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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Ashley Wilson, awilson@networklobby.org, 202-601-7856

Sister Simone Campbell Responds to House Vote on Tax Plan

“By taking from people in poverty to give to the wealthiest, the Republican tax plan goes against everything people of faith believe.”

WASHINGTON

In response to today's passage of the House Republican Tax Plan (H.R. 1), Sister Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice issued the following statement:

"The House-passed bill fails a basic moral test. It preferences those with the greatest wealth over the needs of people struggling to make ends meet. By taking from people in poverty to give to the wealthiest, the Republican tax plan goes against everything people of faith believe.

"The ill-conceived GOP tax plan is a giveaway to the richest in our nation. This giveaway is based on the failed theory of trickle-down economics. In Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis says, "some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power... Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting."

"Our nation is better than this. This plan must be stopped in the Senate.

"The Republican tax plan is bad enough, but now the Senate has decided to sneak in a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The purpose of bringing back ACA repeal provisions is to give a large, permanent tax cut to big corporations and the wealthy on the backs of 13 million Americans who will lose health coverage.

"We need a tax policy that reduces income and wealth disparity in our nation, not exacerbates it. If Congress needs help, I suggest they consult our Principles of Tax Justice."

NETWORK, advocates for justice inspired by Catholic sisters, educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. They have a more than 40-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good.