DATE: January 18, 2011

FROM: Mar Muñoz-Visoso

O: 202-541-3200
M: 301-646-8616

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ARCHBISHOP DOLAN OUTLINES U.S. BISHOPS’ LEGISLATIVE ‘PRINCIPLES AND

PRIORITIES’ FOR NEW CONGRESS

The poor and vulnerable must not be neglected in times of difficult choices
Respect for the dignity of all human life an underlying principle
Subsequent letter on health care reform reflects bishops’ principles at work

WASHINGTON—In a letter to Congress, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), outlined the “principles and priorities that
will guide the public policy efforts” of the Bishops’ Conference during the new legislature. The
letter was mailed to all members of Congress on January 14.
Archbishop Dolan said he “hopes that this newly elected Congress will advance the common
good and defend the life and dignity of all, especially vulnerable and poor persons whose needs are
critical in this time of difficult economic and policy choices.”
“As bishops, of course we approach public policy not as politicians but as pastors and
teachers,” Archbishop Dolan said. “Our moral principles have always guided our everyday
experience in caring for the hungry and homeless, offering health care and housing, educating
children and reaching out to those in need.”
From renewed opposition to public funding of abortion and support for pregnant women to
carry out their pregnancies, to health care for all, and the serious human consequences and
significant moral dimensions of the economic challenges our nation faces, the bishops’ priorities
touch on a wide variety of issues.
“We offer this outline as an agenda for dialogue and action,” the archbishop said. “We hope
to offer a constructive and principled contribution to national discussion about the values and
policies that will shape our nation's future. We seek to work together with our nation's leaders to
advance the common good of our society.”
Since Archbishop Dolan sent his letter, the bishop chairs whose committees’ work is
impacted by health care reform have articulated their concerns as Congress revisits the issue.
“Rather than joining efforts to support or oppose the repeal of the recently enacted health
care law, we will continue to devote our efforts to correcting serious moral problems in the current
law, so health care reform can truly be life-affirming for all,” wrote Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of
Galveston-Houston, Coadjutor Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, and Bishop Stephen Blaire
of Stockton, California in a January 18 letter to the House of Representatives. The bishops chair the
USCCB Committees on Pro-Life Activities, Migration, and Domestic Justice and Human
Development, respectively.
The bishops wrote that any action taken by Congress on health care reform should reflect the
following moral criteria:
Ensure access to quality, affordable, life-giving health care for all.
Retain longstanding requirements that effectively protect conscience right and that prohibit use of
federal funds for elective abortion or plans that include them.
Protect the access to health care that immigrants currently have and remove current barriers to
access.
Full text of Archbishop Dolan’s letter and the joint letter on health care reform to Congress
follow.

January 14, 2011

Dear Member of Congress,

As a new Congress begins, I write to congratulate you and to outline principles and priorities
that guide the public policy efforts of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
As President of the Bishops’ Conference, I assure you of our prayers and hopes that this newly
elected Congress will advance the common good and defend the life and dignity of all, especially
vulnerable and poor persons whose needs are critical in this time of difficult economic and policy
choices. We continue to seek ways to work constructively with the Administration and the new
Congress and others of good will to pursue policies which respect the dignity of all human life and
bring greater justice to our nation and peace to our world.

As bishops, of course we approach public policy not as politicians but as pastors and
teachers. Our moral principles have always guided our everyday experience in caring for the hungry
and homeless, offering health care and housing, educating children and reaching out to those in need.
We lead the largest community of faith in the United States, one that serves every part of our nation
and is present in almost every place on earth. From our experience and our tradition, we offer a
distinctive, constructive and principled contribution to the national dialogue on how to defend
human life and dignity, promote and protect marriage and family life, lift up those who experience
economic turmoil and suffering, and promote peace in a world troubled by war and violence.

Most fundamentally, we will work to protect the lives of the most vulnerable and voiceless
members of the human family, especially unborn children and those who are disabled or
terminally ill. We will consistently defend the fundamental right to life from conception to natural
death. Opposed to abortion as the direct killing of innocent human life, we will encourage one and
all to seek common ground, reducing the number of abortions by providing compassionate and
morally sound care for pregnant women and their unborn children. We will oppose legislative and
other measures to expand abortion. We will work to retain essential, widely supported policies
which show respect for unborn life, protect the conscience rights of health care providers and other
Americans, and prevent government funding and promotion of abortion. The Hyde amendment and
other provisions which for many years have prevented federal funding of abortion have a proven
record of reducing abortions, and should be codified in permanent law. Efforts to force Americans
to fund abortions with their tax dollars pose a serious moral challenge, and Congress should act to
ensure that health care reform does not become a vehicle for such funding.
 In close connection with our defense of all human life and particularly the most vulnerable
among us, we stand firm in our support for marriage which is and can only be a faithful, exclusive,
lifelong union of one man and one woman. There is good reason why the law has always recognized
this, and why it should continue to do so. In a manner unlike any other relationship, marriage makes
a unique and irreplaceable contribution to the common good of society, especially through the
procreation and education of children. Children need, deserve and yearn for a mother and a father.
All human societies in every era of history, differing greatly among themselves in many other ways,
have understood this simple wisdom. No other kinds of personal relationships can be justly made
equivalent or analogous to the commitment of a husband and a wife in marriage, because no other
relationship can connect children to the two people who brought them into the world. For this
reason, we will continue to vigorously support the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and strongly
oppose legislative or executive measures that seek to redefine or erode the meaning of marriage. We
suggest Congressional oversight of executive actions that have the effect of undermining DOMA,
such as the expansion of spousal benefits to two persons of the same sex, and the weak defense of
DOMA in court against constitutional challenge. We will seek to reflect respect for the family in
every policy and program, to protect the rights of children, and to uphold the rights and
responsibilities of mothers and fathers to care for their children. We will also continue to monitor
legislation and federal regulations that protect our children and families from the destructive
repercussions of pornography, which degrades human sexuality and marital commitment.

Our nation faces continuing economic challenges with serious human consequences and significant
moral dimensions. We will work with the Administration and Congress for budget, tax and
entitlement policies that reflect the moral imperative to protect poor and vulnerable people. We
advocate a clear priority for poor families and vulnerable workers in the development and
implementation of economic recovery measures, including appropriate new investments, finding
ways to offer opportunity and strengthening the national safety net. Poor families and low-income
and jobless workers have been hurt most of all in the economic crisis. The difficult choices ahead on
how to balance needs and resources, and how to proportionately allocate the burdens and sacrifices
need to take into account the vulnerability and capacity of all, especially those most affected by
poverty, joblessness and economic injustice. We urge the Administration and Congress to seek the
common good of our nation and people above partisan politics and the demands of powerful or
narrow interests.

With regard to the education of children, we call for a return to the equitable participation of
students and teachers in private schools in programs funded through the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act. When students in private schools are counted in order to determine the total amount
of federal education funds a public school district receives, the funds generated by these students
should benefit them and their teachers, not be used for programs in which only public school
students and personnel can participate. We also continue to support initiatives, such as tax credits
and scholarship programs, which provide resources for all parents, especially those of modest means,
to choose education which best addresses the needs of their children.

We welcome continuing commitments to empower faith-based groups as effective partners

in overcoming poverty and other threats to human dignity. We will continue to work with the
Administration and Congress to strengthen these partnerships in ways that do not encourage
government to abandon its responsibilities, and do not require religious groups to abandon their
identity or mission.
 As the Internet continues to grow in its influence and prominence in Americans’ lives, we
support legislation and federal regulations that ensure equal access to the Internet for all, including
religious and non-profit agencies, as well as those in more sparsely populated or economically
distressed areas. True net neutrality is necessary for people to flourish in a democratic society.

The Catholic Bishops of the United States have worked for nearly a century to assure health
care for all, insisting that access to health care is a basic human right and a requirement of human
dignity. Basic health care for all is a moral imperative, not yet completely achieved. We remain
committed to our three moral criteria: 1) Ensure access to quality, affordable, life-giving health care
for all; 2) Retain longstanding requirements that federal funds not be used for elective abortions or
plans that include them, and effectively protect conscience rights; and 3) Protect the access to health
care that immigrants currently have and remove current barriers to access. We will continue to
devote our efforts to improving and correcting serious moral problems in the current law, so health
care reform can truly be universal and life-affirming.

We will work with the Administration and the new Congress to fix a broken immigration
system which harms both immigrants and our entire nation. Comprehensive reform is needed to deal
with the economic and human realities of millions of immigrants in our midst. We realize that
reform must be based on respect for and implementation of the law and for the legitimate and timely
question of national security. Equally, however, it must defend the rights and dignity of all peoples,
recognizing that human dignity comes from God and does not depend on where people were born or
how they came to our nation. Truly comprehensive immigration reform will include a path to earned
citizenship, with attention to the fact that international trade and development policies influence
economic opportunities in the countries from which immigrants come. It also must foster family
reunification, the bedrock principle upon which our national immigration system has been based for
decades. Immigration enforcement policies should honor basic human rights and uphold basic due
process protections.

On international affairs, we will work with our leaders to seek responsible transitions to
end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and promote religious freedom for all, acting against religious
repression of our fellow Christians and others. The recent attacks against Christians in Egypt, Iraq
and Nigeria and the assassination of a Pakistani governor who opposed blasphemy laws highlight an
appalling trend of increased violence aimed at vulnerable minority communities. In all foreign
policy deliberations, we urge a greater emphasis on human rights, especially religious freedom,
which we view as an essential good so intricately tied to other human rights and to the promotion of
peace. We especially urge continued and persistent leadership to bring a just peace to the Holy
Land, to promote peaceful change in Sudan, and to rebuild Haiti. We will continue to support
essential U.S. investments to overcome global poverty, hunger and disease through increased and
reformed international assistance. Continued U.S. leadership in the fight against HIV-AIDS and
other diseases in ways that are both effective and morally appropriate have our enthusiastic backing.
Recognizing the complexity of climate change, we wish to be a voice for the poor and vulnerable in
our country and around the world who will be the most adversely affected by threats to the
environment.

This outline of USCCB policies and priorities is not complete. There are many other areas of
concern and advocacy for the Church and the USCCB. For a more detailed description of our
concerns please see Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (USCCB 2007), pages 19-30.
 Nonetheless, we offer this outline as an agenda for dialogue and action. We hope to offer a
constructive and principled contribution to national discussion about the values and policies that will
shape our nation's future. We seek to work together with our nation's leaders to advance the
common good of our society, while disagreeing respectfully and civilly where necessary in order to
preserve that common good. I am enclosing a brochure from our Office of Government Relations,
directed by Nancy Wisdo, for your future contacts with the Conference.

In closing, I thank you for responding to the noble call of public service and I renew our
expression of hope and our offer of cooperation as you begin this new period of service to our nation
in these challenging times. We promise our prayers for all of you, and in a special way for your
colleague Gabrielle Giffords and all those killed or injured in the horrific attack in Tucson. We hope
that the days ahead will be a time of renewal and progress for our nation as we defend human life
and dignity, seek greater justice for all God’s children, and bring peace to a suffering world.

With prayerful best wishes, I am

Faithfully and respectfully yours,

Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan

Archbishop of New York
President, USCCB

January 18, 2011

United States House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative:

As Congress prepares to resume debate on health care reform, we wish to make clear the position
and priorities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on this vitally important issue.

Throughout the last Congress the Catholic bishops of the United States affirmed our strong support
for universal access to health care. Basic health care for all is a moral imperative, not yet completely
achieved. It has never been, and is not now, for the bishops to decide the best means to realize that
essential goal. However, regardless of which means are chosen, they must fall within certain
fundamental moral parameters, which the bishops have a duty to articulate strongly and clearly. We
have urged and continue to urge that legislation on health care reform reflect the following three
moral criteria:
Ensure access to quality, affordable, life-giving health care for all;

Retain longstanding requirements that effectively protect conscience rights and that prohibit use of
federal funds for elective abortions or plans that include them; and

Protect the access to health care that immigrants currently have and remove current barriers to
access.
Rather than joining efforts to support or oppose the repeal of the recently enacted health care law, we
will continue to devote our efforts to correcting serious moral problems in the current law, so health
care reform can truly be life-affirming for all.

In the 111th Congress, H.R. 5111 was introduced by Congressmen Pitts and Lipinski to ensure that
the new health care law will maintain longstanding federal policies on abortion in the areas of
federal funding and conscience rights. H.R. 6570 was also introduced by Congressman Fortenberry
to ensure that all people -- Catholics and others alike -- maintain their current ability under federal
law to provide and purchase health coverage that is consistent with their faith and values. We will
strongly support laws like these in the new Congress and we will seek ways to ensure a more just
health care system for immigrant families.

For nearly a century, the Catholic bishops of the United States have called for reform of our health care
system so all may have access to care that recognizes and affirms their human dignity. As Pope Benedict
recently stated, in the health care sector “it is important to establish a real distributive justice which, on the
basis of objective needs, guarantees adequate care to all.” Moreover, “if it is not to become inhuman, the
world of health care cannot disregard the moral rules that must govern it” (Message to the Pontifical Council
for Health Care Workers, November 15, 2010). We wholeheartedly commit ourselves to health care reform
that achieves these worthy goals. We will advocate for addressing the current problems in the Patient
Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as others that may become apparent in the course of its
implementation.

Sincerely,
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo
Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
Chairman
Committee on Pro-life Activities

Bishop Stephen E. Blaire

Diocese of Stockton
Chairman
Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez

Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Chairman
Committee on Migration

Keywords: Congress, Archbishop Timothy Dolan, USCCB, abortion funding, human life,
conscience protection, Hyde amendment, marriage, DOMA, economic recovery, workers, poor,
health care, education, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, immigration, religious freedom,
environment, climate change, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, Gabrielle Giffords,
justice, peace
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