June 19, 2005

CALL ON MONDAY, JUNE 20!

URGE YOUR SENATORS TO INCREASE U.S. FOOD ASSISTANCE IN FY 2006:

Senate Appropriations Committee to begin consideration of appropriations bill this week

You are receiving this alert because your Senator is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is scheduled to begin consideration of the FY 2006 agricultural appropriations bill this week, with a first vote in the agriculture appropriations subcommittee to be held on Tuesday, June 21.  Please help us in urging your Senators to do the right thing and robustly fund food aid in FY 2006!

WHY THIS ISSUE IS IMPORTANT:   As we have been reporting for some time, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is very concerned about the serious shortage of U.S.-sponsored global food aid.  Funding for food aid programs has not kept up with demands caused by unanticipated natural disasters such as the tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia, the war ravaging the Darfur region of Sudan, and serious food shortages threatening the lives of people in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Southern Africa.

TAKE ACTION NOW!   Click here for your Senators' phone number and call by close of business, Monday, June 20.  Otherwise, click here to send your Senator an email today by entering your zip code in the take action box!

Many of CRS' projects around the world that use food for long-term development such as improving nutrition among women and children or increasing agricultural productivity have been scaled back.  CRS believes that a minimum of $2 billion will be needed to cover global food aid needs in the fiscal year 2006. For more information about the food aid crisis, click here to visit the CRS website to read recent testimony by Sean Callahan, CRS Vice President for Overseas Operations before the House Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Specialty Crops and Foreign Agriculture Programs.

BACKGROUND:   As Catholics, our Church's social teaching is rooted in the fundamental dignity of every human life.  The U.S. Catholic Bishops have stated that the right to food is a basic right because it is required to sustain life and to live a truly human existence. The Gospel of Jesus Christ calls on us to do everything we can to meet the basic needs of our brothers and sisters around the world, especially the poor and hungry.

Thanks in part to CRS and your advocacy efforts Congress approved additional food assistance funding for FY 2005 earlier this year, which President Bush referred to recently during British Prime Minister Tony Blairs visit to Washington. Thanks also to CRS and our grassroots advocates, additional food aid resources have been released through the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust, an emergency food aid reserve, which will benefit urgent needs in the Horn of Africa. While CRS welcomes this funding, more will be needed to meet growing demands.

For FY 2006, the House Appropriations Committee already passed its version of the agriculture appropriations bill, which only includes $1.107 billion for food aid.  Now, the Senate is poised to take action on its version of the FY 2006 agriculture appropriations bill, beginning with Subcommittee consideration on Tuesday, June 21. It is critically important that the Senate increase food aid funding in their appropriations bill. Please join us to urge the Senate to do whatever is necessary to significantly boost FY 2006 food aid levels.

TAKE ACTION NOW!   Contact your Senators who are members of the Appropriations Committee (click here for a complete list) and urge them to include a minimum of $2 billion for Title II food aid in the FY 2006 agriculture appropriations bill or to support any amendments that would increase food aid funding so that they are as close as possible to the $2 billion level we are seeking.  To email your Senators, click here. 

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP: 

• Share this action alert with your family, friends, and fellow parishioners.

• Encourage others to sign up for CRS' legislative network www.crs.org/legislativenetwork.cfm .
• Learn, discuss, and pray about global issues that affect the poor and how our advocacy efforts can make a difference.  Visit our website www.crs.org/grassroots.cfm for educational, action, and prayer resources.
• Contribute to CRS' efforts.  Visit our website www.crs.org or call (800) 736-3467 to make a gift today.

For further information contact:

Tina Rodousakis, Legislative Network Specialist, 1-800-235-2772 x 7462; trodousa@crs.org

Please ask to speak with the staff person responsible for appropriations issues

* Indicates members of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee who need to be contacted no later than end of the day Monday, June 20. All other members must be contacted no later than Thursday, June 23 before 2:00 PM.

ALASKA Sen. Ted Stevens Phone: (202) 224-3004

CALIFORNIA Sen. Dianne Feinstein* Phone: (202) 224-3841

COLORADO Sen. Wayne Allard Phone: (202) 224-5941

HAWAII Sen. Daniel Inouye Phone: (202) 224-3934

IDAHO Sen. Larry Craig* Phone: (202) 224-2752

ILLINOIS Sen. Richard Durbin* Phone: (202) 224-2152

IOWA Sen. Tom Harkin* Phone: (202) 224-3254

KANSAS Sen. Sam Brownback* Phone: (202) 224-6521

KENTUCKY Sen. Mitch McConnell* Phone: (202) 224-2541

LOUISIANA Sen. Mary Landrieu* Phone: (202) 224-5824

MARYLAND Sen. Barbara Mikulski Phone: (202) 224-4654

MISSISSIPPI Sen. Thad Cochran* Chairman, Approp. Com. Phone: (202) 224-5054

MISSOURI Sen. Christopher Bond* Phone: (202) 224-5721

MONTANA Sen. Conrad Burns* Phone: (202) 224-2644 

NEVADA Sen. Harry Reid, Minority Leader Phone: (202) 224-3542

NEW HAMPSHIRE Sen. Judd Gregg Phone: (202) 224-3324

NEW MEXICO Sen. Pete Domenici Phone: (202) 224-6621

NORTH DAKOTA Sen. Byron Dorgan* Phone: (202) 224-2551

OHIO Sen. Mike DeWine Phone: (202) 224-2315

PENNSYLVANIA Sen. Arlen Specter* Phone: (202) 224-4254