Connecticut Senate Democrats Condemn Trump’s Cancellation of Catholic Charities as an Attack on All Religions
HARTFORD — Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven), Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk), and members of the Connecticut Senate Democratic Caucus today condemned the Trump administration’s decision to cancel an $11 million federal contract with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, abruptly ending more than 60 years of partnership caring for unaccompanied migrant children. The senators released the following statement:
“The Connecticut Senate Democratic Caucus is the most religiously diverse Senate majority in state history, with members spanning Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu traditions. Today, we speak with one voice: an attack on one religion is an attack on all religions.
“The Miami Archdiocese’s Catholic Charities program was recognized for six decades as a national model for caring for children who have no one. Faith communities across traditions have always recognized the moral imperative to care for vulnerable children. Now, Trump is using children as pawns in a personal feud with the Pope. Trump’s petulance, meanness, and willingness to punish a religious institution for its Church’s moral witness is a warning to every faith community in America. No faith institution is safe from political retaliation if its religious leadership dares to speak truth to power.
“We call on Connecticut Republicans to find the courage to condemn this act of retaliation against a faith community for no reason other than the fact that its leadership refused to stay silent.”
Senate President Martin M. Looney
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff
Senator Saud Anwar
Senator MD Rahman
Senator Derek Slap
Senator Rick Lopes
Senator Matt Lesser
Senator Christine Cohen
Senator Jan Hochadel
Senator James Maroney
Senator Joan Hartley
Senator Jorge Cabrera
Senator Cathy Osten
Senator Martha Marx
Senator Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox
Senator Herron Keyon Gaston
Senator Julie Kushner
Senator Ceci Maher
Senator Norm Needleman
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin Coughlin | kevin.coughlin@cga.ct.gov | 203-710-0193