Media CenterCRS, Bishops Urge Congress to Approve Humanitarian Assistance Funding Before Dec. 9 Deadline for Additional Appropriations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Kim Pozniak
Catholic Relief Services
[email protected]
410-951-7281

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BALTIMORE, MD, NOVEMBER 29, 2016 -- Catholic Relief Services (CRS) President Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo has joined the chairmen of two committees of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in urging Congress to approve additional funding for humanitarian relief and recovery programs before the FY16 Continuing Resolution runs out Dec. 9. These Overseas Contingency Operations funds, as requested by the Administration, would address the growing needs of those forced to flee their homes by the fight against ISIS in Iraq and other disasters around the world. 

“At USCCB and CRS, we know through our own emergency appeals that when Americans are asked to help, they respond generously,” Woo, Bishop Oscar Cantu and Bishop Joe. S. Vasquez write in a letter sent to Congress Nov. 28. While expressing gratitude for Congressional support for key humanitarian accounts, they say “existing funding is insufficient.” 

“More than 50,000 people have already fled Mosul, joining the approximately 3.3 million Iraqis who have been internally displaced since ISIS began occupying parts of Iraq in 2014,” the letter states.  “[We] believe that as the world’s wealthiest nation, we have an obligation to help the innocent who fall victim to war, to protect the marginalized, and to lift people out of poverty.” 

Through the generosity of private donors and public money, CRS has been able to help some 80,000 people displaced by war in Iraq.

Addressing the House and Senate Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, the Catholic leaders also point to increased suffering elsewhere around the world, in addition to the needs in Iraq, including drought in Southern Africa, and continued violence in South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Lake Chad Basin. Additional funding, the letter states, will help ensure CRS can continue to respond “to crises like these that don’t make the headlines.”

Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, NM, chairs the USCCB’s International Justice and Peace committee, and Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, TX, is chairman of the Committee on Migration.

The letter was sent to Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Representatives Kay Granger (R-TX) and Nita Lowey (D-NY), the chairs and ranking members of the Senate and House subcommittees.  

En español

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Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. For more information, please visit crs.org or crsespanol.org and follow CRS on social media: Facebook, @CatholicRelief, @CRSnews, YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest.