Iraq War, foreign aid, housing, immigration on Congress' agenda

Published: 2007-09-07

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Nine months into the congressional term, a new Gallup Poll finds only 18 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing. That makes for a whole lot of pressure on the majority Democrats to push through some of the legislation that voters think is important before the already highly politicized environment becomes even more polarized by campaigning for next year's elections. Dealing with the war in Iraq topped congressional leaders' priority lists after their August recess. While the debate in Congress focuses on "benchmarks" and other details of an independent commission's study of the progress of the war, church advocates worry about how the situation is affecting the Iraqi people. Stephen Colecchi, director of the Office of International Justice and Peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that means trying to ensure that whatever the United States does to extricate itself from Iraq the effort must follow a moral framework that leads to a stable transition.

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