ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 7, 2007  

ELCA Joins Other Faith Groups Supporting Senate Farm Bill Amendments
07-187-AL

     WASHINGTON (ELCA) -- As debate began Nov. 6 on the 2007
U.S. Farm Bill in the U.S. Senate, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) joined several U.S. faith groups and
faith leaders from Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mali here in a
Nov. 6 news conference, urging the Senate to make specific
reforms to the bill.
     The U.S. Farm Bill, scheduled to be reauthorized in 2007,
determines agriculture, nutrition and farm conservation policies.
News conference participants endorsed amendments that would
establish payment limits for wealthy farmers while maintaining
supports to farmers in need, eliminate subsidies that keep global
market prices low, and direct savings from those changes into
nutrition and conservation programs.
     "By making the Farm Bill better for America, the Farm Bill
also would open up opportunities for farmers in Africa and other
poor parts of the world. It's a huge opportunity," said the Rev.
David Beckmann, ELCA pastor and president, Bread for the World.
     The Rev. Thomas Kaboré, Catholic bishop of Kaya, Burkina
Faso, met with senators about the Farm Bill and participated in
the news conference. "My own country of Burkina Faso loses more
money in export revenue for cotton because of U.S. subsidies
than it receives in U.S., and even international, foreign aid,"
he said. "If our African farmers didn't have to compete with
heavily subsidized crops from the U.S., we would be able to send
more of our children to school. We could provide better diets
for our families, and we could invest in our farming system."
     The ELCA and many of the groups that participated in the
news conference also signed on to a Nov. 6 ad in Roll Call, the
newspaper of Capitol Hill, urging the U.S. Senate to work for
Farm Bill reform.
     "People of faith throughout the country are calling on
their senators to do what is right for the common good," said
the Rev. Jon V. Anderson, bishop of ELCA Southwestern Minnesota
Synod, in a Nov. 6 news release. "I pray senators will vote yes
for amendments that target government support to farmers that
need it most and increase investment in rural development,
conservation and nutrition programs."
     Also participating in the news conference were John Carr,
executive director, Department of Justice, Peace and Human
Development, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; the Rev.
Jim Wallis, president and CEO, Sojourners; the Rt. Rev. John
Bryson Chane, Episcopal bishop of Washington; and the Rev.
Kip Banks, Progressive National Baptist Convention.

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     Audio of comments by the Rev. David Beckmann is at
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/071106a.mp3
and the Rev. Thomas Kaboré is at
http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/071106b.mp3
and http://media.ELCA.org/audionews/071106c.mp3

     More information about ELCA involvement in the Farm Bill
is at http://www.ELCA.org/advocacy/issues/farmbill/ on the ELCA
Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog