ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 21, 2012
ELCA bishops urge Congress to protect the poor amid 'fiscal cliff'
12-81-MRC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As 2012 comes to a close and concerns continue
regarding the current debt and deficit negotiations in the U.S. Congress -- or the so-called "fiscal cliff" -- five synod bishops of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) met with White House staff,
policy staff for the speaker of the House and members of Congress Dec. 17-
18 to discuss ways to ensure protections for people living in poverty.
"The timing of our trip could not have been more apropos," said the
Rev. Robert L. Driesen, bishop of the ELCA Upper Susquehanna Synod, based
in Lewisburg, Pa.
This is a critical week in the legislative calendar and
negotiations.
"We met with representatives of both the White House and Speaker
Boehner's office and urged them to find a way forward that would avoid
everyone being hurt by the government's going over the fiscal cliff.
While we did not and would not support a specific solution or proposed
legislation, we asked for common-sense compromise," he said.
In conversations with representatives and senators, Driesen
said, "Our focus was on providing a 'circle of protection' around those most vulnerable as Congress considers debt and deficit reduction. We
especially urged attention to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program and noted that, while some members of Congress are interested in
seeing guidelines changed in the Farm Bill to eliminate potential abuse,
it would maintain benefits for those most in need."
For the Rev. Andrew Genszler, who directs the ELCA's advocacy
network, "It is important to reduce deficits and address entitlement
spending, and this should not be done in a way that harms low-income
families and people in poverty. Especially with savings from previously
capped discretionary spending, people living in poverty have been
affected and sacrificed enough," he said, adding that one complementary
idea "we advanced was preservation of the Earned Income and Child Tax
Credits focused on low-income households."
"I thought the meetings went well," according to the Rev. David B.
Zellmer, bishop of the ELCA South Dakota Synod, based in Sioux Falls. "I
am very appreciative of our time with the secretary of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, who wanted to meet with us, and we were able
to meet with two under-secretaries," he said.
In meeting with his state's federal elected officials, "part of
what I talked about is that we're part of the 'Circle of Protection,'
which the ELCA participates in along with the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals, Bread for the World
and others. This group has been effective in speaking on behalf of the
poor as we live through this recession since 2008."
"I appreciate that we have had these opportunities" for
conversation with White House staff, said Zellmer. "We were well-heard,
and there was good give and take."
Two other groups of ELCA synod bishops, called "ready benches,"
have gathered on Capitol Hill since Dec. 10 to address environment and
energy concerns and to urge law-makers to preserve funding for poverty-
focused development assistance programs overseas and increase its concern
and response to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. The ELCA International
Ready Bench is an official joint project with The Episcopal Church -- an
ELCA full communion partner.
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA):
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United
States, with more than 4 million members in nearly 10,000 congregations
across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church
of "God's work. Our hands," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God
through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the
world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church
reformer, Martin Luther.
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