Readers write

When policy treats human life as disposable

In reference to “Georgia Army veteran deported by ICE,” AJC Feb. 14, and “What to know about the EPA’s major shift on climate regulation,” AJC Feb. 13.

Across federal policy, from immigration enforcement to environmental deregulation, a troubling moral pattern is emerging: People, as human beings, are increasingly treated as risks and costs to be managed rather than lives to be cherished and protected.

In environmental policy, this has become explicit. The federal government has effectively assigned a zero-dollar value to human life by removing lives saved from Environmental Protection Agency cost-benefit analyses, which is tied to the reversal of the EPA’s endangerment findings. When the health impacts of air pollution are excluded, preventable illness and premature death no longer count. For Georgia families already facing rising power bills and increased costs of fossil-fuel infrastructure, those decisions carry real, local consequences.

We see the same logic in immigration enforcement. Longtime residents, parents and even veterans are deported with little regard for family unity, due process or community ties, as if decades of life and contribution can be erased by administrative efficiency.

These are not isolated issues. They reflect a deeper moral failure: policies that externalize human harm in the name of economic or bureaucratic convenience.

Our laws should begin with the dignity of the human person. A society that accepts preventable harm as an acceptable trade-off has lost its moral compass. Georgia and the nation can do better.

JAY BASSETT, MEMBER OF THE GWINNETT INTERFAITH ALLIANCE

Stop congressional pay until government reopens

There was a time when watching congressional hearings was a good example of how a democracy works. Watching portions of the recent hearings with Attorney General Pam Bondi and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was an embarrassment to our country and an insult to our citizens. The only bipartisanship on display was both sides of the aisle wasting taxpayer money as they shouted insults back and forth. This is called leadership?

The House of Representatives is on vacation until Feb. 23, while requiring essential employees at the Department of Homeland Security, including TSA, to work without pay.

Let’s stop paying the House and Senate salaries, retirement, health insurance and travel expenses when their failures cause portions of the government to shut down and use that money to pay those actually working to improve our lives and keep us safe.