The United States Congress has begun considering health care reform legislation.  The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee is writing a bill now.  The Tri-Committee (made up of the House Ways and Means, Energy and Commerces and Labor Committees) is expected to begin a similar process soon.  And the Senate Finance Committee is expected to introduce a bill any day now.

Learn more about the debate from this USCCB fact sheet and action alert.

Fr. George Horan, co-director of the Office of Restorative Justice for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and a chaplain at LA County's Men's Central Jail, questioned the requirement that a chaplain report the details of conversations with the condemned.

"Chaplains are there to be a loving and compassionate presence for those in prison," explained Fr. Horan. "They are not trained physiologists or part of the prison staff able to evaluate how something revealed in a conversation might be pertinent to the execution."

Commentary by Steve Pehanich, Director of Advocacy and Education

California’s seemingly never-ending budget crisis has finally come to pulling the rug out from under women, children, the blind and the aged.

It’s because instead of coming together to deal with a financial crisis created by a history of smoke-and-mirrors budgeting and the worst recession since the Depression, the two parties are stuck in their same old, tired ways.

This inability of the parties to deal with each other through hard but honest negotiations is not new.  It led to the passage of Proposition 13, which dealt with an out-of-control situation that the legislature failed to address. 

Our Catholic faith tells us that every human being is made in the image of God.  Consequently, every human being possesses an inherent dignity that must be revered; and every human being has the right and responsibility to realize the fullness of that dignity.  This includes access to necessary health care.

But millions of Americans – more than 47 million – lack access to adequate health care, and the number of uninsured and underinsured increases each day.  The American system of health care, as it currently functions, does not meet the needs of all residents of our nation.

With the momentum building in Washington for health reform legislation in the coming months, CHA hopes to use the video as part of a campaign to encourage grassroots support for action on Capitol Hill and in the White House. You can help out by watching the video and sending the link around to your friends, family members, colleagues and community leaders to keep the momentum going and collectively raise our voices for health reform.

Bishops Call for
Protection of the Poor,
Real Reform

The president of the California Catholic Conference, Bishop Stephen Blaire, Diocese of Stockton, called on lawmakers to give top priority during budget deliberations to those who cannot help themselves.  The statement of the California Bishops was introduced at a press conference on Thursday at the Sacramento Food Bank, in the heart of one of the Capitol’s most impoverished neighborhoods.

Join the Bishops in support for the poor and advocating for real reform, by emailing your elected representatives.  Click here to Take Action.

I am heartened that shortly President Barack Obama will be meeting with Congressional leaders to map out a strategy for advancing comprehensive immigration reform legislation in Congress.  Repair of our flawed immigration system is long overdue.   I urge President Obama and leaders in Congress to show leadership on this vital national issue.

It is my hope that the meeting at the White House will lead to a process for drafting immigration reform legislation and to its consideration by Congress by the end of this year.   Immigration reform must be enacted sooner rather than later.   Human beings attempting to work and support their families continue to be subject to exploitation by smugglers and unscrupulous employers,  and people continue to tragically perish in the desert.  This suffering must come to an end.

I commend President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for their efforts to focus attention on this issue and to move it forward in the legislative process.  I commit myself and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to assist their efforts where possible and to stand with them throughout the difficult process of enacting just and humane immigration reform legislation.  (June 4, 2009)