Des Moines, Iowa • A group of Roman Catholic nuns have left Des Moines on a two-week bus tour of nine states to protest Republican federal budget proposals that the group believes hurt the poor and vulnerable.

The Nuns on the Bus tour left Monday for Ames. It is scheduled to finish in Washington on July 2.

The nuns will visit Catholic-sponsored social service agencies and the offices of Republican members of Congress, including Rep. Steve King's office in Ames, House Speaker John Boehner's office in Chester, Ohio, and Rep. Eric Cantor's office in Richmond, Va.

Organizer Sister Simone Campbell and three other nuns received a send-off from about 20 local Catholic nuns, parishioners and the priest from a Des Moines church. Network, a Catholic social justice lobby is sponsoring the tour.