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Church leaders tell Congress they oppose deep cuts
in domestic spending and poverty-focused foreign aid


Washington, March 1, 2011 -- As Congress debates the federal budget and wrestles with a stop gap proposal to keep the government running before a new budget can be adopted, U.S. church leaders have informed legislators that "we are compelled to speak out against the proposed deep cuts" being considered.

 

"Our witness as faith leaders is grounded in love for God and neighbor and all creation," said the sixteen signatories of a letter sent today to members of Congress.

 

"Jesus challenged people to define themselves by the measure of their love for one another, with particular concern for those struggling in poverty and marginalized by society," the message said.

 

The leaders said proposed cuts to discretionary domestic programs and poverty-focused foreign assistance are" unprecedented and dangerous" and will "jeopardize the lives and well-being of millions now and into the future."

 

Last month the House of Representatives voted to reduce federal spending by $60 billion, imposing reductions in domestic programs, foreign aid to governments struggling with HIV/AIDS, health care and energy.

 

"Discretionary programs that serve the poor and vulnerable are a very small percentage of the budget, and they are not the drivers of the deficits," church leaders said in their message to Congress."

 

On the contrary, "unchecked increases in military spending combined with vast tax cuts helped create our country's financial difficulties and restoring financial soundness requires addressing these root imbalances."

 

Declaring that they are "compelled by our faith in the living Christ to seek a world where hunger and poverty are a distant memory" and "called by Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, to build a world where we live in community with one another," the church leaders urged Congress "to reject proposed cuts that would undermine domestic and international efforts to help those who are struggling to overcome poverty."

 

The director of the National Council of Churches poverty initiative urged members of Congress to set partisanship and rivalries aside as they read the church leaders' letter. "We are also in emphatic agreement that the budget must not be balanced on the backs of most vulnerable among us, or secure more benefits for the richest among us," said the Rev. Michael Livingston.

"We'll be listening with special interest to the discussion on revenue -- that is, taxes," Livingston said. "In the lame-duck session before Christmas, tax breaks benefiting the rich, including changes in the Estate Tax, added nearly $140 billion to the deficit. That is simply unconscionable, especially when some members of Congress are proposing cuts in programs that benefit persons living below the poverty line."

 

Livingston said unnecessary military spending also adds billions to the deficit. "We'll be looking for a serious and rational discussion on this issue, both from Congress and from the Defense Department."  


The full text of the church leaders' letter to Congress follows:

 

 March 1, 2011

Dear Members of Congress:

Our witness as faith leaders is grounded in love for God and neighbor and all Creation. Accordingly, we are compelled to speak out against the proposed deep cuts in FY2011 discretionary domestic and poverty-focused foreign aid spending. Jesus challenged people to define themselves by the measure of their love for one another, with particular concern for those struggling in poverty and marginalized by society. His Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) transforms and broadens our definition of the neighbor and lifts up a model of relationship with our neighbors that should define and sustain our community, national and international life.

Love acknowledges our interdependence and our responsibility for the future. None of us can prosper and be secure while some of us live in misery and desperation. In an interdependent world, the security and prosperity of any nation is inseparable from that of even the most vulnerable both within and beyond their borders. Our churches remain fully committed to our anti-poverty ministries in the U.S. and around the world. But we also know from this hard-won experience that similarly, our nation must remain committed to providing attention to and opportunity for poor and vulnerable people.

Discretionary programs that serve the poor and vulnerable are a very small percentage of the budget, and they are not the drivers of the deficits. Unchecked increases in military spending combined with vast tax cuts helped create our country’s financial difficulties and restoring financial soundness requires addressing these root imbalances. We share your concerns over long-term deficits and urge you to find just solutions that will protect future generations both from a legacy of debt and a legacy of poverty and underinvestment. Cutting discretionary programs is not a just solution. These cuts will devastate those living in poverty, at home and around the world, cost jobs, and in the long run, will harm, not help, our fiscal situation. While “shared sacrifice” can be an appropriate banner, those who would be devastated by these cuts have nothing left to sacrifice.

We find ourselves at a moment of crisis and decision. In the midst of sobering financial challenges, our faith compels us to advance toward a better world for ourselves and our neighbors and not turn away from our brothers and sisters in need. We are compelled by our faith in the living Christ to seek a world where hunger and poverty are a distant memory, and where children around the world grow up with equal opportunities for success. We are called by God, who declared this Creation good, to seek a world of health in our air, water, and biodiversity. We are called by Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, to build a world where we live in community with one another, caring for those experiencing conflict, aiding those in the midst of natural disasters and dealing with the impacts of climate change, and where we seek things that build a world of just peace. As God is Creator and Sustainer of all, this is a not just a vision for those in our churches, but a witness our faith compels us to proclaim for all the world.

The unprecedented and dangerous cuts to discretionary domestic programs and poverty-focused foreign assistance will jeopardize the lives and well-being of millions now and into the future. These deep and unwise spending cuts are a betrayal of our call to love our neighbor. Our faith points our nation to “a more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31) that bears one another’s burdens, acknowledges our interdependence, and compels sacrifice and love for our neighbors in need. We therefore urge you to reject proposed cuts that would undermine domestic and international efforts to help those who are struggling to overcome poverty.

Sincerely,

Rev. Donald H. Ashmall, Council Minister
International Council of Community Churches

Dr. Carroll A. Baltimore, Sr., President
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, President, Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church

Rev. Dr. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson, General Secretary
Reformed Church in America


Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 

Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo, Executive Minister
United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries

The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary
National Council of Churches USA

Arthur M. Larrabee, General Secretary
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

Bishop Chuck Leigh, President
Apostolic Catholic Church

Rev. John L. McCullough
Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service

Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley, General Secretary
American Baptist Churches USA

Stanley J. Noffsinger, General Secretary
Church of the Brethren

Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church USA

Stephen M. Veazey, President
Community of Christ

Dr. Sharon E. Watkins, General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada

 


Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for shared ecumenical witness among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member communions -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.


NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 646-853-4212 (cell),
pjenks@ncccusa.org

 

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