• • CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly

This week in Washington saw Congress officially pass a stopgap funding measure, another troubling unemployment claims report, and the presidential determination of refugees hits a historic low.

Late Wednesday, the Senate approved a short-term spending bill to keep the federal government open through December 11.  The president signed the stopgap spending bill averting a government shutdown. The bill, passed by the House last week, generally holds federal funding at current levels while allowing for additional funds for children's nutritional assistance and aid for farmers.

Now that the government funding is secure and the immediate threat of a shutdown is avoided, coronavirus relief is the next looming challenge for Congress to address ahead of elections in November. The House passed a revised $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package on Thursday. Some of the provisions in the bill include:

·        a $600 per week unemployment benefit boost through January;

·        $1,200 payment to most Americans, state and local government;

·        $436 billion for state and local government aid;

·        Another round of funding for the Payment Protection Program;

·        $50 billion for Emergency Rental Relief;

·        15 percent increase to the maximum SNAP benefit;

·        $57 billion for child care;

·        $75 billion for COVID-19 testing and contract tracing.

The vote followed a conversation between House Speaker Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Mnunchin that failed to produce a deal. Secretary Mnunchin offered a $1.6 billion counter proposal. Both sides have agreed to continue discussions. Catholic Charities USA, along with other national Catholic partners, has called on Congress and the White House to come to an agreement to serve the needs of the people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read our joint letter here.

U.S. jobs rose by 661,000 in September and the unemployment rate was 7.9%. The Department of Labor reported 837,000 first-time unemployment claims last week. This was the fifth consecutive week that initial claims were below 1 million. However, the total remains higher than any time prior to the crisis. Continuing claims decreased by nearly 1 million to 11.8 million. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program saw 650,120 claims last week. The total for people receiving benefits under the various government programs was at 25.53 million.

On Wednesday, President Trump's administration sent a letter to Congress indicating they would admit a maximum of 15,000 refugees in fiscal year 2021, a record low since the program's creation in 1980. That is 3,000 fewer than last year's previous record low of 18,000. CCUSA's president and CEO, Sister Donna Markham, OP, PhD, said, "We call upon the administration to consider the refugee resettlement program's humanitarian mission to protect those in need. The individuals and families who apply for this program aren't doing so by choice. They have been forced to flee their homeland to avoid persecution, threats of violence, and death." You can read the full statement here.

Catholic Charities USA sends our thoughts and prayers for President Trump, the First Lady and everyone afflicted with COVID-19. Regardless of your political affiliation, as Catholics we are called to pray for our leaders and those in authority. Please continue to follow all public health guidelines regarding the disease.

Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

This Sunday, October 4th, we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi.  He is known as the Church's patron saint of animals and the environment.  He was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on July 16, 1228.  

Francis set out to imitate Christ and literally carry out his work. This is important in understanding Francis' character, his affinity for the Eucharist and respect for the priests who carried out the sacrament. He and his followers celebrated and even venerated poverty, which was so central to his character.

On March 13, 2013 Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected as pope. It is said that upon his election, Brazilian Cardinal Cláudio Hummes embraced him and whispered, "Don't forget the poor", which had made Bergoglio think of St. Francis. Bergoglio had expressed his admiration for St. Francis, explaining that "He brought to Christianity an idea of poverty against the luxury, pride, vanity of the civil and ecclesiastical powers of the time. He is the first pope who selected the named Francis. The Church is anticipating his next encyclical, Fratelli Tutti.

In honoring his feast day, we offer the prayer often attributed to St. Francis.

The Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offense, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
O Master, let me not seek as much
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that one receives,
it is in self-forgetting that one finds,
it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,
it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.

Respect Life Month
October the Church in the United States celebrates Respect Life Month, and the first Sunday of October is observed as Respect Life Sunday. As Catholics, we are called to cherish, defend, and protect those who are most vulnerable, from the beginning of life to its end, and at every point in between. During the month of October, the Church asks us to reflect more deeply on the dignity of every human life.  You can find resources here.

Which woman co-founded the National Farm Workers Association?

On September 25th, the trivia question was, "Who created hand sanitizer?"

There are many versions of the story, but we did not receive a correct answer.

While alcohol has been in use as an antiseptic since the late-1800s, the exact origins of hand sanitizer are up for debate. 

One version of the story points to Lupe Hernandez, a nursing student in Bakersfield, California in 1966, as the inventor of hand sanitizer after combining alcohol and gel for use by doctors in situations where they don't have time to access soap and warm water before treating patients.

Subsequent attempts to verify the story or identify Hernández have proven unsuccessful. In 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and, subsequently, increased interest in hygiene, the Lemelson Center at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., investigated the claim and was unable to find a relevant patent or any other evidence to support the story.  Despite the lack of verifiable details, the story has been published as fact repeatedly, including in nursing textbooks.

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