The Association of Brethren Caregivers stands alongside other religious leaders calling for the defeat of the 2006 Federal Budget as it is currently proposed. Being led by scripture that “the Lord maintains the cause of the needy, and executes justice for the poor” (Psalm 140:12), ABC is concerned about the proposed budget, which cuts deeply into programs for the poor while offering tax breaks for the wealthy. ABC supports a December 6 letter signed by five denominations calling for the federal budget to reflect the nation’s commitment to care for the poor and those in need, especially in light of the devastation and brokenness caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Legislators are working to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the proposed 2006 federal budget that call for cuts of $49.9 billion and $35 billion, respectively, in social programs that fund health care, food stamps, foster care for neglected children, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, enforcement of child support orders and student loans. According to a Nov. 9 action alert from the Church of the Brethren General Board’s Washington office, lawmakers intend to follow these program cuts with another tax cut of $70 billion that will primarily benefit the top 3 percent of taxpayers. As the Church of the Brethren agency that advocates for caring ministries, especially for the marginalized in society, ABC views the proposed budget cuts as attempts to balance the federal deficit at the expense of the poor.

ABC echos the request of the Church of the Brethren Washington Office and asks for Brethren to prayerfully consider the issues around the proposed federal budget for 2006 and voice their opinions to their legislators. ABC also asks Brethren to pray for and take part in prayer vigils planned for Dec. 14 at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., and around the country. Click here for a full copy of this release.

Scripture to Consider

2000 Annual Conference Paper

ABC's Call to Action - December 6

Washington Office Alert - November 3

Religious Leaders Statement - December 6

NCC Letter to Congress - October 19

Jim Wallis' Altar Call - Sojomail, November 30

NCC Release: Lautenberg Bill - November 5

NCC Release: What Would Jesus Cut? - November 4

NCC Release - October 20

Scripture to Consider

I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy, and executes justice for the poor. (Psalm 140:12)

In arrogance the wicked persecute the poor --

let them be caught in the schemes they have devised

For the wicked boast of the desires of their heart,

those greedy for gain curse and renounce the Lord.

In the pride of their countenance the wicked say, "God will not seek it out";

all their thoughts are, "There is no God." (Psalm 10: 2-4)

The Lord enters into judgement

with the elders and princes of his people:

It is you who have devoured the vineyard:

the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

What do you mean by crushing my people.

by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts.

(Isaiah 3: 14-15)

Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees,

who write oppressive statutes,

to turn aside the needy from justice

and to rob the poor of my people of their right,

that widows may be your spoil,

and that you may make the orphans your prey! (Isaiah 10: 1-2)

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house:

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin? (Isaiah 58: 6-7)

This was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:49)

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you¿and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7)

Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss (Proverbs 22:16)

In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)

"Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'" (Matthew 25:34-40)

With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4:33-35)

Association of Brethren Caregivers' Call to Action
December 6, 2005

The Association of Brethren Caregivers stands alongside other religious leaders calling for the defeat of the 2006 Federal Budget as it is currently proposed. Being led by scripture that “the Lord maintains the cause of the needy, and executes justice for the poor” (Psalm 140:12), ABC is concerned about the proposed budget, which cuts deeply into programs for the poor while offering tax breaks for the wealthy. ABC supports a December 6 letter signed by five denominations calling for the federal budget to reflect the nation’s commitment to care for the poor and those in need, especially in light of the devastation and brokenness caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Legislators are working to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the proposed 2006 federal budget that call for cuts of $49.9 billion and $35 billion, respectively, in social programs that fund health care, food stamps, foster care for neglected children, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, enforcement of child support orders and student loans. According to a Nov. 9 action alert from the Church of the Brethren General Board’s Washington office, lawmakers intend to follow these program cuts with another tax cut of $70 billion that will primarily benefit the top 3 percent of taxpayers. As the Church of the Brethren agency that advocates for caring ministries, especially for the marginalized in society, ABC views the proposed budget cuts as attempts to balance the federal deficit at the expense of the poor.

ABC echos the request of the Church of the Brethren Washington Office and asks for Brethren to prayerfully consider the issues around the proposed federal budget for 2006 and voice their opinions to their legislators. ABC also asks Brethren to pray for and take part in prayer vigils planned for Dec. 14 at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., and around the country.

Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners magazine is holding an “altar call” from 8 a.m. – noon, Dec. 14, at the U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C. Participants will pray for and ask legislators to reject the budget. Because the event may result in arrests for those who are willing, participants must attend a training session at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation at 8 a.m., Dec. 14. Prayer vigils are also being organized across the country. For information about Sojourners’ altar call and vigils, visit www.sojo.net.

The National Council of Churches USA also will bring together heads of communions to pray about the Fiscal Budget, Dec. 14 in the U.S. Capital’s rotunda for the “National Day of Silence.”

The most recent U.S. Census Bureau report on poverty presented hard numbers: 36 million Americans living below the poverty line. In light of this reality, ABC joins in asking these questions posed by religious leaders in their December 6 letter to legislators and all people of faith:

• How can Congress compromise on food stamps when the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 222,000 people, primarily low-income working families with children, and 70,000 legal immigrants, would lose food stamps if conferees follow the House budget?

• How can Congress compromise between the $1 billion for heating subsidies for low-income people included in the House bill but not in the Senate, while knowing that heating bills are expected to rise 50 percent?

• How can Congress compromise on Medicaid provisions that will force low-income patients to forego needed health care or medications, and relieve states of providing low-income children just above the poverty line with comprehensive preventive care and treatment?

• How does Congress compromise when the House proposal includes deep cuts to child support enforcement that will likely push children deeper into poverty when, already, nearly one in five children in this nation live below the poverty line?

The Washington Office’s alert encourages Brethren to consider the 2000 Annual Conference Statement on Caring For the Poor. The statement encourages congregations to use “their experience in ministry with the poor to inform themselves of the legislative and political issues having impact on the poor and speak to those issues with their legislators at local, state, and national levels. The Biblical witness and our own experiences as a community of faith suggest that there is a corporate or societal responsibility to deal with the problems of the poor, such as the Year of Jubilee. This extends beyond personal, hands-on responses and includes advocacy on behalf of the poor.”

Over the last several weeks, religious leaders across the nation have voiced their concerns over the proposed budget cuts.

“This is not the time for the budget reconciliation process to create greater hardships for those who are already experiencing greater suffering. To do so is not only unjust, it is a sin,” stated an October 19 letter signed by 17 denominational members of the National Council of Churches USA. The letter voiced opposition to the House’s proposed $50 billion in budget cuts.

“Let’s be clear. It is a moral disgrace to take food from the mouths of hungry children to increase the luxuries of those feasting at a table overflowing with plenty,” wrote Wallis in the November 30 issue of Sojomail, an electronic newsletter of Sojourners magazine.

Church of the Brethren General Board - Washington Office Alert
November 9, 2005

On November 3, the Senate passed its version of the budget reconciliation bill by a vote of 52 to 47.

The House is currently debating its own budget bill, which includes $54 billion in cuts. On the table are cuts of $9.5 billion in Medicaid, a total of $30 billion over ten years, achieved by requiring co-pays for children and pregnant women for the first time, despite evidence that higher costs cause low-income families with children to go without needed care. States will also be allowed to restrict benefits.

Also included are cuts of $8 billion in foster care, child support enforcement and aid to the disabled. Specifically, it would cut $730 million over 5 years from aid to poor seniors and to people with disabilities that prevent them from working. They would be forced to wait longer to become eligible for social security income (SSI) and then forced to wait longer for the benefits that are owed to them.

In addition, cuts of $844 million in the Food Stamps Program would prevent 300,000 people from receiving food stamps. Forty thousand children would no longer be able to receive reduced-price school lunches.

Lawmakers intend to follow these program cuts with another tax cut — $70 billion in tax cuts that will primarily benefit the top 3% of taxpayers. The message from Congress is that in response to Hurricane Katrina, they're going to cut services for the poor, cut taxes for the rich, and increase deficits for our children and grandchildren.

Send a fax, email, or call your Representative today demanding that they not cut aid to the poor, elderly, disabled, uninsured, hungry and homeless!

The 2000 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference Statement on Caring for the Poor declares “that congregations use their experience in ministry with the poor to inform themselves of the legislative and political issues having impact on the poor and speak to those issues with their legislators at local, state, and national levels. The Biblical witness and our own experiences as a community of faith suggest that there is a corporate or societal responsibility to deal with the problems of the poor, such as the Year of Jubilee. This extends beyond personal, hands-on responses and includes advocacy on behalf of the poor.”

Please make your Brethren voice known.

"Even as we sort through our emotions and response to the tragedy of Katrina, we are reminded that poverty and the inequity of our nation's resources was a key factor in the enormity of that devastation," states Phil Jones, director of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office. "Millions worldwide are at the brink of personal disaster in their own lives. The removal, or under funding of such important benefit programs is not an acceptable budget decision. We must continue to be a faithful voice that moves our national leaders to address this inequity and injustice of our national budget."

Provided by the Washington Office, Church of the Brethren General Board

Joint Statement from Five Mainline Protestant Leaders
December 6, 2005

“Congress Should Defeat Budget Reconciliation Once and for All”
Christians have begun the Advent Season in which we prepare to celebrate our Savior’s birth – the Savior who began his public ministry by proclaiming that God had anointed him “to bring good news to the poor.” We view this as a time for purposeful reflection, recognizing that we live in a fractured and fearful world, but seeking to find hope for ourselves and to give hope to those without hope.

Throughout this year we, five leaders of Christian denominations representing close to 20 million followers, have asked that the Federal Budget be recognized as a concrete statement of our nation’s values, and as such that it “bring good news to the poor.” At each stage of the complicated legislative process, we have viewed the budget through the lens of faith and our values and found the FY ’06 Federal Budget wanting. Now we ask that it be defeated once and for all.

The traumatic events of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita showed the nation and the world the faces of poverty in this country. The statistics from the most recent U.S. Census Bureau report on poverty presented hard numbers of 36 million Americans living below the poverty line, thereby verifying what our eyes had seen along the Gulf Coast but know to be true throughout the land. Yet Congress continues to make decisions which benefit the rich but are paid for by the poor and most vulnerable in our land.

Now the conferees must take hard decisions regarding the FY ’06 Federal Budget. They will seek to find compromise where there should be no compromise - that is with the lives and future of the poor of this country. The House budget package cuts total $49.9 billion and the Senate $35 billion necessitating hard bargaining and unacceptable choices. How can Congress compromise on food stamps when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that more than 222,000 people, primarily low-income working families with children and 70,000 legal immigrants, would lose food stamps if conferees follow the House budget? How can Congress compromise between the $1 billion for heating subsidies for low-income people included in the House bill but not in the Senate while knowing that heating bills are expected to rise 50 percent? How can Congress compromise on Medicaid provisions that will force low-income patients to forego needed health care or medications and relieve states of providing low-income children just above the poverty line with comprehensive preventive care and treatment? How does Congress compromise when the House proposal includes deep cuts to child support enforcement that will likely push children deeper into poverty when, already, nearly one in five children in this nation live below the poverty line? It cannot.

We pray that Congress will use this Advent season for purposeful reflection and in so doing conclude that the compromises required are unfair and will only cause greater hardship and suffering. They should vote down the FY ’06 Federal Budget. Then, Congress and the President should come together to present a budget that brings “good news to the poor,” reflecting our nation’s historic concern for justice and the least among us.

Signed by:

The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold

Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, The 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

Mr. James Winkler, General Secretary, General Board of Church and Society, United Methodist Church

Provided by the Religion Press Release Services, December 6, 2005

Letter to Congress:
Church Council Calls Proposed $50 Billion Cuts to U.S. Social Programs "Inconceivable"

National Council of Churches USA
475 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10115

October 19, 2005

Dear Member of Congress:

As leaders of America’s major faith communities, we write to you at a moment of great moral urgency for our nation when hundreds of thousands of our most vulnerable citizens are at risk. We urge you to put aside partisan politics and pass a federal budget that reflects the moral priorities of the wide majority of Americans. We urge you to work for, not against, the common good of all of America’s citizens and not just a privileged few.

This is a grave time in our nation. We are in the midst of a tremendous social and economic crisis, thrust vividly into public view by the recent natural disasters along the Gulf Coast. The times demand profound changes if the quality of life is to improve for millions of families. The United States budget is a reflection of who we are and what our priorities are as a nation. It is inconceivable—in the wake of the devastating impact of the recent natural disasters—that Congress would propose $50 billion in cuts for child care benefits, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Head Start, student loans, and other vital services for people in need. In the aftermath of these disasters, such catastrophic cuts can only deepen the pain and suffering and dramatically increase the number of people living in poverty in this nation.

We watched as members of Congress vowed to help rebuild the Gulf Coast. We heard our representatives promise to make helping those affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita a national priority. Yet despite those pledges, members of Congress now stand ready to cut $50 billion in essential programs that help those in need, while maintaining excessive tax cuts that help only the wealthy. The hurricanes were a natural disaster. But this proposed budget reconciliation would be a moral disaster of monumental proportion—and it is one that can be avoided.

The role of government is to protect its people and work for the common good. This is not the time for the budget reconciliation process to create greater hardships for those who are already experiencing great suffering.

To do so is not only unjust; it is a sin. It violates all the fundamental Christian principles of loving thy neighbor, caring for the poor, and showing mercy. As religious leaders, this violation is unacceptable to us.

How is it that we show mercy for oil millionaires and not hurricane survivors? We urge you to change this destructive course of action for the sake of our nation and for generations to come.

The outrage expressed by Americans across the country to the images of injustice following Hurricane Katrina—and the subsequent outpouring of generosity from these same citizens—is a message from the grassroots that our government’s priorities and budget must reflect American values by helping those most in need at their time of need. Please call a halt to budget reconciliation negotiations that are detrimental and direct your attention to healing rather than harming our society.

Respectfully submitted,

Signed (as of October 19, 2005)

Bishop Thomas Hoyt, Jr.
National Council of Churches USA

Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar
National Council of Churches USA

The Rev. Dr. Stan Hastey
Alliance of Baptists

His Grace Bishop Vicken Aykazian
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Friend Retha McCutchen
Friends United Meeting

Friend Thomas H. Jeavons
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

His Grace Bishop Dimitrios
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

Rev. Michael E. Livingston
International Council of Community Churches

His Grace Metropolitan Zachariah Nicholovos
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

The Rev. David L. Wickmann
Moravian Church in America

Rev. William Shaw
National Baptist Convention USA

Dr. Melvin Wade
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America

The Most Reverend Robert M. Nemkovich
Polish National Catholic Church of America

The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

The Rev. Dr. Major L. Jemison
Progressive National Baptist Convention

Rev. Tyrone Pitts
Progressive National Baptist Convention

Ms. Christine Laintner
Swedenborgian Church

The Rev. John H. Thomas
United Church of Christ

Mr. James Winkler
General Board of Church and Society
United Methodist Church

Reported at the National Council on Churches USA website.

Altar Call: Sojomail - November 30, 2005

Come to Washington to pray for a moral budget

by Jim Wallis

"Woe to you legislators of infamous laws...who refuse justice to the unfortunate, who cheat the poor among my people of their rights, who make widows their prey and rob the orphan" (Isaiah 10:1-2, Jerusalem Bible).

There are moments in every generation when a society must decide on its real moral principles. This is one of those moments in history: When our legislators put ideology over principle, it is time to sound the trumpets of justice and tell the truth.

In the early hours of the morning before leaving for their Thanksgiving break, the House of Representatives passed a budget bill that cuts $50 billion, including essential services for low-income families. Funding for health care, food stamps, foster care for neglected children, student loans, enforcing child support orders - all fell to the ax. If the House bill prevails, more than 200,000 people will lose food stamps, people already struggling to make ends meet will have to pay more for health care, and low-income students will find it harder to pay for college loans. When they return, the House also plans to pass a tax cut bill benefiting the wealthiest people in America.

Let's be clear. It is a moral disgrace to take food from the mouths of hungry children to increase the luxuries of those feasting at a table overflowing with plenty. There is no moral path our legislators can take to defend a reckless, mean-spirited budget bill that diminishes our compassion. It is dishonest to stake proud claims to deficit reduction when tax cuts for the wealthy that increase the deficit are the next order of business. It is one more example of an absence of morality in our political leadership. "Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss" (Proverbs 22:16).

The religious community has already helped influence the Senate - its version of the budget cut about $35 billion, with virtually no cuts in services to low-income people. The decision to protect low-income families in the Senate was a bipartisan decision - supported by both Republicans and Democrats. The House decision to sacrifice the poor was a victory of the extreme Republican leadership over all the Democrats and moderate Republicans who voted against the harsh and punitive House bill. Congress now faces a stark choice that requires moral clarity and outrage. The differences between the House and Senate bills have to be resolved in a joint conference committee, and the result brought back to each body for a final vote in mid-December. The convictions of the religious community must be brought to bear in these next few weeks - a final bill containing the House cuts that are an assault on poor families and children must not be passed. Budgets are moral documents that reflect our priorities. The choice to cut supports that help people make it day to day in order to pay for tax cuts for those with plenty goes against everything our religious and moral principles teach us. It is a blatant reversal of biblical values. It's time to act.

Contact your legislators Call your senators and representative during their recess and over the next two weeks and demand they refuse to pass a budget cutting services for low-income people.

And it's time for an altar call to Washington, D.C. Come to Washington: On Tuesday evening, Dec. 13 - as the budget bill is being debated in Congress - religious leaders, pastors, and church workers from around the country who serve the poor day after day will gather for a worship service and training session. The next morning, Dec. 14, we will kneel in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda to proclaim the Word of God and to pray for people in poverty. We will pray for those in our own neighborhoods who are under assault, and we will call our nation's political leaders to repentance - recognizing the Bible's insistence that the best test of a nation's righteousness is how it treats the most vulnerable among us. We will pray for poor families and children and for the courage of our political representatives to protect them from the budget assault. And we also hope our prayers will shame those who would sacrifice the poor for political gain and the benefit of the wealthy - and hope to change their minds. Specifically, we will pray that the principle of the Senate's bipartisan bill to protect low-income people will prevail and the efforts of an ideological House leadership to neglect the poor will fail. This act of prayer is likely to result in peaceful arrests for those who are willing. Our prayer will be an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in the tradition of the civil rights movement led by black churches. We believe that this moral battle over the budget can still be won. The punitive House bill passed by only two votes: Hearts can still be changed. We must lift up another voice - a voice in prayer that speaks the truth of God's Word. "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you¿and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jeremiah 29:7).

We urge you to prayerfully consider joining us. For more information go to www.sojo.net/capitol. If you plan to participate, you must sign up on the Web site. If you cannot join us in Washington, I urge you to plan and join vigils at local congressional offices across the country in order to magnify our prophetic voice, and to send representatives or a delegation of faith leaders, service providers, and low-income people to join us in Washington. See tomorrow's e-mail for more details about how to organize a vigil near you.

Source: SojoMail http://www.sojo.net/sojomail

Lautenberg Bill Adopts a Phrase from Church Leaders Letter to Congress
November 4, 2005

A phrase in a letter from 20 church leaders to members of Congress denouncing federal budget cuts would be immortalized in law if Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) had his way.

In a letter sent to Congress October 25, church leaders said efforts to cut $50 billion in essential programs for the poor, while maintaining tax cuts for the rich, “would be a moral disaster of monumental proportion.”

Lautenberg introduced November 3 an amendment renaming the Republican reconciliation bill on the budget, the “Moral Disaster of Monumental Proportion Reconciliation Act.”

“The problem isn’t just that the numbers don’t add up,” Lautenberg said. “It’s that the values don’t add up. This bill would close the door of opportunity and cut critical services to the poor, the elderly, the sick, and the hungry. And it would add billions of dollars to the national debt that our grandchildren will have to repay.”

Reported at the National Council on Churches USA website.

Click here to read the full release.

Clergy Deplore Budget Cuts that Hurt the Poor - And Make Sure the Speaker Knows It

November 3, 2005

Religious leaders came to Capitol Hill Thursday to express their indignation over proposed cuts to the 2006 Federal Budget that will hurt persons most in need, and didn't miss a beat when they found themselves face to face with the Speaker of the House.

The high-level meeting was unplanned, but the clergy lost no time telling Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) that proposed $35 billion to $50 billion in cuts to social programs was appalling and immoral.

The four leaders of Protestant, mainline, evangelical and reform Jewish traditions had just completed a press conference in the Capitol's Mansfield Room and were on their way to the rotunda to pray when Hastert returned from a meeting on the Senate side of the Capitol.

"They gave him an earful,"said another clergyman, one of about 20 clergy who were also on their way to pray in the rotunda.

Hastert appeared surprised but kept smiling throughout the brief encounter. Witnesses said he responded with "grunts and comments" to the clergy's questions, but pictures indicate the Speaker was calm and gracious.

The four clergy -- the Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, the Rev. Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners, Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and the Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory, director of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Washington Office -- held a press conference to deplore congressional efforts "to balance the budget on the backs of the poor." …

"What would Jesus cut?" asked Wallis. "Dust off the Bible, my friends, and do some Bible study."

Wallis cautioned members of Congress that the people he talks to in the districts are not in favor of the proposed cuts. "In the light of Hurricane Katrina, when people hear about increasing tax cuts for the rich and cutting $35 billion - $50 billion in services to the poor, they are appalled."

Reported at the National Council on Churches USA website.

Click here to read the full release.

Church Council Calls Proposed $50 Billion Cuts to U.S. Social Programs "Inconceivable"
October 20, 2005

The National Council of Churches USA, which opposes proposals to cut $50 billion in social programs from the federal budget, praised Congress Thursday for delaying action on the cuts.

The proposed amendments would reduce childcare benefits, Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, student loans and other social programs. The NCC said yesterday in a letter to U.S. senators that the cuts are “inconceivable” at a time when millions of poor people are still dealing with the devastating affects of recent hurricanes.

Congress will take another look at the budget next week before final action is taken.

Signed by NCC President Bishop Thomas L. Hoyt, Jr. along with other leaders representing 17 of NCC’s member denominations, the letter stated, “This is not the time for the budget reconciliation process to create greater hardships for those who are already experiencing great suffering. To do so is not only unjust; it is a sin.” (The full text of the letter is above.)

According to NCC’s General Secretary Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, who also signed the letter, “We are thrilled that Congress is not acting on plans to further cut social programs. These proposed budget cuts were appalling and it seemed as if we were supplementing tax cuts for the wealthy on the backs of the poor,” said Edgar.

The National Council of Churches is composed of 35 Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historic African American and peace communions representing 45 million Christians in 100,000 local congregations in the United States.

The letter also stated that the proposed cuts violated all the fundamental Christian principles of loving thy neighbor, caring for the poor, and showing mercy. “As religious leaders, this violation is unacceptable to us. How is it that we show mercy for oil millionaires and not hurricane survivors? We urge you to change this destructive course of action for the sake of our nation and for generations to come,” said the letter.

In addition to sending the letter to the Senate, NCC and several of its member denominations sent out electronic alerts asking people to call their Congressional representatives and urge them not to support the $50 billion in cuts to programs for those most in need.