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August 1, 2025
 
Overview: This week, the Senate Banking Committee approved the ''Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025'' or the ROAD to Housing Act of 2025, sending it to the full Senate for consideration. Earlier, the Banking Committee had posted on its website a press release which featured CCUSA's support for the legislation ([link removed]). The ROAD to Housing Act addresses issues including expanding and preserving housing supply, improving housing affordability and access, lowering the cost of housing programs and improving housing programs' oversight and integrity.
Please note that with Congress leaving Washington, DC, for its summer recess and returning the first week of September, the Washington Weekly will follow suit and return on September 5.
Appropriations: Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of CCUSA, submitted a letter to the full Appropriations Committee ([link removed]) (specifically regarding funding for the Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Senate Committee on Appropriations) on behalf of the Catholic Charities ministry in the United States. The letter urges the committee members to provide needed assistance and services to people in our nation who are vulnerable and struggling to make ends meet. The letter recommends the restoration of previous cuts to programs enacted under the FY2025 Appropriations bill and to build on the previous investment of $226.8 billion made in Fiscal Year 2024. To see the full list of recommended programs to be supported for FY2026, please read the letter ([link removed]).
Economy: In the week ending July 26, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims ([link removed]) was 218,000, an increase of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 217,000. The 4-week moving average was 221,000, a decrease of 3,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 224,500. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Total nonfarm payroll employment changed little in July (+73,000) and has shown little change since April. The unemployment rate, at 4.2 percent, also changed little in July. Employment continued to trend up in health care and in social assistance. The federal government continued to lose jobs."
Take action during Congressional recess: Congress is in recess until September, at which time it will return and need to address FY2026 appropriations. Now is the time to reach out to your elected officials ([link removed]) while they are back in their districts. Consider meeting with them or their staff to share the importance of funding and the impact of programs on constituents. Invite them to a site visit and attend town hall meetings to discuss the impact of their decisions on constituents.
Name change: Pursuant to an Executive Order ([link removed]) signed by President Trump, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will change on all communications to the "DHS Center for Faith" or "DHS Faith Center." The Center remains dedicated to providing relevant information to help people before, during and after disasters. The DHS Center for Faith ([link removed]) carries out the policies and program priorities of the White House Faith Office, DHS and FEMA for faith and community-based organizations related to all-hazards preparedness, emergency and disaster response and recovery, safety, security and human trafficking. The DHS Center for Faith offers a variety of resources to the public at dhs.gov/faith ([link removed]).
 
There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not seek to save others. You cannot plead poverty here; the widow putting in her two small coins will be your accuser. Each one can help his neighbor, if only he is willing to do what is in his power. Tell me, if perfume failed to pervade all around it with its fragrance, would we call it perfume? Do not say, "It is impossible for me to influence others." If you are a Christian, it is impossible for this not to happen.... If you say that a Christian cannot help others, you have insulted God and called Him a liar. It is easier for the sun not to give warmth or shine than for the Christian not to shed his light. It is easier for light to be darkness than for this to happen. From a homily on the Acts of the Apostles by Saint John Chrysostom, bishop
 
Q. What religious order did St. Alphonsus Liguori - whose feast day is August 1 - found in 1732?
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