Hurricane aid shouldn't cut into programs for the poor, bishops say

Published: 2005-10-25

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The chairmen of two U.S. bishops' committees warned members of Congress not to try to meet the needs of victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita by cutting programs that serve vulnerable people. "We will oppose any effort to pay for the costs of Katrina and Rita by cutting services in essential programs that serve the basic needs of low-income or vulnerable people," said an Oct. 19 letter from Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, who chairs the bishops' hurricane relief task force, and Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., who heads their domestic policy committee. "How we meet this challenge will be a test and an important sign of what kind of a nation we are and wish to be," said the letter, the text of which was released Oct. 24 by the bishops' Department of Communications. It asked members of Congress to consider some fundamental points as they try to reconcile funding to meet the needs of hurricane victims with other spending priorities. "The poor and vulnerable cannot be left behind again," the letter said.

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