wfn.org | [ENS] August is best to 'turn up the heat' on legislators,

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

August 11, 2005 - Thursday Thesis: Meeting People of Purpose

August is best to 'turn up the heat' on legislators, Shea says

[Episcopal News Service] "The best time to turn up the heat on issues of
concern to Episcopalians is when Congress is back home, escaping
Washington's humid August," said Maureen Shea, director of the church's
Office of Government Relations. "We hope many Episcopalians will join
the
members of our grassroots networks - both clergy and lay - to talk with
their Members of Congress before they return to D.C. after Labor Day."

Working with John Johnson and Alex Baumgarten, the church's domestic and
international policy analysts, and based on the public policy
resolutions
passed at General Convention and in Executive Council, Shea identified
the
federal budget for FY '06, the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and
the
Middle East as critical issues needing constituent support.

"Congress will make important decisions on all of these issues in the
fall.
We hope Episcopalians, whether through visits, attending town hall
forums,
or calling in to radio shows, will convey their views to their elected
officials. Constituent opinions are what matter most," Shea concluded.

Office of Government Relations

FACT SHEET

THE FY'06 FEDERAL BUDGET:  Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ and United
Methodist General Board of Church and Society, as well as the US
Catholic
Conference and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism have all
raised
serious concerns about the FY '06 federal budget. Now the budget is in
the
"reconciliation" process where Congress assigns final numbers to
programs.
Of urgent concern in the budget are:

. Food Stamps: This year's Budget Resolution requires the House and
Senate
Agriculture Committees to cut $3 billion from programs under their
jurisdiction - those include federal nutrition assistance for low-income
households, particularly the Food Stamp Program - by September 16.

. Medicaid: The budget resolution requires committees to cut $10 billion
from Medicaid. The National Governors' Association wants to shift more
of
the cost to low-income recipients, requiring families with incomes below
150% of the poverty line to pay up to 5% of their incomes for their
medications. Advocacy groups seek to preserve Medicaid benefits for
low-income households without shifting more of the cost of prescription
drugs to them.

. TANF: The authorization for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
expired
in 2002 and has operated since on extensions. Congress has failed to
reauthorize the program because of conflicts over proposed changes. The
President and House Republican leaders want to impose more stringent
work
requirements and divert funds into "marriage promotion" initiatives. If
Congress folds a five-year extension of TANF into Budget Reconciliation,
the
House Ways and Means Committee will make cuts in TANF funds and Senate
efforts to increase child care funding, coupled with less severe
increases
in the work requirements, will be lost.

. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Opening the Refuge to drilling
continues
to be a priority for this Administration. Knowing they might lose if it
was
included in the Energy Bill, they put revenue from drilling in the
budget
and therefore it will be part of the reconciliation package.

GLOBAL HIV/AIDS FIGHT: The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria is alone in having the capacity to mobilize resources free from
ideological restrictions, serves over 160 countries, and is able to
reach
places like Asia where the pandemic is most on the rise. Our nation's
present annual commitment of $350 million to the Global Fund -a fraction
of
the commitment Congress and the President gave to the program in 2003 -
is
woefully inadequate. In contrast, the United Kingdom recently doubled
its
own annual contribution to the Global Fund. Unless the U.S. contribution
to
the Fund is increased significantly, several of the Fund's key programs
will
not be renewed.

MIDDLE EAST: We have strongly supported the President in his quest for a
two-state solution in which there is both an Israeli and Palestinian
state,
living side by side in peace. We have also been clear that while we view
the
Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as an important step, it is a step - not an
end
in itself. Other very serious issues remain, in particular the decision
of
the Israeli government to continue building settlements and to complete
a
separation barrier in Jerusalem by September 1. Jerusalem should be the
capital of both Israel and a State of Palestine, and this is an issue
that
should be resolved as part of final status negotiations between both
parties.