Politico
By Lauren French
September 22, 2015
House Democrats are preparing a wish-list of policies they hope Pope Francis will advocate for during his appearance on Capitol Hill this week.
In a series of videos set to be released Tuesday, the lawmakers will push the Catholic leader to discuss poverty, immigration and climate change during his Thursday joint-address to Congress.
For weeks, lawmakers have been floating policies they hope the pope will discuss during his historic address - proposals Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra has collected into an official statement from his colleagues.
"We thank the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for being a resolute voice for human dignity and compassion,” said Becerra, a California Democrat. “House Democrats agree with Pope Francis on the compelling need to fix our broken immigration system, to combat climate change that threatens our health and communities, and to raise the minimum wage so that no one working hard full-time lives in poverty.”
The videos feature Democrats pushing for policies at the center of their party’s political agenda like a minimum wage hike and comprehensive immigration reform.
The pope will give a joint address to Congress on Thursday – a speech Democrats have been eagerly anticipating. For decades, Catholic liberals in Congress have shied away from engaging with the church on policy because of its positions on gay marriage and abortion.
But with the elevation of Pope Francis, Democrats say they’ve found a new ally on at least some social issues.
The pope has charted a more liberal course with church doctrine since being elected in 2013. He’s advocated for a year of forgiveness for women who’ve had abortions and called on Catholic families to take in Syrian refugees.
Now Democrats see a chance to use the pope’s appearance to advance their own political agenda. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is also planning a series of events this week to coincide with Hispanic Heritage Month and the pope’s visit to encourage Congress to take up immigration reform.
“Pope Francis, we ask you to use your voice to help us advocate for the undocumented and people living in poverty in our community,” said Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) in one of the videos.
California Rep. Jim Costa asked for prayers for “immigrants and refugees…throughout the world” while New York Rep. José Serrano discussed the “violence” perpetrated against migrants.
The lawmakers also discussed climate change – a likely topic for the pope’s address after he issued an encyclical on the issue in June.
“We hope you will address climate change and talk about how it especially hurts lower income communities and the most vulnerable among us,” Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky said.
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