wfn.org | BRETHREN CAREGIVERS CALL FOR DEFEAT OF 2006 BUDGET

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Dec. 7, 2005
Contact: Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100  F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com) 
 
ASSOCIATION OF BRETHREN CAREGIVERS CALLS FOR DEFEAT OF 2006 FEDERAL  BUDGET
 
Dec. 7, 2005 (Elgin, IL) --  The Association of Brethren Caregivers  has 
issued a statement saying that it "stands alongside other religious leaders  
calling for the defeat of the 2006 Federal Budget." The association's
concerns  
include that proposed budget cuts are attempting to balance the federal
deficit  
at the expense of the poor.
 
The association is inviting Brethren to join in a national "altar call" to  
prayer and worship on the budget issue on Dec. 14. 
 
House and Senate versions of the budget differ and will be reconciled in  
committee. The budgets presently "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," the association said.

 
It added that according to a Nov. 9 Action Alert from the Brethren  
Witness/Washington Office of the Church of the Brethren General Board, 
"lawmakers 
intend to follow these program cuts with another tax cut of $70  billion that
will 
primarily benefit the top 3 percent of taxpayers."
 
The Association of Brethren Caregivers is supporting a Dec. 6 letter signed  
by five Christian denominations calling for the 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"; and
is  
supporting similar calls from the Brethren Witness/Washington Office.
 
The full statement follows:
 
"The Association of Brethren Caregivers (ABC) 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 
as
ks 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.to noon on Dec. 14, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. 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_ (http://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 US Capitol's
rotunda  
for the `National Day of Silence.'
 
"The most recent US 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 Dec. 
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, which 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 Oct. 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 Nov. 30 issue of Sojomail, an 
electronic 
newsletter of `Sojourners' magazine.
 
"For more scripture references to consider and copies of the letters and  
documents mentioned here, visit ABC's website at
_www.brethren-caregivers.org_ 
(http://www.brethren-caregivers.org) ." 
 
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to  conti
nuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith 
in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith  
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its
 300th 
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United	
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the  
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
 
# # #
 
For more information contact:
 
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the  Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100  ext. 260
_cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org_ 
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org) 
 
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 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board. 
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