David Beckmann, president, Bread for the World, John McCullough, executive director and CEO, Church World Service, and Sayyid Syeed, national director, Office of Interfaith & Community Alliances, Islamic Society of North America, in a Nov. 2 press conference in Washington, represent an interfaith coalition’s message on saving U.S. funding for international assistance: “It’s a matter of ethics, American values.” Photo: Martin Shupack/CWS
WASHINGTON, D.C. – “Responding to hunger and poverty is not a partisan issue. It is not a Republican or Democratic issue, nor is it a conservative or liberal issue. It is a moral issue that people of faith, across the political spectrum, agree upon,” the Rev. John McCullough, Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service, said today in a meeting of U.S. interfaith leaders with senators on Capitol Hill.
McCullough and the diverse group of religious leaders met with senators to discuss the relationship between ethical values and American international policy, with their focus turned sharply towards the Senate’s current FY 2012 Appropriations for the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, which funds many of the U.S. programs that assist families in some of the world’s poorest countries.
In a closed-door conversation, hosted by Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE), McCullough and the interfaith leaders expressed deep concern over the level of budget cuts under consideration, which the Senate is expected to consider in coming days.
The interfaith coalition who organized today’s Senate briefing reflect a diversity of the nation’s leading Christian, Jewish and Muslim officials who share in common a belief that the United States has a moral responsibility to respond to suffering and poverty anywhere around the world.
The group emphasized to senators that American-led humanitarian and poverty-focused international assistance programs are vital in helping the world’s poorest and most vulnerable lift themselves out of poverty. The clergy members stated the issue as a matter of ethics and a fundamental expression of American values.
The coalition stressed the need for continued American international assistance for those who are hungry, lack clean water, need life-saving medications, are victims of disasters such as the famine in the Horn of Africa, are children in need of education, or may be refugees from war and other calamities.
“As people of faith, we believe the moral measure of the budget debate is how the most poor and vulnerable people fare. Every proposal needs to be looked at in terms of how it treats those Jesus called ‘the least of these,’” said Rev. David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World.
Dr. Sayyid Sayeed, National Director for Office of Interfaith & Community Alliances for Islamic Society of North America, commented, “The federal budget reflects the moral conscience of America … Our nation must continue to serve as a source of hope and much needed help to the victims of devastating poverty around the world.”
“I am praying everyday for the Super Committee and the Congress to make wise, courageous, and compassionate decisions,” said Rev. Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals.
“The Senate is going to vote next week on the funding level for humanitarian and poverty-focused international assistance,” said CWS Director of Advocacy Martin Shupack. “It’s vital that the Senate accept the funding recommendation of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The religious leaders meeting today are asking that all amendments to cut this funding be rejected.”
Shupack said the foreign assistance total is less the 1 percent of the federal budget, “but it’s literally keeping millions of people in impoverished communities around the world alive.”
In a related press conference the faith group held earlier today, CWS’s McCullough said, “We have just come from a meeting with USAID Administrator Raj Shah, where we discussed with him the vital importance of humanitarian and poverty-focused international development assistance.
“Our religious institutions are engaged in extensive relief and development efforts, and we know the need and the suffering first hand. We are doing our part, but we can’t do it all. We need our country to do its part.”
The American faith community is taking a lead in providing a moral and faithful voice for policymakers throughout the budget and deficit reduction discussions. Many of the religious leaders who attended the meetings in the Capitol today are taking part in the Faithful Budget Campaign and the Circle of Protection initiative.
Both campaigns are encouraging the administration and Congress to maintain a robust commitment to domestic and international poverty programs.
The religious leaders in Washington this week include:
- Rev. Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals
- Rev. Stephan Bauman, President, World Relief
- Rev. David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World
- Rev. Dr. Christopher Alan Bullock, Pastor, Canaan Baptist Church, New Castle, Delaware
- Major Betty Israel, National Social Services Secretary, Salvation Army
- Bishop Denis Madden, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore
- Rev. Rafael Malpica-Padilla, Executive Director, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Division for Global Mission
- Ruth Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service
- Rev. John McCullough, Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service
- Bishop Adam Jefferson Richardson, Second Episcopal District Bishop, African Methodist Episcopal Church
- Bishop Lawrence Reddick, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
- Rev. Gabriel Salguero, President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition
- Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Exec. VP, American Friends of Lubavitch, Capitol Jewish Forum
- Bishop Eugene Sutton, Bishop of Diocese of Maryland of Episcopal Church
- Dr. Sayyid Syeed, National Director for Office of Interfaith & Community Alliances for Islamic Society of North America