergency needs, including;
• $702 million for International Disaster Assistance
• $580 million for Food Assistance
• $165 million for Migration and Refugee Assistance
• $97 million for the Office of Refugee Resettlement
• $53 million for Economic Support Fund in Sudan

What was the outcome of the bill? Although not all of the funding that CRS and USCCB requested was included, we achieved the following:

• $2.8 billion for Haiti to provide urgent shelter, health, livelihoods, food aid, and water and sanitation needs of the most vulnerable populations as well as long-term reconstruction.
• A portion of the $1.597 billion we requested for global emergency needs:
• $165 million for migration and refugee assistance which will provide urgent humanitarian assistance and resettlement opportunities for refugees and victims of conflict around the globe and
• $460 million for International Disaster Assistance to provide safe drinking water, basic health services, shelter, household commodities, seeds, tools, and livelihoods assistance to millions of people.

Why is this issue important to my Catholic faith? As Catholics, we believe that each person is created in the image of God. Aid to poor people overseas protects human life and dignity by promoting human development and reducing crushing poverty, deadly diseases and malnutrition.  Your advocacy is a significant act of solidarity that has helped provide additional funding to meet the needs of our sisters and brothers everywhere who are suffering.

What else can I do to support our brothers and sisters in need? Join Catholics Confront Global Poverty and become a star on our solidarity map! Pray, learn, share, and advocate to confront global poverty in your parish, school, university, youth group, diocese, or religious community.

Below is her testimony to the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, part of the  House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Thank you Chairman Engel (NY) and Ranking Member Mack (FL) for calling this important hearing and giving Catholic Relief Services an opportunity to testify. My name is Nicole Balliette and I am the CRS Deputy Director for the Haiti Earthquake Response. With the committee’s permission, I would like to enter my full written testimony for the record and I will summarize it orally. At this time, I would like to thank the members of this committee for the passage of the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act, the Haiti Debt Relief and Earthquake Recovery Act, and for swift passage of the Haiti supplemental. CRS would also like to thank Mr. Conyers (MI) for introducing the HEAR Act.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the generous assistance provided by the U.S. government to CRS and other actors in Haiti, including the positive service of U.S. military personnel, who in the early days of the response provided the security necessary to allow for life-saving humanitarian interventions.

I know this Committee and the world are concerned about Haiti and the recovery process. CRS shares those concerns, but good things are being done and we believe that we can overcome the immense challenges we face.

But we want to be clear, together we are not moving fast enough toward that goal—we cannot consider it “fast enough” when people are without shelter, security and livelihoods.

Background: Pre-Earthquake, Haiti already had the highest poverty levels in the Western Hemisphere. A comparison with the recent earthquake in Chile illustrates how underlying factors, more than the earthquake itself, caused the devastation with which the people of Haiti are currently struggling.

We have already heard from my colleagues on the panel about the situation in Haiti prior to the earthquake, as well as the extent of the devastation with which the people of Haiti are currently struggling.

CRS has been working together with the people of Haiti for over 55 years, providing immediate relief when needed, and helping the people of Haiti learn the skills and access the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty.

Positive aspects of CRS’ earthquake response in Haiti

I would like to talk about some of the highlights of CRS’ response to the earthquake.  Within hours, our Haitian and international staff began responding. Our generous donors, including private individuals and the US government, began almost immediately to contribute what has become an unprecedented amount. CRS has to date spent over $30 million and, together with our partners, has made major strides in meeting desperate needs, including providing food, water and sanitation, shelter materials, health care and protection services to hundreds of thousands of people.

• Supported hundreds of thousands of people with food (nearly 900,000 people, including ongoing distributions to more than 100,000 children in 370 school, orphanages and child-care centers in Port-au-Prince and Les Cayes), water and sanitation (600 latrines, hand-washing and bathing stations; 375,000 gallons water/month), shelter materials (to over 114,000 people), activities to help protect vulnerable people (5 child friendly spaces; family tracing and reunification; in the northeast border area, work with partners on a sexual and gender-based violence referral network and a safe house for survivors) and health care (including over 960 emergency operations and 62,000 outpatient consultations).
• Expanded our program in Haiti, including increasing from around 300 staff to more than 500 staff (of which 95 percent are Haitian, all of whom were affected in some way by the earthquake).

Constraints and Recommendations

Although we, and others, have accomplished a lot, I would like to talk a bit about the main constraints we face, and our recommendations.

• The government of Haiti must play the leadership role in the country’s recovery, but the success of the process will depend in large part on the actions of a robust civil society.  We all must encourage and facilitate strong and effective leadership by Haitians, and provide them with the support they need.

• Insecurity in certain parts of Port-au-Prince, and especially in the settlements, is a huge constraint on the ability of people to function normally, as well as on the ability of actors like CRS to provide services.  If the most vulnerable members of Haitian society (especially women, children, the elderly and the disabled) are to participate in the recovery, they need to be both protected from trafficking, sexual- and gender-based violence and all other forms of abuse and exploitation.  Only a few years ago improved security in Haiti was a great success story—could this not be replicated in a way that will allow vulnerable people to protect themselves and their families, and at the same time allow humanitarian actors to provide the services those people need?

• The lack of an overall resettlement strategy seriously constrains the work of all the actors in Haiti. Current efforts seem to be ad hoc. The Haitian government must develop a holistic resettlement strategy that we can all use to guide our efforts.

• Linked to this, a specific and high-priority problem is the lack of places to install transitional shelters. Space for shelters is an urgent need that requires the highest possible prioritization. Two of the primary solutions to this problem are:

• Remove the rubble and debris more quickly

• Allocate and secure land so that transitional shelters and other services can be provided for those people who are unable to move to home sites.

Conclusion

The Haiti earthquake response is large-scale and complex. But we can’t let the complexity prevent us from achieving immediate results, while we also lay the groundwork for long-term development. We need to strike a balance. And we need to act in solidarity with the Haitian people to help ensure not only that the right things are done, but that they are done in the right way.  CRS is committed to this.  The solution requires the leadership of the government of Haiti, acting in partnership with civil society, including key actors like the Church in Haiti, and the support and assistance of international actors, including the U.S. government.

There is trauma and devastation in Haiti, there is no doubt about that, but there is also hope.

I would like to share with you a story that gives me hope.  Within hours of the quake, our team in Les Cayes, in the Southern Peninsula, got together, they loaded trucks with food and non-food items, and they hit the road—they were among the first responders in Port au Prince, worried about their own families but also their friends and colleagues, and all the other victims of the disaster.  And we are not the only ones with this story.  When I was last in Haiti, in June, I co-facilitated a workshop where I heard similar stories about the staff of our partner, Caritas Haiti, and of the government of Haiti.

When the need is great and the actions to take are clear, people will find a way.  This stage of the recovery process is perhaps more confusing—so much needs to be done and there are many different ways to do it.  But with leadership and direction to guide all of our efforts, we can find a way.

We are grateful for your efforts, and those of other members of the US Government, to do what you can to support and assist the people of Haiti.

Thank you.

USCCB and CRS advocacy efforts to support Haiti recovery

USCCB and CRS are working to support Haiti’s recovery in a number of ways. Our advocacy efforts have focused on extending trade preferences; canceling Haiti’s debt; securing funding for emergency relief and reconstruction; and developing a policy framework for long-term reconstruction.

• Read a recap of USCCB and CRS’ advocacy efforts on Haiti to date.
• Urge key Members of Congress to include funding for long-term reconstruction in the FY 2010 Emergency Supplemental.
• With your support, the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act has become law. Read the USCCB/CRS letters to the House and Senate Committees.
• Read Bishop Howard Hubbard, USCCB International Policy Committee Chairman and Bishop of Albany’s letter outlining a comprehensive framework for helping Haiti with sustained investment in longer-term recovery and development.
• Learn about what the USCCB and CRS are doing to respond to the needs of Haitians and what you can do to make a difference.

Natural Resources and our Catholic Response

• Read a letter sent to the advocacy team at Catholic Relief Services from Catholics Confront Global Poverty.
• Read about how Saint Camillus parish recently brought this issue to Capitol Hill.
• Watch our recent webcast: Extracting Natural Resources with
  People in Mind.
• Learn more about the Church’s teaching on natural resources extraction and what you can do.

Immigration reform legislation must address “push” factors

The framework for immigration reform legislation recently unveiled by key Senators was called an ‘important first step’ in the process of achieving comprehensive reform legislation by Bishop Wester, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration and Bishop of Salt Lake City. The Bishop’s statement calls for ‘provisions which address “push” factors that compel migrants to come to the United States, such as the lack of economic development in sending countries, so that migrants can remain in their countries and support their families in dignity.’

The recent Arizona immigration law is an example of why enforcement-only measures are inhumane and do not work. It should serve as a clarion call to Congress for comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

• Let your members of Congress know that you support comprehensive immigration reform that addresses the root causes of migration.
• Read more about how migration is related to global poverty.
• Learn more about this issue on the Justice for Immigrants website.

Current climate change bill would provide the poor with too little too late

The oil that has been gushing in the Gulf of Mexico has brought climate change legislation back to the fore. Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lieberman (I-CT) introduced their climate change bill in May. CRS and USCCB are very disappointed that it fails to assist the poorest countries around the world adapt to climate change. The proposed relief would come far too late-initial funding is not available until 2019-to assist countries already suffering from the impacts of climate change.

USCCB and CRS maintain that any climate legislation under consideration in the Senate must protect poor people in the United States and around the world, including sufficient funding for the poorest countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change. A number of alternative climate change bills have been proposed since the oil spill began. USCCB and CRS are assessing the impact they would have on the poor.

• Read more about how climate change impacts global poverty.
• Visit the Catholic Climate Covenant website to learn more.
• Learn about how CRS is helping people around the world adapt to the impacts of climate change.
• Visit the Franciscan Action Network for prayer resources on the Gulf Oil Disaster.

Supplemental funding is necessary to address global emergencies

The Catholic Church views international assistance as an essential tool to promote human life and dignity, advance solidarity with poorer nations, and enhance security throughout the world. International assistance is not simply an optional commitment; it is a moral responsibility to assist “the least of these” (Matthew 25). Our positions are also informed by our relationships with the Catholic Church in developing nations and CRS’ daily on-the-ground work in one hundred countries.

In order to strengthen the U.S. response to Haiti and continue to maintain the U.S. ability to cover humanitarian needs in other parts of the world, USCCB and CRS urge Congress to approve a robust Supplemental funding request as stated in letters to House and Senate appropriators. Such a request should include $2.5 billion for ongoing emergency relief and long-term reconstruction in Haiti, $580 million for international food aid and funding for Sudan in order to reduce the threat of violence there. While the House has already passed a FY2010 supplemental Appropriations bill, the Senate still needs to pass its bill that will then need to be reconciled. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to include critical humanitarian funding in the FY 2010 Supplemental Appropriations bill.

• Read more about what the Church teaching on international assistance reform.
• Read the USCCB Backgrounder on international assistance reform.

U.S. engagement is essential for preventing a return to war in Sudan

The situation in Sudan is at a critical juncture. The recently held national election, border demarcation, referendum on secession, and the rising tide of violence in Southern Sudan have intensified an already volatile and dangerous environment. With a sense of urgency, CRS is expanding its efforts to promote peace in Sudan and to encourage the international community to help the people of Sudan prevent a return to war. In a recent letter to Secretary of State Clinton, Bishop Howard Hubbard, reiterated support for U.S. engagement in finding a peaceful resolution of the tensions. Urge President Obama to do everything he can to support a peaceful and stable Sudan.

• Learn why this is such a critical juncture for Sudan.
• Read stories about CRS’ work in Sudan.
• Learn more about USCCB and CRS’ policy position on Sudan.
• Learn more about what USCCB and CRS have to say about peace and conflict.
• Watch the recording of our recent webcast—Sudan: Search for Peace.
• Learn more about CRS’ peacebuilding work around the world.

Progress on the Roadmap to End Global Hunger

Gains in reducing global hunger have been nearly wiped out in recent years by sharply increasing prices on some of the most basic foodstuffs in every region of the world, and by the current global economic crisis. Projections indicate that the global food price crisis will be long-term and that the impact on poor people in developing countries will be severe. Already, more than one billion people suffer from chronic hunger and more than 3.5 million children die from undernutrition each year.

CRS has joined a diverse coalition of international relief and development organizations to promote “The Roadmap to End Global Hunger,” a new comprehensive plan for the U.S. government to lead the international community in alleviating global hunger. The Roadmap to End Global Hunger addresses world hunger in the short, intermediate and long term and seeks to increase funding for key interventions needed to alleviate global hunger and ensure better coordination among existing U.S. government programs.

In response to the Roadmap to End Global Hunger, the United States Agency for International Development developed Feed the Future, a 3-year, $3.5 billion global hunger and food security initiative. CRS has been an active participant in shaping the program and will continue to advocate for civil society engagement so that those who are most affected by the program have a voice in its implementation.

• Watch our recent webcast—An Historic Opportunity to Confront Global Hunger.
• Learn about how CRS is helping communities become food secure.
• Read the USCCB Backgrounder on the International Food Crisis.

Dear Tina,

The Senate yesterday afternoon passed the financial reform bill that includes several critical provisions that Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and the Catholic community in the United States along with many others have been advocating for over many months. While neither CRS nor USCCB have taken a position on the overall financial reform bill, the inclusion of provisions dealing with natural resources extraction in the developing world greatly advances our objectives to address global poverty and conflict. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law soon.

One provision deals specifically with the horrific situation in the DRC. It requires companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to report on what they are doing to assure that the metals they use in their products are not financing violence in the eastern Congo, including regular audits. It will also allow companies to label goods as “conflict mineral-free” and directs the U.S. government to develop a strategy that addresses the links between human rights abuses and minerals from the Congo, and the products that we use.

Additional provisions that reach beyond the Congo require companies to disclose the payments they make to foreign governments for the natural resources they extract. This greater transparency will help local communities to hold their governments accountable for how the income generated by natural resources is used to benefit the common good in their countries.

In his most recent encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI notes the need for “institutional means” to better regulate natural resource extraction-a process which often “gives rise to exploitation and frequent conflicts between and within nations. These conflicts are often fought on the soil of those same countries, with a heavy toll of death, destruction and further decay” (no. 49).

Passage of these provisions is a great victory for all of us who seek peace, justice, and global solidarity with our sisters and brothers overseas.

God bless you for your solidarity,
Your Catholics Confront Global Poverty team

As I prepared to leave, I was saddened by the feeling that I was somehow abandoning the very people that I have been advocating for on Capitol Hill. I was heartened though when Monsignor Eric looked me in the eye and expressed how appreciative he was of my work. I knew that he understood the importance of CRS’s advocacy efforts on behalf of the Haitian people. I was proud to know that I could now put a face on their story however.

While in Haiti, I received a request from a Member of Congress to report on the condition in Haiti and on CRS’s response. I accepted immediately. Whether it’s a bill on family reunification, food security, debt relief, or trade preferences, CRS is working to influence U.S. government policy to improve the lives of the poor in Haiti. It will not be easy but because there are Americans who are concerned, members of Congress who are willing to listen and Haitians who are willing to control their own destiny, they will rebuild their lives and their country.

Charisse Espy-Glassman is a CRS legislative assistant reporting from Haiti

Through Catholics Confront Global Poverty you can join the Church’s call. Visit our Action Center now to send a message to President Obama asking him to do everything he can to support peace and stability in Sudan.

Don’t forget to join us for the webcast with the Sudanese bishops tomorrow, June 16, 2-3 EST.  We look forward to a vibrant discussion!

Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak is the bishop of the Diocese of Wau and President of the Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference (SCBC). He was born in Wau, southern Sudan in 1946. He was ordained a priest on November 20, 1970. Bishop Deng has served as Secretary to the Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference and as Vicar General of the Wau Diocese. He became bishop of Wau in 1995. Bishop Deng has highlighted the need for implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement as a “valid and relevant road map for a just and lasting peace in Sudan.”

Bishop Daniel Adwok Kur was born in Ater (Upper Nile) in 1952, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 1977. He was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Khartoum on February 19, 1993. With over 1.5 million internally displaced people living in Khartoum, many from southern Sudan, Bishop Adwok has spoken out for Sudan’s need to respect all communities, regardless of ethnicity and religion.

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala was born on March 23, 1964, at Source-Yubu in Western Equatoria State. Bishop Hiiboro was ordained a priest in Khartoum on May 20, 1994, for the Diocese of Tombura-Yambio, and was consecrated as bishop of the Diocese of Tombura-Yambio in April, 2008. The Diocese’s location places it under constant threat of attack from the Lord’s Resistance Army and Bishop Hiiboro has been an outspoken advocate in demanding protection for the people of his Diocese.

The dioceses of Sudan.

Join us for:

• An opportunity to hear directly from three prominent bishops of the Sudanese Catholic Church and engage them in dialogue;
• USCCB and CRS’ policy recommendations for how U.S. policymakers can make a difference on these issues based on Catholic social teaching and our experience; and
• Ideas on how Catholics in the U.S., through the Catholics Confront Global Poverty initiative, can support peace in Sudan.

Please RSVP for this webcast as space is limited.

Background:
Sudan is at a critical junction.  The volatile situation in the country – not just in the Darfur region, but also the tenuous peace between the North and South brought about by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) – is becoming more serious.  Recent controversial national elections and a referendum in January 2011 on whether the South should secede from the North pose the potential for a renewed North-South war.

For more information:

• Read Bishop Hubbard’s letter to Secretary of State Clinton.
• Read the USCCB’s two-page Background on Sudan.
• Learn more about CRS’ Public Policy on Sudan.
• Read stories about how CRS is supporting peace in Sudan.
• Learn more about how global poverty is related to peace and conflict.
• Watch a video podcast on global poverty and peacebuilding.
• Learn more about the Catholics Confront Global Poverty initiative.