wfn.org | [ENS] Senate takes final action on budget and the Arctic

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

Episcopal News Service Thursday, December 22, 2005

Senate takes final action on budget and the Arctic

>From Staff reports

ENS 122205-1

[ENS] The debate over the FY '06 Federal Budget, which began when
President Bush presented his proposal in February, ended December 21
with Vice President Dick Cheney returning from an overseas trip to break
a tie-vote in the Senate.

By a 51-50 vote, the Senate approved $40 billion over the next five
years in budget cuts from low-income families while protecting special
interests.  Because of changes made in the Senate, the House will have
to vote again on the budget but timing is uncertain.

Revenues from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge had been
included in the President's budget but were removed when it became
clear that their inclusion would kill the budget. Drilling proponents,
led by Sen.  Ted Stevens (R-AK), then added drilling to the Department of
Defense Authorization. However, that legislative ploy did not succeed and
early in the afternoon, the Senate voted to protect the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge from drilling.

Throughout the year, advocates in the faith and non-profit communities
argued against the cuts in spending for the poor and low-income workers
and their families. Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, joined by leaders of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA),
United Church of Christ, and United Methodist General Board of Church
and Society, sought budget changes that would help "the least of these."

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the report of the U.S. Census Bureau
contributed to their arguments. Episcopal bishops and members of
the grassroots Episcopal Public Policy Network made phone calls to
legislators, wrote letters and opinion pieces that were essential to
the public debate.

In the final bill, cuts to Food Stamps were dropped -- a major victory --
but Medicaid benefits were reduced and co-payments and premiums increased,
child support enforcement reduced, and families moving from welfare to
work will be required to work more hours without needed childcare funding.

"While we are grateful for those who worked hard to improve this budget,
we must in the end recognize that once again the poor and low income
will bear the burden of these so-called 'savings,'" Griswold said. "In
the year to come, I pray that our nation will more fully explore and
meet our obligation to those who suffer in the hope that we may become a
nation less divided by income, race, and class and thus more reconciled
one to the other."

For more than 10 years, the Episcopal Church has worked with the Gwich'In
Nation -- 90 percent of whom are Episcopalians -- and environmentalists
to protect "Iizhik Gwats'an Gwandaii Goodlit" -- The Sacred Place Where
Life Begins -- known as the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge.

Although the U.S. Department of Energy estimated that it would take 10
years before oil from the Arctic would reach domestic markets, drilling
proponents sought to convince Americans that this oil would lower our
dependence on foreign oil and lower gas prices. Opponents argued that
the U.S. protect this pristine part of God's creation and address energy
needs by reducing its dependence on fossil fuels through investment in
renewable energies and more fuel efficient automobiles.

The Rt. Rev. Mark L. MacDonald, Bishop of Alaska, who has worked
tirelessly against drilling, made this statement following the vote:
"With a deep sense of gratitude, we welcome the action of the Senate
striking down the attempt to attach development in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge with a bill to authorize Defense spending.

"An amazing coalition -- Conservative and Liberal, Red and Blue,
Environmentalists and Sports Enthusiasts, Evangelical Christians and a
broad spectrum of religious groups -- came together to protect the web
of life that is represented in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"Special thanks must be given to the Senators who showed integrity
and courage in standing firm against great political pressure, to the
Bishops and other religious leaders who have joined with the Gwich'in
People in concern and action, to the staff of the Washington Office of the
Episcopal Church who worked long and hard to support their fellow Gwich'in
Episcopalians, and, finally, the growing number of American people who
look for a new future of mutual interdependence and responsibility.

"Finally, and most significantly, we must recognize the way that the
Gwich'in, in their very traditional faith and uncompromising hope,
have been the spiritual spark of this work. We pray that this emerging
coalition may be strengthened. It is a sign of hope."

Maureen Shea, director of Government Relations for the Episcopal Church,
said of yesterday's votes: "When we began this year, no one would have
guessed that the Vice President would be needed to break a tie on the
budget. Our advocacy made a difference.

"As the Administration readies the FY '07 Federal Budget, we ask that
they remember the faces of Katrina and Rita victims and the nationwide
figures on poverty reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. We will continue
to bear witness for those who are too often forgotten, and we will do
so in greater numbers and with even greater intensity."

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