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Note #6910 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Stated clerk among religious leaders asking President to remember the needy
in economic-stimulus package
19-October-2001
01393

Stated clerk among religious leaders asking President to remember the needy
in economic-stimulus package

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian
Church (USA), is among 20 religious leaders who have signed a letter urging
President Bush to address the needs of low-income people as his
administration considers a new economic-stimulus package.
The letter, dated Oct. 18, was prepared by Bread for the World, a Christian
citizens' group that seeks justice for the world's hungry by lobbying U.S.
lawmakers. The Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread, was also among the
signers.
"For moral reasons, an economic-stimulus package must address the situation
of low-income people," the leaders said in the letter, which stated that 31
million people in the United States live in households struggling with
hunger. "They are the ones who suffer the most in times of economic
weakness. It is a matter of fairness - a core American value."
With U.S.-led military action under way in Afghanistan, the next major
challenge facing Congress is passing a stimulus package to help the nation's
economy rebound from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington.
Religious leaders called for increased funding for food stamps and for the
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children
(WIC). A "two-step" minimum wage increase of $1.50 was also recommended.
Some of those who joined Kirkpatrick in signing the letter were the Rev. Bob
Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches; Sayyid M.
Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America; and Rabbi
Eric Yoffie, president of Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
The full text of the letter:

"Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. 
Defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Proverbs 31: 8-9		

October 18, 2001

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20500

Dear Mr. President:

As your Administration negotiates an economic stimulus package, we urge you
to give the highest priority to the needs of low-income people. Specifically
we ask you to recommend:

l increased funding for the Food Stamp Program,
l increased funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women,
    Infants, and Children (WIC), and
l a two-step, $1.50 increase in the federal minimum wage.

As people of faith, we deeply believe that the needs of low-income people in
this country should come first in any plan to revive our country's faltering
economy. This is not only morally right; it is economically sound.

With our economy sputtering, and layoffs mounting by the tens of thousands,
the first to feel the effects are those at the bottom of the economic
ladder. These are the hotel and restaurant workers, the airline industry
personnel, the sales clerks and factory workers, the aides and drivers that
are the sinews of our economy.  They are the hard-working people, who even
in a strong economy, live paycheck to paycheck.  Now they are having to
struggle with where their next meal will come from, how they will get
medical help for their sick children, and how they are going to get through
the winter if they can't pay their utility bills.

For moral reasons, an economic stimulus package must address the situation
of low-income people. They are the ones who suffer the most in times of
economic weakness. It is a matter of fairness - a core American value. It
also makes good economic sense. Increasing the minimum wage and
strengthening the Food Stamp Program and WIC will directly and quickly
return money to the economy.  These programs target low-income people who do
not have the luxury of saving money at this time.

All our faith traditions tell us: God cares deeply for the poor and needy. 
This understanding motivates our religious communities and charities to do
all they can to reduce poverty and end hunger. But we cannot do it alone.
Our government must do its part. Even today 31 million people in the United
States still live in households that struggle with hunger. That number will
only increase in our current economic environment unless those federal
programs and policies that reduce hunger and poverty are sufficiently
calibrated and funded to meet the challenge at hand.  Mr. President, we need
your leadership on this important issue.

Faithfully,
 

The Rev. David Beckmann
President
Bread for the World

Bishop Cecil Bishop
Senior Bishop
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

The Rev. Peter Borgdorff
Executive Director of Ministry
Christian Reformed Church

Fr. Canice Connors, OFM, Conv.		
President
Conference of Major Superiors of Men		
The Rev. Bob Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.

The Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
General Secretary
Reformed Church in America

The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold		
Presiding Bishop and Primate		
The Episcopal Church
						
Bernice Powell Jackson
Executive Minister
Justice & Witness Ministries,
United Church of Christ

The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A)

Bishop Felton Edwin May
Bishop, Baltimore-Washington Conference
United Methodist Church

The Rev. Glenn Palmberg
President				
The Evangelical Covenant Church	

Dr. Dorothy Adams Peck
President
Women's Missionary Society,
African Methodist Episcopal Church

Sr. Kathleen Pruitt, CSJP
President
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
						
Dr. Robert H. Roberts
Interim General Secretary
American Baptist Churches, USA	

Sullivan Robinson
Executive Director
The Congress of National Black Churches

Jill Schumann
President and CEO
Lutheran Services in America

The Rev. Bill Sinkford
President
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed
Secretary General
Islamic Society of North America

The Rev. Jim Wallis
Convener
Call to Renewal

Rabbi Eric Yoffie
President
Union of American Hebrew Cong
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