US budget cuts will affect world's poorest countries

The US House of Representatives on Saturday approved legislation to cut federal spending deeply through September. The bill, which now goes to the Senate, imposes severe spending cuts aimed at domestic programs and foreign aid, including aid for schools, nutrition programs, environmental protection, and heating and housing subsidies for the poor.

“The Continuing Resolution -- which was just passed by the US House of Representatives -- includes about 26% in cuts for the core poverty-focussed accounts as part of the international assistance program of the United States,” explains Bill O’Keefe, Catholic Relief Services’ Senior Director for Advocacy. “So these are the parts of the foreign assistance budget that most benefit the poorest people in the poorest countries.”

Earlier this week, the head of two US Conference of Catholic Bishops committees and the president of Catholic Relief Services sent letters to Congress to express concern over the impacts that the cuts will have on those most in need.

According to analysis by the USCCB and CRS, the proposed Continuing Resolution makes over 26% in cuts for poverty-focussed international assistance, but only 2.6% in cuts overall.

“There is obviously a fiscal crisis and challenge that Congress and the administration face in the United States, and we are not insensitive to that,” O’Keefe said. “But balancing the budget on the backs of the poor is just not acceptable.”

Listen to Bill O’Keefe’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: