A call to restore, not rescind humanitarian aid

By Barb Arland-Fye
Editor

“The hungry nations of the world cry out to the peoples blessed with abundance. And the Church, cut to the quick by this cry, asks each and every man to hear his brother’s plea and answer it lovingly,” Pope St. Paul VI said in his 1967 encyclical “Populorum Progressio” (“On the Development of Peoples”).

Each of St. Paul VI’s successors has called on wealthy nations to respond to the cry of the hungry around the globe. Our nation, blessed with abundance, has begun ignoring the cry of the hungry nations. We, as Catholics, must raise our voices to focus our nation’s priorities on the least among us — at home and abroad.

Let’s begin by paying close attention to our nation’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget, which the U.S. Office of Management and Budget sent May 2 to U.S. Senator Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. This proposed budget slashes international assistance and development funding. Separately, the Administration seeks to rescind funds that Congress previously appropriated, leaving children, women and men in a world of hurt.

 The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world; we can afford to share and our Catholic faith obligates us to respond to the needs of the poor and vulnerable. We must implore Congress and President Trump to restore, not rescind funds already appropriated to assist people around the globe not only to survive but also to thrive!

Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the U.S. bishops’ overseas development and humanitarian agency, has for decades equipped people in impoverished countries around the world with tools, knowledge and sustenance to build sustainability. CRS has relied heavily on funding from the U.S. Aid for International Development (USAID), now dismantled and absorbed into the U.S. State Department.

The proposed budget “ensures that foreign aid spending is efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda,” Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget wrote May 2 to Senator Collins. “The Budget reorganizes USAID into the Department of State to meet current needs and eliminates non-essential staff that were hired based on DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and preferencing practices …”

CNN.com reported the same day that the “blueprint proposes a drastic cut in the State Department and international programs’ budget — nearly 84% lower than last fiscal year, including rescissions and cancellations.”

In a call to action (https://tinyurl.com/4dzatwpf), CRS said, “We anticipate the administration will request Congress cancel previously appropriated funds for humanitarian and development assistance through a process called rescissions. These funds were intended to support vulnerable families and communities by ensuring access to emergency food aid, helping smallholder farmers improve their crops and strengthening community capacity to meet their own needs. Rescinding these funds means fewer people will receive lifesaving and life-affirming aid, and needs will continue to rise.”

Of equal concern, “Congress is also assessing support for lifesaving aid in the fiscal year 2026 federal budget. Congress has traditionally supported international humanitarian and development funding. As the U.S. realigns its spending around the broad objectives of making America safer, stronger and more prosperous, we must ensure that lifesaving and life-affirming aid remains a central and contributing component of this strategy.”

CRS asks us to tell Congress:

• Oppose rescissions of previously appropriated funds for lifesaving humanitarian and development assistance.
• Maintain current funding levels for poverty-reducing international assistance in fiscal year 2026 appropriations. (https://tinyurl.com/4dzatwpf).

Timing and logistics are critical. If the Trump Administration asks Congress to rescind the previously appropriated funds, a 45-day clock begins, at which time targeted programs would have their funds frozen. “This could be potentially catastrophic for the world’s poor who rely on food supplies from organizations like Catholic Relief Services who rely on unhindered ordering, shipping and delivery of essential foodstuffs,” said Deacon Kent Ferris, diocesan director of Social Action.

“If Congress agrees to ‘tear up the check’ of appropriations, foreign and domestic humanitarian aid could face similar catastrophic funding levels in subsequent federal budgets,” added Deacon Ferris. The United States spends less than 1% on international assistance and just half of that goes toward poverty-reducing humanitarian aid, CRS reports.

As the late Pope Francis has asked, let us become pilgrims of hope this year by advocating on behalf of our sisters and brothers in need around the globe.

Barb Arland-Fye, Editor
arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org