Religious leaders ask House of Representatives to pass child-nutrition bill

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Religious leaders ask House of Representatives to
pass child-nutrition bill approved by Senate

> Written by staff and wire reports
> November 30, 2010

The UCC's general minister and president, along with 18 other heads of
Christian denominations affiliated with the National Council of the
Churches, has called upon the U.S. House of Representatives to pass
the Senate-approved child nutrition bill.

The Rev. Geoffrey A. Black was among those signing the letter sent to
House Democratic and Republican leaders and all members of the House.

"As leaders of faith communities, we see firsthand the suffering that
food insecurity causes, particularly for families and children," says
the letter. ?Our children cannot wait any longer for improvements in
nutrition programs.

The letter emphasizes that passage of the Child Nutrition
Reauthorization is essential to combating the poverty that is
affecting larger numbers of children in the United 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 to 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 it had been "weakened by compromise." Even so, they said, "it
is the best remaining hope for some relief for hungry children who
face dim prospects for lives of abundance if their early years are
compromised by childhood hunger."

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

"Healthful child nutrition and food for families and individuals
living in poverty are equal responsibilities in a society where
resources are abundant and the common good is our aim," says the
letter. "They are not competing objectives; rather they are worthy and
complementary expressions of a national commitment to care for our 
neighbor s."

"We urge you to find ways to restore cuts to the SNAP program as
earnestly as our religious convictions move us to press for your
action to pass this bill for the benefit of our children."

To read the full text of the letter, click here:
http://www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/childnutritionletter.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 Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member
faith groups ? from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox,
Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches ?
include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in
communities across the nation.