内容摘要：But not all Democrats were on board, with five voting against it when it passed the Senate.

But not all Democrats were on board, with five voting against it when it passed the Senate.

The late artist Maxo Vanka created the mural in 1941, based on a scene from the Book of Exodus. It’s one of 25 murals thatof St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church.

Vanka, a Croatian American immigrant like most of the original parishioners, painted the scenes in bursts of creative energy that led to marathon-long sessions where he captured stark social inequities alongside traditional religious themes.The murals depict scenes with dualities. An angelic justice figure contrasts with a haunting figure of injustice in a World War I gas mask. Mothers — posed like the grief-stricken Madonnas of traditional pietas — weep over their sons who died in war or were worked to death by American industry. A callous tycoon ignores a beggar. A Madonna snaps a rifle on a battlefield.At the same time, the murals honor the achievements of the immigrant parishioners and the consolations of faith, home and maternal care.

The work has drawn international visitors and become a beloved local landmark. One former priest for the church called it “The Sistine Chapel of Pittsburgh”— a sanctuary dominated by the single artist’s tour-de-force.But decades of smoke, atmospheric salts and water leaks had dulled and damaged the paintings.

Since 2009, the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka has been leading a painstaking conservation effort — one section at a time.

Results of the latest work completed in late May are evident.U.S. foreign aid workers were also able to facilitate the reporting of some human rights violations, such as when a human rights or environmental defender is jailed without charges, or Indigenous peoples are forced off their land for the establishment of a protected area.

In this photo provided by Vy Lam shows Lam, a former adviser on Indigenous peoples at the U.S. Agency for International Development, on the floor of the United Nations during Sec. of the Interior Deb Haaland’s speech at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on April 17, 2023, in New York. (Vy Lam via AP)In this photo provided by Vy Lam shows Lam, a former adviser on Indigenous peoples at the U.S. Agency for International Development, on the floor of the United Nations during Sec. of the Interior Deb Haaland’s speech at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on April 17, 2023, in New York. (Vy Lam via AP)

In some cases, USAID supported travel to the United Nations, where Indigenous leaders and advocates could receive training to navigate international bodies and document abuses.Last year, under the Biden administration, USAID awarded a five-year grant to support Indigenous LGBTQIA people through the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous People, an agency that offers financial support to Indigenous peoples to participate in the U.N.