In a letter to Senator Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Bishop John Ricard, the head of the U.S. episcopate’s Committee on International Policy, and Ken Hackett, president of Catholic Relief Services, offered a number of considerations on «matters of vital interest to the world’s poor.»
They expressed satisfaction with the direction of the Senate bill which provides $18.4 billion for foreign aid, including $2.4 billion to combat HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, and $1 billion for the Millennium Challenge Account, which rewards poor countries for good governance.
They noted, however, that the U.S. House bill contains significantly less funding for the critical HIV/AIDS and MCA programs and falls well short of the Senate bill in many other areas.
«Consequently, we urge you to do all you can to assure that the conference report includes the Senate-approved amounts for HIV/AIDS and at least $1 billion for the MCA,» they wrote.
