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Weekly Alert January 13, 2009
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Dear Advocates: This week, Congress is planning to vote
on bills to expand children's health care through a new reauthorization
of the State Children's Health Insurance Program(SCHIP).
While it is necessary for Congress to reauthorize SCHIP before currentfunding expires in March 2009, it is imperative that Congress passes a 2009 SCHIPbill that demonstrates our nation's priorities to children's access to health careand our commitment to a fair and equitable health care system that ensures allchildren have an opportunity to become healthy citizens. Under current law, legal immigrant
children and pregnant women must wait five yearsbefore they become
eligible for federally funded Medicaid and SCHIP. Americansbelieve
this waiting period is wrong and want it eliminated. Congress can addressthis inequity by including the Legal Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act(ICHIA) in the 2009 SCHIP reauthorization bill. Moreover,
in these difficulteconomic times, Congress should be finding ways
to help America's working familiesand states with tight budgets.
ICHIA would provide fiscal relief to families aswell as states
and would be a key component of a strong health reform foundation. Congress needs to pass ICHIA now, and demonstrate its commitment to children and ahealth care system that works for all Americans. Action Needed:As of today, the Senate Finance Committee plans to send SCHIP to the full Senate onThursday without ICHIA. Please immediately contact the following Finance Committeemembers. Tell these Senate Finance Committee Members that the
Senate's SCHIP billMUST INCLUDE ICHIA. Senate Finance Committee Members Members who have been supportive in the past but have
not confirmed support this year:Max Baucus (D-MT), ChairKent Conrad (D-ND)Ron
Wyden (D-OR)Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Member's current position on
ICHIA is unknown:Charles Grassley (R-IA), Ranking MemberKen Salazar (D-CO)Orrin
Hatch (R-UT)Pat Roberts (R-KS)Jon Kyl (R-AZ)Jim Bunning (R-KY)Mike Crapo (R-ID)John
Ensign (R-NV) For contact information for Senate Finance Members, please go to the website linkbelow, scroll down, click on the member, call their office, and ask to speak to theHEALTH staff. http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/committees.tt?commid=sfina Tell
them:“No one should live in fear that because they
lack health coverage, oneaccident or illness could
threaten their family's economic security. Accessto affordable, quality health care is a widely-shared goal. Good health care isessential to workers' productivity and the opportunity for children to realizetheir full potential. Given the crucial role that medical coverage plays indetermining health and well-being, all children should have access tocoverage.” Finally, there are two letters,
one concerning immigration and one from Katherine Ward calling for applications for projects to combat Human Trafficking.
I will try to post these letters on our website. Thank you for your advocacy, Sr. Gayle Lwanga Gaza – A Report From Katherine Ward Dear Good Shepherd People: I wanted to share with you some information I learned from a high level briefing on the crisis in Gaza.
The panel was made up of a person from UN Relief Worker Agency which is dedicated to serving Palestinian
refugees and Peter Weiss who is an expert in international law with the Center for Constitutional Rights. Both indicated
the attacks on Gaza are a full scale humanitarian crisis which will continue once the fighting has stopped.As of last week, UNRWA reported that there are about 500,000-750,000 people without
water. The infrastructure is also horribly compromised. There is potential for the sanitation system to collapse
and hospitals to cease from operating without electricity (they are working with just generators at this point which the generators
were not designed to work for long periods of time). UNRWA also estimated that about 40% of the people killed in the
attacks were women and children (750 people killed and 3,000 people injured).Currently there is no humanitarian aid being permitted to enter into Gaza. There was one company
approved by the Israeli army to enter to bring supplies, but in an attack, the company’s workers were killed even with
a UN Convoy. The situation for relief agencies such as UNRWA and other NGOs to enter is dangerous and life threatening.
As of last week, no new relief workers are permitted to enter which leaves the vulnerable even more susceptible to disease
from untreated wounds, hunger and continued military strikes.Peter Weiss from the Center for Constitutional Rights in NY discussed the violations against International Humanitarian
Law by the Israeli military. There is no distinguishing between a civilian target and a military target which violates
the principle of proportionality (military strikes are done with the least possible damage to human life)-this is currently
being violated.As of last week, the UN Security Council
passed a resolution calling for the “immediate, durable and fully respected cease fire leading to the full withdrawal
of Israeli forces from Gaza”. The resolution also stated “to open the borders, to prevent the smuggling
of arms to Palestinian fighters and unimpeded provision and distribution of aid to the territory”. The US
abstained from voting on a UN Security Council Resolution on the crisis in Gaza.In a Q&A portion of the panel, a representative from a US based NGO asked how they and their
constituents be more active in stopping the violence. It was suggested that letters on ending the humanitarian
crisis and advocating for ending the blockade in Gaza be written to the incoming administration as soon as possible (Pres.
Elect Obama appears on to be good on this issue) and to include soon to be Secretary of State-Hilary Clinton on this letter
writing campaign. There was also mention of getting letters to Richard Haas-who was asked to serve as Obama’s
administration chief emissary to the Middle East. He is not yet appointed, but to keep him on the radar for the future.
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