wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Kirkpatrick,

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #9040 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05645
Dec. 5, 2005

Religious leaders press administration
to support fair-trade policies, foreign aid

PC(USA) stated clerk joins in meeting with Secretary of State

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.), joined a dozen other Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders
urging President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to enact
fair-trade policies and expand development aid to poor nations.

	The Dec. 1 meetings in Washington came less than two weeks before the
next meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Hong Kong.

	"The fight against poverty around the world is vital to establishing
solidarity among peoples and nations," Theodore E. McCarrick, the Roman
Catholic archbishop of Washington, told The Christian Post after a private
meeting with the president at the White House.

	Later, the delegation that included Kirkpatrick met with Rice at the
State Department. They said during a press conference after the meeting that
they were approaching the fair-trade and poverty issues from a spiritual
perspective. 

	"For us, at the heart, this is a religious and spiritual issue,"
Kirkpatrick said. "We shared that with the secretary, and were delighted to
hear her concerns as well - and encouraged her to be bold."

	The group pressed two proposals on Bush and Rice: the elimination of
agricultural subsidies that they said harm farmers in the United States and
abroad; and a $5 billion increase in development aid to poor nations for
fiscal 2007.

	The religious leaders praised Bush's proposals for changes in farm
subsidies. 

	"The administration has put a strong proposal on the table for the
WTO negotiations," said David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, a
nationwide Christian group that seeks justice for the ill-nourished. "We hope
President Bush and other world leaders will go the extra mile to achieve a
breakthrough in Hong Kong."

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