CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- The United States mustn\u2019t cut foreign aid while conflicts, famines, and a worldwide refugee crisis rage, Catholic leaders are insisting.<\/p>\nAmid a \u201chuge, unprecedented refugee situation\u201d around the globe and four countries with famines or on the cusp of famine \u201cwe\u2019re just extremely concerned that the resources won\u2019t be there to respond to those really critical humanitarian needs,\u201d Bill O\u2019Keefe, vice president for government relations and advocacy at Catholic Relief Services, told CNA on Friday of President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed budget that cuts some foreign assistance.<\/p>\n
President Trump\u2019s \u201cskinny\u201d proposed \u201cAmerica First\u201d budget for FY 2018 \u2013 a more detailed plan will be released later \u2014 increases defense spending and immigration enforcement, and makes significant cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department, among other agencies and programs, to offset those increases.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis includes deep cuts to foreign aid. It is time to prioritize the security and well-being of Americans, and to ask the rest of the world to step up and pay its fair share,\u201d President Trump stated in the proposal.<\/p>\n
The proposal trims almost a third \u2013 29 percent \u2013 of the International Affairs Budget, David Beckmann, president of the group Bread for the World, told CNA.<\/p>\n
And while the number of persons displaced from their homes is at its highest ever recorded at over 65 million, with over 21 million of those refugees, the U.S. should not be cutting its foreign aid to vulnerable populations, CRS insisted.<\/p>\n
With huge movements of people comes instability, O\u2019Keefe said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t meet\u201d the humanitarian needs of vulnerable populations, \u201cpeople will move and that will be destabilizing.\u201d<\/p>\n
106 faith leaders signed a letter sent to congressional leaders on Thursday in \u201csupport for the International Affairs Budget that every day brings hope to poor, hungry, vulnerable and displaced men, women and children around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Signers of the letter included Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Bishop Gregory J. Mansour of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn and chairman of the board of Catholic Relief Services, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, and Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith just 1 percent of our nation\u2019s budget, the International Affairs Budget has helped alleviate the suffering of millions; drastically cutting the number of people living in extreme poverty in half, stopping the spread of infectious diseases like HIV\/AIDs and Ebola, and nearly eliminating polio,\u201d they stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdditionally, it promotes freedom and human rights, protecting religious freedom for millions around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Trump\u2019s budget proposal, foreign assistance would be targeted toward countries of greater \u201cstrategic importance\u201d to the U.S.<\/p>\n
This shifting of priorities could have serious consequences for the future of U.S. foreign policy, O\u2019Keefe noted, as countries deemed \u201cless strategic\u201d for aid could see their societal problems greatly increase without assistance in the next few years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ignore countries that are fragile, poorly governed, with lots of poor and disenfranchised people, then they end up becoming strategic countries that you then have to fight wars in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d like to see our government investing more in prevention, and in building the capacity of societies to deal with their own problems and in the diplomacy to resolve conflicts without military action.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted that the budget proposal keeps \u201cmuch of the global health funding\u201d like the PEPFAR program to fight AIDS in Africa, O\u2019Keefe said, which is good.<\/p>\n
However, the proposal targeted many other programs like the McGovern-Dole Food for Education Program, which \u201callows CRS to support basic education in rural school settings,\u201d O\u2019Keefe said. The president had said that program \u201clacks evidence that it is being effectively implemented to reduce food insecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposal also touches anti-trafficking programs and anti-gang programs, and the State Department\u2019s 60 year-old Food for Peace program would see cuts, CRS noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand the budget challenges,\u201d O\u2019Keefe insisted, while adding that \u201cyou\u2019re not going to be able to balance the budget on the one percent that goes to foreign aid,\u201d especially since it\u2019s already been trimmed disproportionately for the last nine years.<\/p>\n
He added that domestic and international anti-poverty programs have \u201cbeen squeezed\u201d to make room for military spending, which would prioritize short-term goals over long-term stability.<\/p>\n
Some domestic programs saw cuts, including \u201chousing and heating for poor people,\u201d Beckmann noted, and certain block grants that provide funding for the program Meals on Wheels, a volunteer food delivery program to the elderly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can you cut Meals on Wheels?\u201d Beckmann asked.<\/p>\n
The president of the organization, Ellie Hollander, explained what may be at stake in the proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problem with a skinny budget is it is lean on details. So, while we don\u2019t know the exact impact yet, cuts of any kind to these highly successful and leveraged programs would be a devastating blow to our ability to provide much-needed care for millions of vulnerable seniors in America, which in turn saves billions of dollars in reduced healthcare expenses,\u201d Hollander stated.<\/p>\n
Some of the other federal programs the President suggested cutting included the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities and some funding for Meals on Wheels and the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n
Programs fighting opioid addictions would receive a half-a-billion dollar boost in Trump\u2019s plan, however. The Centers for Disease Control has labeled opioid overdoses an epidemic, and said that 33,000 people died from using prescription opioids and heroin in 2015.<\/p>\n
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Washington D.C., Mar 19, 2017 \/ 06:01 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- The United States mustn’t cut foreign aid while conflicts, famines, and a worldwide refugee crisis rage, Catholic leaders are insisting.<\/p>\n
Amid a “huge, unprecedented refugee situati…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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