wfn.org | Bishops support proposed reforms to help poor children

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

May 6, 2002  News media contact: M. Garlinda Burton7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.  10-21-71BP{205}

NOTE: For related coverage of the Council of Bishops' spring meeting, see
UMNS stories #201, #206 and #207. A photograph of Marian Wright Edelman is
available at http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html.

By M. Garlinda Burton*

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (UMNS) - United Methodist bishops have pledged their
support for a comprehensive proposal to the U.S. Congress to increase
funding for low-cost child care and Head Start, extend health-care coverage
to 9 million uninsured children and provide a greater safety net for
low-income families.

Members of the international Council of Bishops, meeting April 28-May 3,
agreed to spend June 12 in Washington in cooperation with the national lobby
group, the Children's Defense Fund. The purpose: to urge legislators to back
the fund's proposed Act to Leave No Child Behind. The council comprises
nearly 150 active and retired bishops from the United States, Africa, Europe
and the Philippines.

The bishops also urged each U.S. regional unit of the United Methodist
Church to host a children's march to its respective state legislature to
lobby for the welfare of all children, especially those living in poverty.

Bishop Joe Pennel of Virginia showed colleague bishops a video of his
conference's second annual children's march to the state legislature in
Richmond, held in January on the Martin Luther King holiday. United
Methodist children and adults from across the state sang songs, marched and
met with United Methodist legislators, he explained. The Virginia Annual
(regional) Conference's children and poverty task force sponsored the march.

During their semi-annual meeting, bishops heard progress reports on their
churchwide initiative to advocate for children living in poverty and their
families. As part of that review, Children's Defense Fund founder Marian
Wright Edelman outlined the provisions of the legislation now before
Congress. The comprehensive proposal, addressing everything from
environmental safety to after-school programs for at-risk youth, was
introduced a year ago by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. George
Miller (D-Calif.). Its provisions include:

7	Ensuring health-care coverage and access to care for the nation's
estimated 9.2 million children currently uninsured.
7	Providing block grants to states to help negotiate and collect child
support on behalf of single-parent heads of households.
7	Giving tax relief to low- to moderate-income families with children.
7	Increasing the minimum wage and access to unemployment benefits for
working families.
7	Repairing existing schools, building new schools in low-income
areas, and providing support and training for teachers.
7	Closing "loopholes" for purchasing handguns, thereby reducing the
risk of death or injury for children.
	
Bishop Ann B. Sherer of Missouri is chairwoman of the task force overseeing
the Bishops' Initiative on Children and Poverty. The focus is to educate and
encourage the church at all levels to advocate and help meet the spiritual
and practical needs of children and the poor. Further, the bishops have
asked grass-roots United Methodists to work with local advocacy and
social-service groups in seeking solutions to root causes of poverty around
the world.

In her May 1 address to the bishops, Edelman commended the United Methodist
Church for its work on behalf of children around the world. For example, she
said, the denomination is one of the largest supporters of the Children's
Sabbath, which her organization sponsors. She also affirmed the urgent need
for Christians to speak and act in support of children and families caught
in the grip of poverty, specifically in the United States.

"More than 12 million U.S. children live in poverty," she declared. "And
millions more are hungry, homeless or at risk for housing. This is
unacceptable in the richest nation in the world.

"These are not acts of God; they are moral and political choices," she
added. "We have the money (to support children). We don't have a money
problem, we have a values problem."

Edelman further urged the church to challenge political rhetoric and wrong
assumptions about the issues affecting children living in poverty - and
their families. "Our job as people of faith is to speak truth to power on
behalf the children, who are the future of our country."

# # #
 
*Burton is director of United Methodist News Service.

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United Methodist News Service
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