The Pope’s address to Congress should make lawmakers reconsider before insulting immigrants and cutting welfare, according to Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (R-IL).
“I try to push back on Donald Trump and others who attack Latinos and immigrants or women or Muslims or the poor – sometimes on the floor of the House. But I cannot speak as simply and as powerfully as the Pope can,” Gutiérrez said in a statement.
Thursday, the pontiff delivered a message of inclusion for illegal immigrants in the U.S. as well as calling for more action to combat climate change and poverty.
“I think every Member of Congress will have to think twice before calling all immigrants drug mules or denying climate change or cutting help for working families or labeling children seeking asylum as criminals,” the Illinois congressman continued.
Gutiérrez has been among the most vocal and aggressive advocates for illegal immigrants in the U.S. Congress. Frequently in recent weeks he has taken to the House floor to attack GOP presidential candidates for their aggressive immigration stances and rhetoric. Trump has been at the top of his list for criticism.
Earlier this month Gutiérrez called Pope the “antidote” to Trump and what the Democratic lawmaker declared to be “the ugliest, most xenophobic, most anti-immigration campaign in anyone’s memory.”
In his Thursday reaction to the Pope’s address, Gutiérrez added that the U.S. would “be a better country” if it received a daily reminder about the Golden Rule.
The Pope delivered a message that we in Congress simply cannot. He reminded us of the Golden Rule and the yardstick by which we will be judged,” he said. “He reflected back to us the highest moral ideals of our nation. Without lecturing or preaching, he reminded us that our faith and our actions must be in sync.
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