ELCA NEWS SERVICE December 2, 2005 ELCA Presiding Bishop Wants Funding Increase to Eradicate Global Poverty 05-236-AL* WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago, joined 12 other religious leaders representing Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith traditions in a meeting Dec.1 with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The faith leaders met with Rice to urge the Bush administration to increase funding for international development assistance to combat global poverty and to discuss the importance of the current round of trade negotiations on all people living in poverty. Hanson and the other faith leaders called on the administration to fulfill its promises to substantially increase U.S. assistance to developing countries as part of the Millennium Development Goals and other poverty-focused programs. In requesting an additional $5 billion for such assistance in fiscal year 2007, Hanson said, "It is now time for the administration to work with Congress to ensure that it appropriates the funds necessary to meet the president's promise." Currently, the United States spends less than 0.5 percent of its federal budget on reducing global poverty. Hanson and several other Christian leaders met in March 2004 with Rice and other members of the Bush administration in an effort to secure funding for poverty-focused development assistance in fiscal year 2006. "Last year's meeting involved only Christian religious leaders, but this year we came together as leaders of many faiths to speak with one voice," Hanson said. "There is an emerging, powerful convergence developing among people of faith over the issue of global poverty. Our faith traditions are now uniting as one in a grassroots effort to bring pressure on the world leaders to end global poverty. "This is a spiritual issue," Hanson continued. "Our sacred texts call us as people of faith to acts of love, mercy and justice. This is also a moral issue. It is about how we live responsibly in the world, particularly as people with wealth in the face of abject poverty." People living in poverty will be affected by the results of the upcoming Doha Development Round of trade negotiations, he said. "As people of faith, we are paying attention to issues of trade, particularly as they relate to the impact on those who live in poverty," said Hanson. "I told Secretary Rice that we want the Doha Development Round to succeed; but, for us, success will be measured by the impact on global poverty." The religious leaders, led by the Rev. David M. Beckmann, an ELCA pastor and president of Bread for the World, asked specifically that the trade round focus on: + elimination of trade-distorting agricultural subsidies + expanded market access for poor-country products + freedom for poor countries to determine how they liberalize their economies + increased assistance to help poor countries develop their capacity to participate in trade "Trade and aid are both important," Beckmann said. "Aid can help poor countries in trade, and changes in trade policy can open opportunities for struggling people around the world to earn a decent living." "The group thanked the secretary for the leadership that the administration has shown on these issues," Hanson said. "We extended the offer to continue to be in dialogue over the issues of trade and global poverty." The meeting was arranged through Bread for the World, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, supported by the ELCA and many other church bodies, dedicated to fighting hunger worldwide through advocacy. Others present at the meeting were: + Rabbi Frederick Mark Dobb, Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation + Imam Yahya Hendi, Muslim chaplain, Georgetown University + The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the general assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) + Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington + Imam Mohamed Magid, executive director, All Dulles Area Muslim Society + Bishop Roy I. Sano, executive secretary, United Methodist Church Council of Bishops + Bishop Monroe R. Saunders Jr., presiding bishop, The United Church of Jesus Christ, Apostolic + Dr. H. Eric Schockman, president, MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger + Sayyid Muhammad Syeed, secretary general, Islamic Society of North America + Dr. Daniel Vestal, coordinator, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship + Rabbi Jeffrey A. Wohlberg, Adas Israel Congregation * Annie Lynsen is director for advocacy communications, grassroots and network development, ELCA Washington (D.C.) Office. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news