January 22, 2021
Inside this issue
• CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly
CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly
This week saw the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. as the 46th President of the United States and Kamala D. Harris as the Vice President. The new president wasted no time by signing a flurry of Executive Orders.
On Wednesday, then President-elect, Joe Biden and Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris, were sworn into office marking the start of the new administration and a series of priorities. President Biden becomes the oldest president in American history and the second Catholic to hold the nation's highest office. Vice President Harris becomes the first female, first black, and first Asian-American vice president, and is the highest-ranking woman in American history.
After the inauguration, President Biden signed a series of Executive Orders. Some of the Executive Orders do the following:
Mandate masks and physical distancing in all federal buildings, federal lands, and by federal employees and contractors to help stop the spread of COVID-19
Re-establish the United States' relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), with Dr. Anthony Fauci participating in the WHO Executive Board meeting
Create the position of COVID-19 Response Coordinator to lead the management efforts to produce, supply and distribute PPE, vaccines, and tests
Extend the Eviction and Foreclosure Moratorium through the Center for Disease Control to March 31, 2021
Extend Student Loan Forbearance through Sept. 30, 2021
Rejoin the Paris Agreement on Climate Change
Reverse President Trump's Executive Order excluding undocumented immigrants from the census count
Reverse the prohibition of people from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States
Preserve and fortify the DACA program
Increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour for the federal workforce
Direct the Department of Agriculture to enhance pandemic SNAP benefits by 15 percent
The social policy team continues to monitor and advocate for policies that fulfill the mission of Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA).
CCUSA President and CEO, Sister Donna Markham OP, PhD, congratulated the incoming administration saying, "On behalf of Catholic Charities USA, I would like to congratulate President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris on this momentous occasion. Now that the long and tense election process is over, it is time for us to unify as a country. In the throes of the pandemic and significant economic insecurity, too many families and individuals continue to experience great hardships. We look to your Administration and to Congress to address escalating unemployment, food insecurity and the looming housing crisis. Most especially, we call upon you to focus attention on people barely able to get by in these painful times."
You can read the full statement here.
Faith and the Common Good A Cry of Peace
Father of Jesus,
You who sent your angels to herald your Son's coming with cries of peace,
Hear our cry now
That your peace may touch all corners of our world.
Peace to the smallest child, still in the womb.
Peace to the most vulnerable of our elderly, who long to see your face.
Peace to the migrant fleeing war, persecution, hunger and poverty.
Peace to the citizens of those nations to which migrants flee.
Peace to the those touched by violence and disaster,
By storms and quakes and droughts and floods,
Who struggle to find safety and mercy in the very world you made for us.
You whose Son called all peacemakers blessed,
Help us forge peace in your name.
Peace among nations.
Peace among neighbors.
Peace among families.
When we look back on this time
May we recall it as the time we all heard the angels' cry
And worked together to reveal that peace to all.
A peace worthy of God, born into the world.
Amen
Copyright © 2017, Catholic Relief Services, www.crs.org
Prayer by Edward O'N. Hoyt/CRS.
National Prayer Vigil for Life
The National Prayer Vigil for Life is an all-night pro-life prayer vigil held on the eve of the March for Life each January since 1979. Over 20,000 pilgrims from across the nation pray through the night for an end to abortion and a greater respect for all human life. It is held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
Click here to read about important changes to the 2021 Vigil, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trivia President Biden is the oldest president at the time of inauguration, but who was the youngest U.S. president and how old were they when inaugurated?
Please send your answers to
[email protected]
On January 15, the trivia question was, "Which important amendment was ratified in 1964 and allowed more individuals to vote in elections?"
Anne Dryden who was the archivist of Catholic Charities USA was the first to submit the correct answer, the 24th Amendment. On January 23, 1964, the United States ratified the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any poll tax in elections for federal officials. On August 27, 1962, the House passed the 24th Amendment, outlawing the poll tax as a voting requirement in federal elections, by a vote of 295 to 86.
Begun in the 1890s as a legal way to keep African Americans from voting in southern states, poll taxes were essentially a voting fee. Eligible voters were required to pay their poll tax before they could cast a ballot. A "grandfather clause" excused some poor whites from payment if they had an ancestor who voted before the Civil War, but there were no exemptions for African Americans. Please share the weekly with your friends, family and networks so that we can build a movement of solidarity for those most in need!
You can also access advocacy opportunities through our advocacy and policy page.
Stay connected with our work to end poverty, follow us on Twitter at @CCharitiesUSA.
If you would like to help further Catholic Charities' commitment to alleviating, reducing, and preventing poverty you can contribute here.
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