[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 116 (Thursday, September 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1856-E1857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RELIGIOUS LEADERS SPEAK OUT ON BUDGET

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM PRICE

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 15, 2005

  Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, our national budget and spending 
bills reflect our government's values and priorities, and in recent 
years those priorities have been skewed heavily in favor of helping the 
rich and eroding protections for the poor. Our country's religious 
leaders recognize that danger, and for the second time this year have 
issued statements calling on our government to truly care for the least 
among us and to abide by a budget and spending plan that reflects the 
higher values and morals of our country. I would like to submit for the 
Record a letter from the leaders of many of the major Protestant 
churches in our country and another by the National Council of Jewish 
women calling on Congress not to abandon the poor in the aftermath of 
Katrina. The budget reconciliation process should not be used to 
further reduce funding for education, food stamps, health care, and 
other critical domestic priorities while spending twice that amount in 
tax cuts for the wealthiest among us.

         The Episcopal Church, USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
           American, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church 
           of Christ, United Methodist Church.

                                               September 13, 2005.
       Dear Members of Congress: As leaders of our respective 
     denominations, we have long sought an end to the injustices 
     inherent in poverty. We have never seen these injustices born 
     out so vividly in our own country as in the aftermath of 
     Hurricane Katrina. The devastation wrought by Katrina has 
     exposed the anguished faces of the poor in the wealthiest 
     nation on the planet. These faces, precious in the eyes of 
     God, cause us to remember that racial disparities and poverty 
     exist in almost every community in our nation. They also 
     compel us to set before Congress once again our concerns for 
     the FY '06 federal budget and its impact on people living in 
     poverty. With renewed urgency, we call on Congress to stop 
     the FY '06 federal budget reconciliation process immediately.
       We believe our federal budget is a concrete expression of 
     our shared moral values and priorities. Congress rightly and 
     quickly responded in appropriating needed funds to ensure an 
     adequate initial response to Hurricane Katrina. Our 
     denominations have mobilized and are responding in prayer and 
     financial support and direct service to those in need. Yet, 
     just as disaster struck the Gulf Coast, the U.S. Census 
     Bureau reported in very particular detail that poverty in the 
     United States is growing. The annual report, Income, Poverty, 
     and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004 
     showed that 37.0 million people lived in poverty in 2004, an 
     increase of more than one million people since 2003.
       In April, during consideration of the budget resolution we 
     wrote to Congress that, ``As we view the FY '06 Federal 
     Budget through our lens of faith this budget, on balance, 
     continues to ask our nation's working poor to pay the cost of 
     a prosperity in which they may never share.'' It is clear 
     that programs such as Medicaid and the Food Stamp Program 
     that were slated for cuts by Congress will in fact have 
     greater burdens placed on them as a result of Hurricane 
     Katrina. These programs are not simply entitlements or 
     ``government hand-outs,'' they represent the deep and 
     abiding commitment of a nation to care for the least among 
     us.
       Believe us when we tell you that even before Hurricane 
     Katrina or the Census Bureau's report, neither we nor our 
     friends of other faiths had the resources to turn back the 
     rising tide of poverty in this country. The FY '06 
     reconciliation bill that is working its way through the 
     authorizing committees will send more people searching for 
     food in cupboards that, quite frequently, are bare.
       We commit ourselves to working for economic policies 
     infused with the spirit of the One who began his public 
     ministry almost 2,000 years ago by proclaiming that God had 
     anointed him ``to bring good news to the poor.''
     The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold,
       Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, USA.
     The Right Reverend Mark Hanson,
       Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in 
     America.
     The Reverend Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick,
       Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church 
     (U.S.A.).
     The Reverend John H. Thomas,
       General Minister and President, United Church of Christ.
     James Winkler,
       General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society, 
     United Methodist Church.
                                  ____


   National Council of Jewish Women Urges New National Priorities in 
                             Katrina's Wake

       New York, Sept. 12, 2005.--In the aftermath of Hurricane 
     Katrina, National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) President 
     Phyllis Snyder issued the following statement:
       We have watched with alarm the tragedy that continues to 
     unfold in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast as a result of 
     Katrina. Our hearts go out to all of the people who have 
     suffered from this disastrous hurricane--those who have lost 
     loved ones, homes, livelihoods, and their communities.
       We applaud the efforts of the individuals who have worked 
     day and night to rescue and provide relief to those 
     victimized by Katrina. So, too, we salute the countless 
     volunteers, many of whom are from NCJW, working to assist 
     evacuees who have relocated to their communities.
       This is a tragedy compounded by the grave mistakes made by 
     the very people and institutions charged with keeping us 
     safe. We urge the establishment of an independent commission 
     of inquiry with adequate budget authority and subpoena power 
     to investigate this catastrophe. It is important that this 
     effort rise above partisan politics in order to determine 
     exactly what went wrong and to make recommendations for the 
     future.
       Recovering from Katrina will necessitate measures that go 
     well beyond the immediate

[[Page E1857]]

     cleanup and rebuilding tasks. This disaster has exposed the 
     fault lines of race and poverty in our society that we all 
     knew existed but which have been ignored, especially in 
     recent years.
       NCJW calls upon our leaders and lawmakers to realign their 
     priorities, and we pledge to redouble our efforts to ensure 
     that this happens. We must prioritize funding to address 
     human needs over tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the 
     wealthy and drain vital budgetary resources. We must act to 
     address the vestiges of racism that linger in our society. 
     And we must act to ensure that the communities that rise from 
     the rubble embody a new vision of equality and social 
     justice.

                          ____________________