• • CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly

This week, lawmakers continued the negotiation process of passing fiscal year 2020 appropriations before the November 21st funding deadline. Additionally, the Department of Agriculture reopened the comment period for changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Spending Agreement
Appropriations negotiations remain in limbo as the House and Senate have less than five weeks to come to an agreement to pass a spending bill to prevent another government shutdown. There was a glimmer of hope when late yesterday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture motions to proceed to two House-passed spending packages. These packages bundle separate appropriations bills together and serve as the vehicle for Senate substitutes. The first House-passed package includes spending bills for Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD. The second package is likely to contain some defense funds and other priorities, including programs to combat the opioid epidemic. The exact contents are still being negotiated, but the Senate plans to take up the two packages as early as next week.

Contention is swirling around the Military Construction-VA spending bill and whether it will include President Trump's priority of funding for further wall construction along the southern border. Democratic leaders have indicated that they are planning to include $3.6 billion to fund other military construction projects and don't want those funds diverted for wall funding. If Congress and President Trump are unable to come to an agreement, the possibility of another government shutdown exists. 

SNAP Categorical Eligibility
In September, Catholic Charities USA spoke out against a proposed rule changing the eligibility rules of SNAP. The proposed rule would end the practice of categorical eligibility, which allows people who qualify for other federal poverty assistance programs to automatically qualify for SNAP. In a joint letter with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the Catholic Health Association (CHA), Catholic Rural Life, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, we highlighted how proposed rule changes would make SNAP less efficient and create barriers to access for millions of individuals. You can read the full comment here.

One of the most staggering estimates from the Department of Agriculture was that the proposed rule would remove 500,000 children from automatic eligibility for free school meals. Initially, the comment period closed on September 23rd. However, it was revealed this week in a House hearing that the number of children becoming ineligible for free school meals originally estimated to be 500,000 is actually closer to one million. This startling revelation caused the Department of Agriculture to reopen the comment period for two weeks. If you would like to speak out on this proposed rule change you can submit an official comment here.  The deadline for submitting comments is November 1, 2019.

Brad Simpson was the first to correctly identify October 11th as the feast day of Saint John XXIII.  John XXIII helped to avoid war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over the Cuban Missile Crisis.   He served as pope and sovereign of the Vatican from October 28, 1958 until his death in 1963; he was canonized on April 27, 2014.  He increased the size of the College of Cardinals from 70 to 85 and then subsequently named cardinals from Tanzania (Cardinal Laurean Rugambwa), Japan, (Cardinal Peter Doi) and the Philippines (Cardinal Rufino Jiao Santos).  Pope St. John XXIII formally opened the Second Vatican Council in 1962. He was affectionately referred to as the "Good Pope."

Canonization of New Saints
On October 13, 2019, Pope Francis declared England's Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), Italy's Giuseppina Vannini (1859-1911), founder of the Daughters of Saint Camillus;  India's Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan (1876-1926), founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family; Brazil's Sister Dulce Lopes Pontes (1914-1992); and Switzerland's Margherita Bays (1815-1879), a laywoman, as saints at the beginning of a festive Mass in St. Peter's Square attended by 50,000 people from all continents.

Celebrating these canonizations while the Synod for the Amazon is meeting in Rome also highlights the role women play in the life of the churches in the region's nine countries.  Pope Francis drew attention to the lives of the three women who belonged to religious communities working with the poor.  The fourth woman, Saint Marguerite Bays, was a seamstress who spoke of simple prayer and enduring patience.

A number of Newman Societies (called Newman Centers in the United States) in Newman's honor have been established throughout the world, in the mold of the Oxford University Newman Society. They provide pastoral services and ministries to Catholics at non-Catholic universities.

You can find biographies of the new saints here.

Prayer by Cardinal John Henry Newman
May the Lord support us all the day long,

Till the shades lengthen and the evening comes,

and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over,

and our work is done.

Then in his mercy may he give us a safe lodging,

and holy rest, and peace at the last.

Amen.
 

Call to Prayer
Here is this week's Bishops' Call to Prayer Friday intention. Join the USCCB and thousands of Catholics who are praying and fasting every Friday for the renewal of a culture of life and marriage, and for the protection of religious liberty in our country. Your prayers matter and your sacrifices make a difference.

Trivia

Which famed Civil Rights icon died on October 25, 2005?

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