Title: Church Leaders Ask Bush to Remove U.S. Navy from Vieques
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

April 20, 2001

CHURCH LEADERS ASK BUSH TO REMOVE U.S. NAVY FROM VIEQUES
01-096-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA)   The Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and 10 other church
leaders from across the country are urging President George W. Bush
to put an end to U.S. military training on Vieques, an island east of
Puerto Rico.
     In an April 18 letter to Bush, Anderson and other religious
leaders asked the president to "reconsider completely the U.S.
presence" on Vieques.  Other leaders include the Rev. Robert Edgar,
general secretary, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A.;  the Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, presiding bishop, Episcopal
Church U.S.A.; and the Rev. John H. Thomas, president, United Church
of Christ.
     "The majority of the people of Puerto Rico have demonstrated
that they do not want Vieques to be a site for war exercises.  Puerto
Rico's churches   including Catholics, Protestants and Pentecostals
have joined forces in an unprecedented ecumenical coalition against
continued use of Vieques for U.S. military exercises.  Their
unanimous message is, 'Not one more bomb in Vieques.'  We are fully
in support of our Puerto Rican ecumenical partners in this position,
and many of us have traveled to that island to demonstrate this
solidarity through action," they wrote.
     The religious leaders have also asked Bush to meet with Pro
Vieques, an ecumenical coalition of Puerto Rican religious leaders,
"to hear their concerns."
     The leaders wrote, "We urge you to hear their plea and implore
you to use the power vested in you by the citizens of the United
States to order an end to all military practices and training on the
island as soon as possible.  Additionally, we hope that you will also
consider what can be done to encourage economic growth and poverty
reduction measures for the local community and to repair the
environmental damage our military presence has caused."
     Anderson led a delegation of ELCA bishops, clergy and staff to
Puerto Rico on March 22-24.
     The delegation's trip to Vieques on March 23 included a visit
to Camp Garcia, the U.S. Navy's live-ammunition training ground, and
the Museum of Vieques' Art and History, Fort Count Mirasol, where the
ELCA delegation learned about how residents of Vieques are working to
defend their human rights, to regain control over their own economy
and social growth, and to better their health, education and
environment.
     "It's clear that the people of Vieques feel they are, in a
sense, caught in their own island in a way that they are not able to
live as freely as they would like and as they see the rest of our
country living," Anderson said in an interview on Vieques.
     Members of the ELCA Caribbean Synod, with offices in Dorado,
Puerto Rico, plan to bring forth a resolution about the U.S. Navy's
presence on Vieques for the 2001 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to
vote on this summer. The resolution will be designed to reflect the
synod's position to have the U.S. Navy immediately cease their
occupation and military training on Vieques.
     In 1999, the ELCA Churchwide Assembly adopted a resolution that
called on the U.S. government "to seek reasonable solutions" that
will end all U.S. military operations on Vieques.  The resolution
asked that the land be returned to the people of the island "while
not compromising our nation's security."
     The Rev. Pablo Quinones, Iglesia Luterana Reconciliacion,
Levittown, Puerto Rico, believes the church has conditioned the
removal of the U.S. Navy by inserting "without compromising our
nation's security" into the text of the 1999 resolution.  In an
interview, Quinones said clergy and lay leaders of the Caribbean
Synod will work to develop a new resolution that will illustrate
"advocacy for the people of Vieques" without conditions.
     The ELCA Caribbean Synod is made up of 6,783 Lutherans in 34
congregations on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For information contact:
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http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html