A kairos moment on poverty by Jim Wallis

The Washington National Cathedral was full on a Monday night. More than1,000 people of faith had gathered for a convocation focused on theworld's hungry people - at home and around the globe - sponsored byAmerica's Second Harvest, Bread for the World, Call to Renewal, and theInterfaith Anti-Hunger Coordinators. An amazing procession of religiousleaders from almost every major faith tradition in America led theservice.

Evangelical leaders stood beside heads of mainline Protestantdenominations, a Catholic cardinal, bishops from the historic Blackchurches, Jewish rabbis, and Muslim imams. The main homilist, AnglicanArchbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, South Africa, noted themoral convergence of such a wide spectrum of American religious life andpronounced this a "kairos" moment - when regular time ("kronos") gives wayto a spirit-filled moment in history and a new sense of time takes over.

The massive reality of global hunger and poverty has revealed our ownspiritual poverty and is bringing us together. The religious leadersgathered at Washington's National Cathedral also have different politicalviews. But maybe soon overcoming poverty could become a bipartisan issueand a nonpartisan cause. That same day, I received a powerfully persuasivemessage from evangelical leader Rick Warren, who urged his entire e-maillist to join the 800,000 people who have signed on to the ONE campaign toovercome poverty, alongside sponsors such as World Vision, Bread for theWorld, Sojourners, and U2's Bono.

The next day, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was in Washington, D.C.,to meet with President George W. Bush, primarily to discuss the goals forthe upcoming G8 meeting for heads of state planned for Gleneagles,Scotland, in early July. During his packed one-day schedule, Blair askedto meet with a small group of religious leaders to discuss the issuesinvolved in the G8 Summit, especially with regard to Africa - which he hasdescribed as "the fundamental moral challenge of our time." Some of thesame people from the night before gathered again for the hour-long meetingwith the British leader whose country will be hosting the crucialinternational gathering in just three weeks.

We noted the diversity of religious leaders and traditions sitting aroundthe table, including Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church inChicago, Ted Haggard of the National Association of Evangelicals, CardinalTheodore McCarrick of the Catholic Bishops Conference, Bishop John Chaneof the Episcopal Church, and Bob Edgar of the National Council ofChurches. From the Southern Baptist leader to the Muslim imam, we eachexpressed a real hope that something very new and powerful might come outof our common resolve.

We spoke of how for the first time the world has the knowledge,information, technology, and resources to substantially end extremepoverty as we know it, but that what is still lacking is the moral andpolitical will to do so. And we agreed that to generate such moral will ispart of the job of the religious community. We thanked Mr. Blair for theleadership that the British government, under he and British ChancellorGordon Brown, is taking and offered both our support and readiness to sayto ourselves and all our political leaders that in light of the growingcrises of global poverty, disease, and conflict, we all must do much more.

The goals for the G8 Summit are clear: to come to an agreement on 100%debt cancellation for as many of the world's poorest nations as possible,and to substantially increase the wealthy nations' contribution torelieving the crises of hunger and disease, especially HIV/AIDS, and mosturgently in Africa. Movement toward fair and just trade to allow poornations to better lift themselves out of poverty is also a goal for many.News reports indicated that Mr. Blair was in Washington to encourage theBush administration to take a stronger leadership role in accomplishingthese goals.

The day after the Blair meeting, Sojourners' organizer Adam Taylor leftfor London to finish planning for a church leaders forum we areco-sponsoring with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who will hostthe day-long gathering for U.S. and U.K. church and agency leaders atLambeth Palace on the eve of the critical G8 meeting. In September, moreplans are under way for religious leaders and congregations across thenation to focus on an important U.N. Special Session to assess theprogress of the Millennium Development Goals, which have been signed by147 countries (including the U.S.) and aim to cut extreme poverty by halfover 15 years.

All these efforts are being undertaken to bring the religious community'smoral energy and agency to bear on the world's pre-eminent moral issue.Despite our many deep and sometimes painful divisions, the growing crisisof the world's most vulnerable people is serving to bring many of ustogether. And that is a sign of hope in a world that desperately needssome right now.

-- Carlos Navarro
State Coordinator,
New MexicoBread for the World
carlos@breadnm.org
Local website: http://www.breadnm.org
National website: http://www.bread.org

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Hunger Free Communities Act has been introduced!

Within the last 24 hours, the Hunger Free Communities Act has been introduced in the House and Senate, and the Millennium Development Goals Resolution has been introduced in the House!

The Hunger Free Communites Act is S. 1120 in the Senate. Its original sponsors are Durbin (D-IL), Lincoln (D-AK), Smith (R-OR) and Lugar (R-IN). It is H.R. 2717 in the House. Its sponsors are Osbourne (R-NE) and McGovern (D-MA).

The Millennium Development Goals Resolution affirms President Bush's endorsement of the Millennium Goals (to cut global hunger and poverty in half by 2015), encourages him to use this year's G7 and UN summits to advance the goals, and urges him to provide leadership and commit the U.S. share of the funding needed to reach the goals. It is H.Con.Res. 172.

Please write four -- yes, four -- letters to Congress now. Write letters to your representative and your two senators, asking each of them to cosponsor the Hunger Free Communities Act. Then write another letter to your representative, asking him or her to cosponsor the Millennium Development Goals Resolution. If you can encourage other people to write four letters, please do so.

We want to seize the extraordinary opportunity that have just now opened up!
Also, please say a prayer of thanksgiving.

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G-8 LEADERS: WIPE OUT DEBT IN 2005!

(from Lutheran World Relief)
Official discussions of debt cancellation last month at the IMF/World Bank spring meetings resulted in continued support for as much as 100% cancellation of World Bank and African Development Fund debt. Unfortunately, discussions around IMF debt cancellation hit a roadblock at the Group of Seven (G-7) Finance Ministers meetings that took place at the time of the IMF/World Bank meetings from April 15-17 in Washington. The U.S. Treasury backtracked on previous calls for IMF debt cancellation. The next opportunity for debt relief advocacy is the G-8 meetings, July 6-8 in Gleaneagles, Scotland.


Join with Jubilee USA Network and send a postcard today to President Bush and Treasury Secretary John Snow. Call on them to work with other nations to announce a deal at the July G-8 Summit for full debt cancellation from the IMF, World Bank, and other creditors for all impoverished nations and countries in crisis, without harmful conditions.

To order postcards or sign one online, visit Jubilee’s website at http://www.jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi?path=/take_action&page=wipeoutpromo.html.

Jubilee USA Network is a national network of 70 faith-based, environmental, community, solidarity, and labor rights organizations working for freedom from debt for nations across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.


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FreshBread Washington Update

Capitol Hill Update
The Senate is in recess from Friday, April 29 until Monday, May 9. This may be a good time to contact senators in their state offices or attend local events such as town meetings.

2006 Budget Update
On April 28, the House and Senate narrowly passed a budget resolution for 2006. The House voted 214-211 and the Senate 52-47 to pass the $2.6 trillion compromise bill negotiated by representatives of both chambers. Overall, the budget will require $35 billion in cuts to domestic programs over five years. It also mandates $70 billion in tax cuts over five years, more than half of which will benefit people who earn more than $1 million a year.


The budget resolution calls for $3 billion in cuts to agriculture programs, which include farm subsidies, conservation, and food stamps. The Food Stamp Program appears particularly vulnerable because many members of Congress oppose cuts to farm subsidies. The President recommends cutting $500 million from food stamps by pushing 300,000 low-income women who recently moved from welfare to work out of the program. House leaders are recommending even greater cuts.

For international affairs, the budget recommends a funding level of $31.4 billion – $2.2 billion less than the administration's request and lower even than the levels in either version passed separately by the House ($32.4 billion) and Senate ($33.3 billion).

Sen. Herbert Kohl (D-WI), ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee warned that the administration's proposal to cut food stamp costs by pushing 300,000 people out of the program would also end their children's automatic eligibility for free school lunches. Kohl told Undersecretary of Agriculture for Food and Nutrition Services Eric Bost that he did not understand how the administration would meet its goals of reducing Americans’ food insecurity by making it harder for low-income Americans to get food stamps and free school lunches.
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Domestic Update
Make Hunger History
Bread for the World continues to build bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House for the Hunger Free Communities Act, the legislation for our 2005 Offering of Letters, Make Hunger History. Members of the House and Senate from both parties have expressed their interest in co-sponsoring the bill, and the final language is now being crafted.

The Hunger Free Communities Act of 2005 would establish the commitment of the administration and Congress to achieving two very attainable goals: cutting hunger in the United States in half by 2010 and eliminating it by 2015. A key provision would require the Secretary of Agriculture to prepare an annual report on the problem of hunger in the United States. The report would present Census Bureau data and other key information on food insecurity, but even more importantly, it would provide details on efforts by federal, state and local governments to reduce hunger and recommend follow-up measures for the coming year.

Strengthening our national nutrition programs is the fastest, most direct way to reduce hunger. The Hunger Free Communities Act would call on Congress to adequately fund the national nutrition programs and support the work of church and local groups to fight hunger in their communities.
Hunger has been on the rise in recent years. More than 36 million people in the United States struggle to put food on the table – an increase of 5.2 million people in only four years – and nearly 10 million people live in households where one or more people experience hunger. Passing the Hunger Free Communities Act would help reverse this trend and begin moving the country in the right direction.
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Domestic Member Action
Urge your senators and representatives to cosponsor the Hunger Free Communities Act of 2005 and to oppose budget cuts to the Food Stamp Program and other national nutrition programs.
Points to make:
Hunger is on the rise in the United States. The latest data show that more than 36 million people live in households that struggle to put food on the table. The Hunger Free Communities Act recommits the United States to the fight against hunger.
National nutrition programs are the fastest, most direct way to prevent hunger. Congress should protect nutrition programs from any funding cuts that reduce the number of eligible participants or decrease benefit levels.
Political will is the missing ingredient to ending U.S. hunger in the next decade – a goal well within our capabilities.
U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
U.S. SenateWashington, DC 20510
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Send an email to Congress
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International Update
Millennium Challenge Account
The first Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) compact was signed on Monday, April 18. The agreement between the United States and Madagascar allocates $110 million to Madagascar's rural sectors over four years. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and President Marc Ravalomanana of Madagascar spoke at the signing ceremony.

Both the House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on the MCA the week of April 25. Earlier in April, Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Paul Applegarth testified on the administration's budget request for the MCA at a hearing of the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. The three hearings were generally well attended and members of Congress asked many knowledgeable questions, reflecting their commitment to their oversight responsibilities for the MCA. The prevailing view was one of support for the MCA and its goals coupled with emphasis on the need to live up to its potential.
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International Member Action
As the House and Senate Appropriations Committees begin their work, urge your representatives and senators to support the President's request of $22.8 billion for foreign operations.
Points to make:
The world has 852 million undernourished people, and this number continues to grow. With hunger, poverty and disease rampant, the United States needs to step up the effort to provide assistance that will help hungry and poor people improve their lives.
Fiscal discipline is important, but Congress shouldn’t try to balance the budget at the expense of poverty-focused development assistance. These programs are a tiny portion of the $2.6 trillion federal budget. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office figures show that lower revenues, not higher spending, account for the large deficit.
U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
U.S. SenateWashington, DC 20510
Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Send an email to Congress

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BFW analysis of Pres. Bush's budget proposal

We've all been reading about the drastic spending cuts in PresidentBush's budget, which was released on Monday morning. So, how does thisbudget treat the programs we as anti-hunger activists care about? In anutshell, the budget cutbacks leave key foreign assistance accounts andnutrition programs vulnerable to cutbacks as well and, in some cases,program changes that could seriously undermine safety nets for hungrypeople in our country.


Since journalists are thinking about the president's budget, now is agood time to let your editorial contacts know that you are monitoringhow the federal budget will affect programs to help hungry people.

Implications for Make Hunger History:

The Agriculture budget (which includes domestic nutrition programs)includes cuts to the Food Stamp program by $500 million over five yearsand more than $1 billion over ten years. These cuts would be enforced byreducing the number of people eligible to receive benefits, especiallyfor low-income working families. The Administration confirmed yesterdaythat over 300,000 people would be cut off of the food stamp program whenthe categorical eligibility cut is fully implemented in 2007!

This year we will need to work hard to defend funding for theseimportant nutrition programs, let alone convince Congress to followthrough on our nation's commitments to hungry people by fulfilling thegoal of cutting food security in half by 2010. The formation of theSenate Hunger Caucus, and the possible creation of a parallel HouseHunger Caucus, gives us reason to believe that concerned citizens at thegrassroots level can build the momentum to make ending hunger in ourcountry a priority for our decision-makers. If we want to ensure thatall Americans can put food on the table, then we must protect nutritionprograms from funding cuts and policy changes that will take food stampsaway from low-income people.

Implications for International Development Assistance and the ONECampaign:

Overall, the president requested a $2.3 billion increase inpoverty-focused development assistance. The HIV/AIDS funding is $3.16billion, and the administration's request for the MCA is $3 billion.(Although this is $2 billion short of the promised $5 billion by 2006,we should be careful to recognize that this is twice as much as Congressappropriated for the 2005 budget.) The president repeatedly promisedthat funding for the MCA and AIDS programs would be in addition to (notin place of) existing development and humanitarian assistance programs.However, it appears that some of these other accounts may have been cut.

Bread for the World policy analysts are still reviewing the foreign aidbudget and will refine their analysis as more information becomesavailable. But it is clear that the administration and Congress need tobe reminded of the promises made and goals set for accomplishing theMillennium Development Goals by 2010. The ONE Campaign is one importantway that thousands of U.S. citizens will remind our electedrepresentatives that helping hungry and poor people in far-off places isour moral responsibility and our privilege as the wealthiest nation inthe world. If we want to show the world that we will to do our part toend hunger and poverty, then we need to keep our promises to fully fundall foreign assistance programs (not only the MCA) and direct anadditional 1% of the federal budget to meet the MDGs.

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