Title: ELCA Joins Other Faith Groups Supporting Senate Farm Bill Amendments ELCA NEWS SERVICE
November 7, 2007
ELCA Joins Other Faith Groups Supporting Senate Farm Bill Amendments 07-187-AL
WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- As debate began Nov. 6 on the 2007 U.S. Farm Bill in the U.S. Senate, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) joined several U.S. faith groups and faith leaders from Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mali here in a Nov. 6 news conference, urging the Senate to make specific reforms to the bill.
The U.S. Farm Bill, scheduled to be reauthorized in 2007, determines agriculture, nutrition and farm conservation policies. News conference participants endorsed amendments that would establish payment limits for wealthy farmers while maintaining supports to farmers in need, eliminate subsidies that keep global market prices low, and direct savings from those changes into nutrition and conservation programs.
"By making the Farm Bill better for America, the Farm Bill also would open up opportunities for farmers in Africa and other poor parts of the world. It's a huge opportunity," said the Rev. David Beckmann, ELCA pastor and president, Bread for the World.
The Rev. Thomas Kaboré, Catholic bishop of Kaya, Burkina Faso, met with senators about the Farm Bill and participated in the news conference. "My own country of Burkina Faso loses more money in export revenue for cotton because of U.S. subsidies than it receives in U.S., and even international, foreign aid," he said. "If our African farmers didn't have to compete with heavily subsidized crops from the U.S., we would be able to send more of our children to school. We could provide better diets for our families, and we could invest in our farming system."
The ELCA and many of the groups that participated in the news conference also signed on to a Nov. 6 ad in Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, urging the U.S. Senate to work for Farm Bill reform.
"People of faith throughout the country are calling on their senators to do what is right for the common good," said the Rev. Jon V. Anderson, bishop of ELCA Southwestern Minnesota Synod, in a Nov. 6 news release. "I pray senators will vote yes for amendments that target government support to farmers that need it most and increase investment in rural development, conservation and nutrition programs."
Also participating in the news conference were John Carr, executive director, Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; the Rev. Jim Wallis, president and CEO, Sojourners; the Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane, Episcopal bishop of Washington; and the Rev. Kip Banks, Progressive National Baptist Convention.
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Audio of comments by the Rev. David Beckmann is at http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/071106a.mp3 and the Rev. Thomas Kaboré is at http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/071106b.mp3 and http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/071106c.mp3
More information about ELCA involvement in the Farm Bill is at http://www.ELCA.org/advocacy/issues/farmbill/ on the ELCA Web site.
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