The following issues have been selected by NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby, as concerns that need our attention.

The actions are suggestions provided by NETWORK for us to use in urging legislators towards decision-making that is in keeping with Catholic social teaching and the pastoral letters of the U.S. Catholic bishops.

Time for TANF

For five years, advocates have been working on improving the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant which was established in the 1996 welfare reform legislation. The TANF program expires this year, and Congress has not yet finished its work on reauthorizing legislation. The House passed its version of welfare reform reauthorization, HR 4737, which closely resembles the President's proposal for increased work requirements and additional restrictions on States and welfare recipients. The Senate Finance Committee's version contains many needed improvements, although not everything that advocates have called for. The full Senate needs to vote on their bill before they close this session of the 107th Congress. The TANF program expired on September 30, 2002 but was temporarily extended until December 31, 2002. NETWORK supports the Senate Finance Committee's proposal and calls for constituents to pressure their Senators to attend to the needs of families who are struggling to move from welfare to work.

Serious debate on the proposed improvements contained in the Senate Finance Committee's version of the new bill has not had a chance on the Senate floor due to the attention of leadership on Homeland Security and the war on Iraq. Meanwhile, people who depend on the State programs of work supports such as child care, job training and transportation are struggling. State budgets are experiencing serious deficits and thus will need to cut back on supportive programs if the federal funding does not come through. Instead of addressing these economic issues, Congress has spent its time debating Homeland Security, appropriating a huge increase in the defense budget, and drawing up a resolution for war. Thousands of letters and calls opposing the war on Iraq have poured into the offices yet there seems to be a rush into voting on this resolution with little attention to the requests of constituents.

Background: With less than two weeks left in the current session of Congress, the Senate still has not scheduled a vote on reauthorization of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The bill passed by the House, HR 4737, increases work requirements to 40 hours a week from the 30 in current law. It does nothing to restore benefits for immigrants and only increases child care by $1 billion. The Senate Finance Committee's version is much better than the House bill. It maintains the 30 hours of work, increases child care by $5.5 billion and offers a state option for restoring benefits to immigrants.

Senate staff indicate that the Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), would bring the Finance Committee's bill to the floor for a vote only if he can get an agreement from Senators to have a straight up-or-down vote with limited debate and no amendments.

There will be pressure from the Administration and many members to raise the work requirements as close as possible to 40 hours. At least one Senator is committed to eliminating all expansions of benefits for legal immigrants. These efforts must be opposed.

On September 30 the National Conference of State Legislatures and the American Public Human Resources Association urged congressional leaders to approve a three year extension of the current TANF program. They have requested an annual $600 million increase in child care cubsidies to meet growing need. The two organizations pointed out that the states are facing budtget gaps in 2003 totaling $58 billion and need certainty about what their income will be for welfare programs. Also, many states budget on a two-year cycle and need to know about funding levels in advance.

Attention is now focused on President Bush's request for authority to use armed force against Iraq. The move towards a pre-emptive, unilateral war is opposed by many people of faith including NETWORK and the U.S. Catholic Bishops. NETWORK calls on the Adminsitration to cooperate with the United Nations, and calls on Congress to address the important work of helping families to achieve economic security.

The Superwaiver: A Super Bad Idea

"As individuals and as a nation, therefore, we are called to make a fundamental "option for the poor." The obligation to evaluate social and economic activity from the viewpoint of the poor and the powerless arises from the radical command to love one's neighbor as one's self. Those whao are marginalized and whose rights are denied have privileged claims if society is to provide justice for all. This obligation is deeply rooted in Christian belief."
~Economic Justice for All, #87

The TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) reauthorization bill passed by the House on May 16th includes a "superwaiver" provision. It will grant sweeping authority to the Executive Branch to override, at a governor's request, most provisions of federal law related to a wide range of domestic programs mainly affecting people what are poor. This goes far beyond TANF reauthorization. Under this superwaiver proposal, Cabinet Secretaries would have total authority to approve waivers that effectively rewrite federal laws and change the fundamental nature of programs such as: the Food Stamp Program, the Child Care and Development Fund, Public Housing, the Social Services Block Grant, adult education programs under the Adult Literacy and Family Literacy Act, homeless assistance programs administred by the Department jof Housing and Urban Development, including transitional housing and emergency shelter grant programs, and most employment and job training programs under the Workforce Investment Act.

The Senate will be working on its version of TANF reauthorization over the next few weeks. Various Senate proposals that have been put forward do not include in the legislation as the process moves forward. Since the House bill includes the superwaiver it will be an issue when the House and Senate TANF bills come together. It is very important that members of the Senate hear from constituents and advocates for programs that will be impacted, that this provision not be included in TANF reauthorization.

What you can do: Contact your Senators and urge them to oppose the inclusion of the superwaiver provision in the TANF reauthorization bill.

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Children have been a focus of concern for IHM Sisters since the Congregation's founding in 1845. We work to change those elements in the world that contribute to the stress experienced by children as well as their explotation and devaluation.

Anxieties about safety, health, education and the future plague children today at an early age. When a child suffers, the whole world is diminished by the loss of potential and the capacity to hope in the future.

"The true measure of a people is the way in which they treat the most vulnerable among them, especially children and the elderly." Rabbi Abraham Heschel Sr. Mary Elaine Anderson with children in Sicuani, Peru