USCCB committee chair emphasizes: do not cut food stamps
September 13, 2013
Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, has again urged the House of Representatives not to cut funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), popularly known as food stamps.
“Adequate and nutritious food is a fundamental human right and a basic need that is integral to protecting the life and dignity of the human person,” he said in a September 11 letter to House members. “SNAP is one of the most effective and important federal programs to combat hunger in the nation by helping to feed millions of persons in need every year.”
“Struggling people are not seeking a life of government dependency but rightfully deserve decent paying jobs to provide for them and their families,” he added. “Proposals to eliminate access to SNAP for people who have at some point in their lifetime committed certain crimes are counterproductive and an affront to human dignity.”
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Posted by: -
Sep. 15, 2013 12:09 PM ET USA
"The Catholic Church must never abandon the poor ... to Holy Mother the State." -- Servant of God Dorothy Day
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Posted by: jimr451 -
Sep. 13, 2013 8:56 PM ET USA
Again a lost opportunity for the USCCB to call on US Catholics to "bridge the gap" and feed the poor. Instead we get an implicit acknowledgement that the federal government is more effective at charity than the Catholic Church.
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Posted by: BobJ70777069 -
Sep. 13, 2013 7:11 PM ET USA
Once again, our Bishops get their progressivism mised up with their Catholicism. The hungry would get a lot more help without the government's siphoning off 90% of the money.
