The Senate successfully voted to move forward with debate on the roughly $600 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill that would spend heavily on roads, bridges, broadband and public transit. Concurrently, Senate Majority Leader Schumer announced he has the votes to move forward with the $3.5T social spending package. In the House, several Appropriations bills passed the full House. In the Senate, they announced they will begin having hearings on their own Appropriations bills. The economy expanded by 6.5 percent in the second quarter of the year, a weaker-than-expected performance that underscores the forces dragging on growth as the U.S. struggles to recover from the crippling Covid-19 pandemic. Budget: Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says he has the votes for moving the $3.5T budget reconciliation package and that all 50 Democrats will vote to move forward on the party's $3.5 trillion social spending proposal. President Biden and Speaker Pelosi said this week that immigration reform should be included in the budget bill. Infrastructure: The Senate took the critical first step to advance a $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure framework Wednesday evening. The infrastructure framework would provide new funding for roads, broadband, public transit, electric vehicle chargers, water infrastructure and more. Though there's no legislative text yet, a White House outline says a mix of leftover emergency relief funds, tax enforcement on crypto currencies and other provisions will finance the deal. The deal won't raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000. Appropriations: House Democrats passed a $600 billion spending package this week that would fund the government. It contained millions of dollars in bipartisan district specific projects after a decade-long ban on earmarks. The seven-bill "minibus" would increase budgets at the departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Transportation and State Department, foreign aid programs and the Legislative Branch, passed largely along party lines. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that, eliminating the Hyde amendment, as these bills would do, would increase Medicaid reimbursements for abortion services by $30 million a year from fiscal FY22-31. Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Health Association wrote a letter to the House Committee on Appropriations and encouraged the inclusion of the long-standing Hyde and Weldon amendments to provide critical protections. After months of delay on their FY22 spending bills, Senators plan to begin marking up bills to fund Ag-FDA, Energy-Water and Veterans programs that will address recent droughts and agricultural disasters throughout the country. Eviction Ban Extension Resources: The eviction moratorium will expire July 31st. The House moved toward a possible vote on extending the eviction ban after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote a Dear Colleague to Members. To help people get help the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently announced a new "rental Assistance finder" tool and a Toolkit: Emergency Rental Assistance. Child Tax Credit Resources: To help people leverage the $13 billion Child Tax Credit payments available for roughly 4 million kids, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has developed resources that organizations can use and will host a webinar on local strategies for Child Tax Credit outreach on Tuesday, August 3, 2-3:30pm ET. COVID-19 Update: We are now seeing significant increases of COVID-19 infections due to the Delta variant that is far more transmissible and severe than its predecessors. On July 29, 2021, the CDC reported that there were 86,058 new COVID-19 cases and 397 deaths, with 466,244 new cases in the past week. Across the country, 189 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 163 million people who have been fully vaccinated. The CDC is now advising those who are fully vaccinated to wear a mask indoors in public. COVID-19 Community Corps (CCUSA is a member) is supporting vaccination across the country. Locate the closest place for a vaccine here. Please visit the CCUSA Social Policy/Advocacy page for updates and policy papers. See here.
Faith and the Common Good
On January 26, 2021, Pope Francis added the memorial of Saints Mary, Martha, and Lazarus to the General Roman Calendar, giving the siblings the combined feast day of July 29. Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were three siblings living in the town of Bethany outside of Jerusalem during the time of Christ. Signed by Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Divine Worship congregation, the pope's decree said that "in the household of Bethany the Lord Jesus experienced the family spirit and friendship of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and for this reason, the Gospel of John states that he loved them." "Martha generously offered him hospitality, Mary listened attentively to his words and Lazarus promptly emerged from the tomb at the command of the One who humiliated death," the decree continued. The July 29 feast day of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus will now appear in the Church's calendars and liturgical texts as a memorial.
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that the example of your Saints may spur us on to a better life,
so that we, who celebrate the memory of Saints Martha,
Mary and Lazarus,
may also imitate without ceasing their deeds.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Trivia
What tragic event happened on August 6th? On July 23rd, the trivia question was, "What treaty was signed on July 30, 1863?" We did not receive any correct answers for last week's trivia question. The Box Elder Treaty is an agreement between the Northwestern Shoshone and the U.S. government, signed on July 30, 1863. It was adopted after a period of conflict which included the Bear River Massacre on January 29, 1863. The treaty had little effect until 1968, when the United States compensated the Northwestern band for their land claim at a rate of about 50¢ per acre. Incursions by the California Trail, the Oregon Trail and the Mormon pioneers created conflict between the Shoshone and the white settlers. The Shoshone killed a relatively small proportion of white immigrants who encroached far into Shoshone lands. The 3rd California Volunteers, led by Patrick Edward Connor, initiated military contact with the Shoshone around October 31, 1860, when they executed about 14 or 15 indigenous people in retaliation for a reported attack on a wagon train. Violent conflict between the two groups continued. Although the Mormon settlers generally disapproved of these actions by the U.S. military, they also became fearful and executed an indigenous resident of Brigham City after a dispute over payment. Conditions for the Shoshone deteriorated quickly. The U.S. military launched an attack of unprecedented size and on January 29, 1863, they encountered a number of indigenous people at Bear River. The U.S. killed several hundred indigenous people, including women and children, in an incident now called the Bear River Massacre. After the military defeat, the U.S. soldiers raped and violently attacked the survivors. According to Shoshone oral histories, Chief Bear Hunters was captured and tortured before he was killed. This killing had a devastating effect on the indigenous people of the Great Basin, and compelled many groups to accept treaties in 1863. After the treaty was signed, most of the Northwestern Shoshone gathered in the Cache Valley and Box Elder County. The U.S. successfully moved many of them to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in Idaho after establishing it in 1868. Others converted to Mormonism and assimilated into Utah settler culture. The Northwestern Shoshone brought a lawsuit in 1930 alleging that the U.S. had reneged on promises made in the Treaty. In 1942, the Court of Claims denied their claim. The U.S. at first told the Shoshone that they were owed $10,800.17; this decision was reversed after the U.S. invoked previous monies it had spent on Indian affairs. The Supreme Court took the case and ruled in Northwestern Shoshone v. United States 324 U.S. 324 / 335 / 335( 1945) that the Box Elder Treaty was a non-binding "treaty of friendship". The Indian Claims Commission later acknowledged the validity of the claim, by way of the 1868 Fort Bridger Treaty. The Commission found on 13 February 1968 that 38,319,000 acres had been wrongfully taken from the northwestern Shoshone, and they awarded the Shoshone $15,700,000-a price of slightly less than $0.50 per acre.
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