Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and members, my name is Maria Huemmer and I am the communication director for the Texas Catholic Conference. The TCC is the statewide association of the 15 Roman Catholic dioceses in our state and it is our responsibility to advocate for the public policy positions of all the active Bishops of Texas. Thank you for allowing me to testify today on HB 1065.

The Texas Catholic Conference opposes the use of the death penalty as a means of punishment or a deterrent to crime because there are alternative means to protect society available to us. Although use of the death penalty in the United States is decreasing, the State of Texas continues to lead the nation in terms of the number of executions carried out each year. These statistics and policies reflect legislative action at the federal and state levels that is adopted by legislators seeking to appear "tough on crime" in response to often sensational media coverage of crime.

Those who commit terrible, violent crimes must be incarcerated, both as just punishment and in order to protect society. We stand in solidarity with victims and their loved ones. However, when it comes to matters of life and death, morality and common sense call for justice, mercy, and for careful safeguards. Showing mercy does not mean neglecting the administration of justice or that people will go unpunished. Showing mercy does mean exhibiting compassion toward all of our brothers and sisters, and providing them with an opportunity for atonement and rehabilitation.

As a community of faith, we share the justified anger and revulsion at terrible and deadly crimes. In calling for an end to the use of the death penalty, we do not seek to diminish in any way the evil and harm caused by people who commit murder. We also share the hurt and horror, the loss and heartache that are the result of unspeakable acts of violence. Our Bishops and priests have presided at the funerals of police officers killed in the line of duty and have consoled parents who have lost children. Our network of pastoral ministers has heard the anger and despair of victims’ families who feel ignored by the criminal justice system, society as a whole, and, at times, even the Church. Our family of faith must care for sisters and brothers who have been wounded by violence and support them in their loss and search for justice. They deserve our compassion, solidarity, and support.

However, standing with families of victims does not compel us to support the use of the death penalty. Often, these families of victims are further violated by the legal processes and public attention that are associated with capital punishment. For many left behind, a death sentence offers the illusion of closure and vindication. No act, not even an execution, can bring back a loved one or heal terrible wounds. The pain and loss of one death cannot be wiped away by another death.

For our faith community, this issue--like all life issues--is more than public policy. It involves our faith and the central principle that human life is sacred. When the state, in our names and with our taxes, ends a human life despite having non-lethal alternatives, it suggests that society can overcome violence with violence. At a time when the sanctity of life is threatened in so many ways, taking life is not really a solution but may instead effectively undermine our society’s respect for life. In many ways the death penalty is about us: the actions taken in our name, the values which guide our lives, and the dignity that we accord to human life. Public policies that treat some lives as unworthy of protection, or that are perceived as vengeful, fracture the moral conviction that human life is sacred.

In 1997 the Bishops of the state of Texas publicly declared that it was time to turn away from a deeply flawed system of state-sponsored executions to a way of protecting society and holding accountable the guilty in a way that reflects our society’s best values. Today, thirteen years later, the Bishops wish to take that declaration even further by invoking the words of Pope John Paul II. In his encyclical The Gospel of Life, our late Holy Father told us that our God is the God of life and if we truly believe in his salvation then we have an “inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life.”

We ask that the members of this committee will take these words to heart and oppose HB 1065. Thank you for your time.