Aid for needy

Economic stimulus should serve the needy

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

by Evan Silverstein, Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE - 19-October-2001 - 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:

	increased funding for the Food Stamp Program,
	increased funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and
	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 Congregations