Clay Issues Personal Invitation to GOP Budget Chairman Paul Ryan to Come to St. Louis to See Harsh Impact of Republican Fiscal Year 2015 Budget
Clay Issues Personal Invitation to GOP Budget Chairman Paul Ryan to Come to St. Louis to See Harsh Impact of Republican Fiscal Year 2015 Budget
Asks Fellow Catholic Legislator to Focus on Universal Values of Social & Economic Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 4.30.14
MEDIA CONTACT: STEVEN ENGELHARDT (314) 504-4029
WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Wm. Lacy Clay (D) Missouri, the Dean of Missouri’s U.S. House delegation, delivered a personal invitation to House GOP Budget Chairman, Congressman Paul Ryan (R) Wisconsin, to come to St. Louis to see first-hand, the devastating impact that the proposed GOP FY15 budget would have on hard-working people. The invitation came during a private meeting earlier today between Mr. Ryan and Members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Congressman Clay, a vocal critic of the proposed GOP FY15 budget, appealed to Chairman Ryan as a fellow Catholic legislator, on the basis of their shared faith tradition.
In his letter to Mr. Ryan, Mr. Clay wrote, “Although we are of different parties, we share the same faith tradition, and hopefully, the core human values that our mother church considers to be universal matters of social and economic justice for all people. Today, with an open heart, I extend a personal invitation to you, as a fellow Catholic, to come to St. Louis to experience first-hand, the devastating impact that the proposed House FY15 Republican budget would have on thousands of hard-working citizens whom I am honored to represent.
It is often said that a budget is a blueprint of our values…a moral roadmap of what really matters to real people. I am sorry to report that in the State of Missouri, the proposed Republican FY15 budget would deprive over 13,000 low-income students of Pell Grants; leave over 3,000 at-risk children with no access to Head Start; allow over 1700 abused women to lose the protection of the STOP Violence Against Women Program; and would force almost 90,000 seniors to pay more for their medications by enlarging the Medicare Part D drug donut hole.
Your budget would also slash federal support for cherished Catholic nonprofit institutions like the renowned St. Patrick Center which has transformed the lives of thousands of homeless citizens from dependency to independence and dignity. I appeal to you as a fellow brother in faith to join me in earnest dialogue regarding our nation’s budget priorities.”
Historically, the U.S. Council of Catholic Bishops has strongly criticized almost identical GOP Budget proposals authored by Congressman Ryan as“Failing to meet the moral test of protecting the poor, morally indefensible, and betraying Catholic principles of solidarity, just taxation and a commitment to the common good."
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