Title: ELCA, Other Faith Groups Urge Farm Bill Reform to Help Farmers in Need ELCA NEWS SERVICE
July 26, 2007
ELCA, Other Faith Groups Urge Farm Bill Reform to Help Farmers in Need 07-135-AL
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- As the 2007 Farm Bill headed to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on July 26, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) joined with other faith groups in backing amendments to the House Agriculture Committee's bill that would help farmers in need both in the United States and internationally.
The U.S. Farm Bill, scheduled to be reauthorized in 2007, determines agriculture, nutrition and conservation policies. The House Agriculture Committee completed its work on the bill July 19.
"The House Agriculture Committee's bill is unjust. It maintains the status quo on a commodity system that does not support the majority of farmers in the U.S., while harming farmers in poor countries," said the Rev. Philip Hougen, bishop, ELCA Southeastern Iowa Synod, Iowa City.
The Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill, of which the ELCA is a part, placed an ad in the July 26 issue of the Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, urging Representatives to support amendments like the Fairness in Farm and Food Policy Amendment, sponsored by U.S. Representatives Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Jeff Flake (R- Ariz.).
The Fairness in Farm and Food Policy Amendment "will make our nation's farm policy work for farmers in the 21st century and help people who struggle to feed their families," said the Rev. David H. Beckmann, president, Bread for the World. Beckmann is an ELCA pastor. Bread for the World is a nationwide Christian citizens' movement that works through advocacy with government leaders for justice for the world's people who are living with hunger.
The Religious Working Group on the Farm Bill includes Christian denominations and other faith-based organizations. It has organized more than 1,000 congressional visits, generated 85,000 letters sent to Congress and more than 8,000 phone calls, and mobilized Faith Farm Teams in 38 states to write letters to editors and to contact their members of Congress by telephone and postcard.
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The Roll Call ad is in a PDF file at
http://www.ELCA.org/advocacy/issues/farmbill/rwgad-07-07-25.pdf on the ELCA Web site.
Information on Faith Farm Teams is at http://www.faithfarmteams.com/ on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog