Churches ask House to pass child nutrition act

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

Religious leaders ask U.S. House of Representatives
to pass the child nutrition bill approved by the Senate

Washington, November 29, 2010 -- Representatives of 19 Christian 
church bod ies today called upon the U.S. House of Representatives to 
pass the Senate  approved child nutrition bill.

"As leaders of faith communities, we see first-hand the suffering 
that food  insecurity causes, particularly for families and 
children," said the lette r addressed to House Democratic and 
Republican leaders and to all members o f the House.

"Our children cannot wait any longer for improvements in nutrition 
programs .  We regard passage of Child Nutrition Reauthorization as 
essential to com bating the poverty that is engulfing growing numbers 
of children in the Uni ted States.  One in five children in the 
United States now lives in poverty  in our nation, the wealthiest 
nation in the world.  Our faith compels us t o speak out and to act 
on behalf of "the least of these" (Matthew 25: 40)."

The leaders expressed disappointment in the Senate bill, S. 3307, 
because i t had been "weakened by compromise." Even so, they said, 
"it is the best re maining hope for some relief for hungry children 
who face dim prospects for  lives of abundance if their early years 
are compromised by childhood hunge r."

House members were also implored not make additional cuts in the 
Supplement al Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), once known as Food 
Stamps.

Healthful child nutrition and food for families and individuals 
living in p overty are equal responsibilities in a society where 
resources are abundant  and the common good is our aim. They are not 
competing objectives; rather  they are worthy and complementary 
expressions of a national commitment to c are for our neighbors.  We 
urge you to find ways to restore cuts to the SNA P program as 
earnestly as our religious convictions move us to press for yo ur 
action to pass this bill for the benefit of our children."

The full text of the letter can be downloaded at 
www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/child nutritionletter.pdf.                    
      

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of 
Christ  in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical 
cooperation among Chri stians in the United States. The NCC's 37 
member faith groups -- from a wid e spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, 
Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African  American and Living Peace 
churches -- include 45 million persons in more t han 100,000 local 
congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 
646-853-4212 ( cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org