Letter
Letter to Congress Regarding Child Tax Credit, December 14, 2022
December 14, 2022
Dear Senator/Representative:
On behalf of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), and the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP USA), we write to you to renew our call to Congress to work in a bipartisan fashion to pass a strengthened Child Tax Credit before the end of the year.
The Child Tax Credit is a powerful anti-poverty, pro-family program that we have long supported and asked Congress to strengthen.1 To this effect, we ask you to pass, by the end of this year, an expanded Child Tax Credit that is as refundable as possible, for as many kids as possible, for as many years as possible, and remains available to mixed-status families. The most economically vulnerable children ought to receive the full value of the Child Tax Credit. A strengthened Child Tax Credit that benefits the poorest children should be a priority in any upcoming tax policy package.
The bishops have long stated that we must confront poverty with a sense of urgency. As the USCCB wrote in the pastoral document Economic Justice for All “Dealing with poverty is not a luxury to which our nation can attend when it finds the time and resources. Rather, it is a moral imperative of the highest priority.”2 The Child Tax Credit expansion of 2021 demonstrated that a fully refundable Child Tax Credit is a highly effective mechanism to reduce child poverty. The version of the Child Tax Credit passed in the American Rescue Plan lifted 2.1 million children out of poverty in 2021 and helped to reduce child poverty to its lowest rate on record.3 Without the expanded and fully refundable Child Tax Credit this year, data have shown a spike in child poverty.4 An expanded and fully refundable child tax credit is a proven tool to support women and families and keep millions of children out of poverty. We implore Congress to prioritize passage of a substantially improved Child Tax Credit by the end of the year
We know members of both parties share our commitment to prioritizing the well-being of women, children, and families, especially those who are struggling. As we approach the end of this Congress, we urge you to work in a bipartisan fashion to pass an improved Child Tax Credit that is as refundable as possible, for as many children as possible, for as many years as possible. Sincerely,
Most Rev. Borys Gudziak
Archbishop of Ukrainian Catholic
Archeparchy of Philadelphia
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development
Sister Donna Markham, OP, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Catholic Charities USA
Ralph Middlecamp
National President
National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul
2Economic Justice for All, United States Catholic Bishops, no. 170.
3https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/09/record-drop-in-child-poverty.html
4www.povertycenter.columbia.edu/publication/2022/child-tax-credit/research-roundup-one-year-on
Letter to Congress Regarding Child Tax Credit, December 14, 2022.pdf