For Immediate Release: August 3, 2020
Contact: Lee Morrow, [email protected], 202-601-7871
56 Iowa Catholic Sisters to Senator Ernst: Support Life During COVID-19
Letter: “We are asking you to recognize the dignity of all Iowans and their right to health care, shelter, and food.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – 56 Iowa Catholic Sisters signed the NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice letter urging Senator Joni Ernst and Congressional leaders to provide Medicaid funding and extend the $600 unemployment supplement during the COVID-19 crisis. The letter states:
“Our nation is currently experiencing the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression, and it will take a long time for the economy and businesses to recover. Right now, unemployment payments are not only providing financial support to Iowa workers who would otherwise be without income, they are also key to successfully combatting COVID-19.”
As people of faith, Catholic Sisters recognize the dignity of all Iowans and their right to health care, shelter, and food. It’s clear as this pandemic continues, that communities of color in Iowa and across the nation are being hardest hit both by COVID-19 infection and financially. This disparity is sinful, and our leaders must address these racial disparities in legislation.
Increased Medicaid funding is a step in the right direction to reduce unjust health disparities in our state. But there’s more work to be done. Without continuing the $600 unemployment supplement, critical support will be cut off from over 160,000 struggling workers in Iowa. It is unjust and immoral for Iowa families to lose their only source of income right now, and will lead to untold suffering. Senator Ernst must not allow this to happen.
The petition to Senator Ernst and Congress can be read here: www.networklobby.org/iowasistersletter
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NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice – advocates for justice inspired by Catholic Sisters – educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. They have a nearly 50-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. www.networklobby.org