wfn.org | [ENS] As Congress reconvenes, disaster relief, social safety net,

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

Daybook, from Episcopal News Service

September 12, 2005 -- Monday Mission

As Congress reconvenes, disaster relief, social safety net, Arctic
drilling
and budget dominate agenda

By John Johnson

[Episcopal News Service] In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Congress'
traditional August recess was cut short as leaders returned to the
nation's
capital to take up "emergency supplemental spending" for the ravaged
Gulf
Coast region, according to the Episcopal Church's Office of Government
Relations (OGR) in Washington, D.C.

Congress approved $10.5 billion dollars in federal funding for the
Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), after the agency advised
congressional
leaders that an immediate infusion of funding was needed, prompting the
special session.

Additional aid to the region and an "economic stimulus package" to
offset
the disaster's impact on the national economy are expected be considered
in
coming weeks. According to a Congressional Budget Office assessment
obtained
by the Associated Press, Hurricane Katrina will reduce employment by
400,000
people in coming months while trimming U.S. economic growth by as much
as a
full percentage point in the second half of this year.

The Agenda

Congress was already scheduled to address a long list of legislation,
including the FY '06 Federal budget resolution, which calls for deep
cuts to
the nation's programs for those in need--specifically the Food Stamp
Program
and Medicaid-as well as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
and
the reauthorization of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and
Violence
Against Women Act programs. A vote on repeal of the estate tax has been
put
off indefinitely.

Hurricane Katrina may also force Congress to address long-neglected
issues
of poverty in America. These issues were given hard numbers in the U.S.
Census Bureau's annual report entitled Income, Poverty, and Health
Insurance
Coverage in the United States: 2004
(http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p60-229.pdf). The report showed
that
the nation's official poverty rate is rising: "There were 37.0 million
people in poverty (12.7 percent) in 2004, up from 35.9 million (12.5
percent) in 2003." The report also revealed that the number of those
without
employer-based health insurance coverage fell below 60 percent to 59.8
percent for the first time since 1993. The number of Americans who lack
insurance climbed again, with some 45.8 million people uninsured in
2004,
an increase of 800,000 people over 2003.

While the Bush administration reports that the nation is experiencing
its
third year of economic recovery since 2001, it is unclear how the new
census
data combined with the largest natural disaster ever to hit the U.S.
will
impact congressional efforts to move forward the FY '06 Federal budget
with
deficit reduction agenda achieved through cuts in entitlement programs.
Among the programs targeted are Medicaid, the Food Stamp Program, farm
subsidies, student loans, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF).

Congress is also attempting to win approval for gas and oil drilling in
the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Past efforts to approve drilling have
failed in the Senate due to the threat of a filibuster. However, by
successfully including revenues from lease sales in the Arctic Refuge in
budget reconciliation legislation, proponents of drilling found a "back
door" around the filibuster, according to OGR. Senate rules do not allow
senators to block the "budget reconciliation bill." Proponents of
drilling
have attempted to connect the high cost of gas as reason for drilling in
the
traditional sacred space of the Episcopal Gwich'in Nation. Most experts
agree that if drilling were approved it would take 7-10 years before the
oil, if it exists, to begin flowing into world markets and that it would
have minimal to no impact on the price of oil, which is set by oil
producing
nations with significantly more oil reserves than exist in the U.S. The
U.S.
consumes 25 percent of the world's oil, yet has only 3 percent of the
world's oil reserves.

The budget is in the "reconciliation" process where committees put final
numbers on the programs within their jurisdiction. Committees must
report
those figures on September 16 and Congress is expected to consider the
budget reconciliation package in late September, according to OGR, which
is
closely tracking congressional action on the FY '06 Federal Budget.

Grassroots

In early August, an "Action Alert" from the Episcopal Public Policy
Network
(EPPN) asked Episcopalians to take the opportunity to meet with their
members either one-on-one or with ecumenical partners to raise the
concerns
of the Church.

"Designed to give members a break from the swampy heat of Washington,
this
is a critical time to turn up the heat for our priorities. Recess is
when
lawmakers are most available," the Alert stated.

Over the summer the EPPN grew by 800 members and sent nearly 12,000
e-mails
to members of Congress according to Mary Getz, Grassroots Coordinator
for
the EPPN.

Bishops Thomas C. Ely of Vermont and Wendell N. Gibbs of Michigan were
both
published in regional newspapers speaking out against cuts to the Food
Stamp
Program and urging constituents to contact their members of Congress to
oppose those cuts.

Issues and Action

As Congress began its five week August recess, OGR identified a number
of
domestic policy priorities related to those in need that Episcopalians
could
bring to the attention of their elected representatives.

"News coverage of Hurricane Katrina has shown us unforgettable faces of
those who live in poverty," said Maureen Shea, director of the Episcopal
Church's Office of Government Relations. "We hope Congress will have
seen
these needs and will take appropriate action. Episcopalians have long
done
their part to serve the least among us, and are doing so again through
gifts
to Episcopal Relief and Development, giving to the affected dioceses,
and
assistance through Episcopal Migration Ministries-but government must be
a
full partner in that effort, now more than ever."

--John Johnson is domestic policy analyst in the Episcopal Church's
Office
of Government Relations.

- - - - -

Domestic Priorities for Episcopalians

The following is a list of important domestic priorities as identified
by
the Office of Government Relations. All of the legislative priorities
below
and the work of OGR are governed by the policies of the General
Convention
or in the interim the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church. For
more
information go to www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn.

The FY '06 Federal Budget: Episcopalians are urged to contact their
elected
representatives with these particular concerns, remembering that the
victims
of Hurricane Katrina will be in urgent need of many of these programs.

Food Stamps: This year's Budget Resolution requires the House and Senate
Agriculture Committees to cut $3 billion from programs under their
jurisdiction - including federal nutrition assistance for low-income
households, particularly the Food Stamp Program - by September 16.
Episcopalians should ask the Agriculture Committees to not make their
budget
cuts from programs providing subsistence nutrition to the nation's
neediest
people. Episcopalians should ask members of Congress to protect Food
Stamps
by opposing any cuts to the Food Stamp Program.

Medicaid: The budget resolution requires committees to cut $10 billion
from
Medicaid. The National Governors' Association supports shifting more of
the
cost of health care to low-income recipients by requiring families with
incomes below 150% of the poverty line to pay up to 5% of their incomes
for
their medications, while Medicaid-eligible families with higher incomes
would have to pay up to 7.5% of income. Advocacy groups seek to preserve
Medicaid benefits for low-income households without shifting more of the
cost of prescription drugs to them. In light of new revenue forecasts
and
the Census report Episcopalians should ask members of Congress to not
reduce
Medicaid benefits.

TANF: The authorization for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families
expired
in 2002 and the program has operated ever since on a series of
short-term
extensions. Congress has failed to reauthorize the program because of
conflicts over a number of changes sought by various parties. The
President
and House Republican leaders want to impose more stringent work
requirements
and divert funds into "marriage promotion" initiatives. Efforts to
increase
childcare funding, coupled with less severe increases in the work
requirements, will be lost if Congress folds a five-year extension of
TANF
into Budget Reconciliation. Episcopalians should ask members of Congress
to
keep TANF out of Budget Reconciliation and reauthorize it separately in
this
Congress..

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 or considered separately, they put revenue
from
drilling in the budget and therefore it will be part of the
reconciliation
package. The Episcopal Gwich'in nation considers the coastal plain of
the
Arctic Refuge, where drilling would occur, their traditional sacred
space
because it is the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou heard. The
Gwich'in have relied on the Caribou for food, medicine, culture,
clothing,
and tools for centuries. Episcopalians should ask members of Congress to
keep revenues from Arctic lease sales out of any budget reconciliation
bill.

Oppose Budget Reconciliation: Food Stamp, Medicaid, drilling in the
Arctic
Refuge, TANF and other advocates are coordinating efforts now,
suggesting
that there will be a serious effort to defeat the reconciliation bill,
and
therefore kill the FY '06 budget in mid to late September. Program
funding
would then continue at previous levels through the Appropriations
process.
As a sign of the Episcopal Church's continuing distress about the
injustices
in the FY'06 budget, Episcopalians should ask members of Congress to
oppose
the FY '06 budget reconciliation bill if Congress does not respond to
the
concerns of the Church.

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