I was one of about 15 Catholic in Alliance for the Common Good members who attended a meeting with Mr. Michael Strautmanis, Director of Office of Public Liaison/ Intergovernmental Affairs and others from the Obama-Biden Transition team. Each of us had about 30 seconds to talk about who we represent, and then some of us talked about issues we surfaced in the Platform and Convention for the Common Good: international development/diplomacy, health care reform, comprehensive immigration reform, poverty reduction/economic justice and the environment. I was the spokesperson for the environment.
After we presented our issues, Mr. Strautmanis had some comments on what we’d presented. One very hopeful thing he said was that it is time to end the “ghetto-ization of development. He added that the military advisors that they have been talking to agree that development is not a part of the work of the military and are interested in establishing a clear division in roles.
On immigration he expressed the need for comprehensive immigration reform while at the same time reassuring people’s faith in borders. He said that the government would want to establish a proper role for government – a policy of welcoming and treating people humanely.
Mr. Strautmanis assured us that the transition team is conducting agency white house and office reviews. Various issue topics are being reviewed by 7 special committees (immigration; health care; education; economy; national security; technology, innovation and government reform and energy and environment). MOGC has sent in our policy recommendations which will be posted on the www.change.gov site.
I should add that I was contacted by a reporter from the NCR who I talked to about the meeting this afternoon.
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