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May/June
2007
Washington Report to Presbyterians
The 110th Congress has been in session for four months, with
little to show for its work in the way of substantive legislative achievements.
The budget for fiscal year 2008 has not been adopted, and other major issues
await action. This issue of Washington Report to Presbyterians discusses three
high priority concerns for the religious community that will be the subject of
debate and contention in Congress this year:
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The Future of Iraq
by Catherine Gordon
As debate continues on funding for the Iraq war and setting a time line for
withdrawal, the humanitarian crisis in Iraq has worsened. In late March
the Congressional Research Service issued a report on the situation in Iraq stating
that "the humanitarian crisis many feared would take place in March 2003
as a result of the war in Iraq appears to be unfolding."
According to the report:
Throughout areas in western and central Iraq, the security
situation is deteriorating, and many of Iraq’s neighbors fear that they are being overwhelmed by refugees
fleeing over Iraq’s borders. There are now heightened concerns about the
absorptive capacity of neighboring countries, whether they can provide adequately
for the populations moving across borders, and the impact of refugee flows on
stability in general. Some experts think that the Iraq situation could
well begin to outpace other refugee crises worldwide.
The conflict has caused some 1.5 million Iraqis to
be internally displaced and two million more to be refugees. The internal displacement
of Iraq’s
population is adding to the humanitarian crisis.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
has issued a report on the dire humanitarian situation in Iraq, calling it “a conflict that spares
no one.” The ICRC says health care facilities in Iraq are stretched to
the limit. Medical professionals are fleeing the country in large numbers, leaving
the hospitals desperately short of staff. Resources are stretched thin because
of the daily attacks and mass influx of casualties.
Lack of maintenance has left Iraq’s infrastructure
in poor repair. Security concerns have hindered work on electrical power grids,
water and sanitation systems, and medical facilities. Electricity and fuel shortages
and lack of infrastructure have caused the supply of water to be irregular and
unreliable and pose a risk to public health. Water is scarce and often contaminated,
and malnutrition has increased in the past year.
While current Iraq war policy has focused on military
means of winning the war, many military leaders are arguing that there needs
to be more emphasis placed on diplomacy and development. In late January, Gen. David Petraeus, commander
of the U.S. Armed Forces in Iraq, stated that “ultimate success in Iraq
will be determined by actions in the Iraqi political and economic arenas.” He
testified that military action is not a sufficient solution for the challenges
facing Iraq.
The Administration and Congress are debating supplemental
funding for the Iraq war. At press time, the House and Senate have passed different
versions of an emergency supplemental spending bill for the Iraq war. While the
Administration pushes for a troop surge, the House version sets a hard August
2008 deadline for troop withdrawal and the Senate version sets a nonbinding target
of March 31, 2008. Neither version includes the legislative means to enforce
a withdrawal — a
prohibition on funding of combat operations.
The legislation will go to conference and is expected
to reach the President’s
desk by the end of April. It will most likely be vetoed because of the withdrawal
language. Then Congress is expected to acquiesce to the President on the Iraq
withdrawal language, at least for now. There have, however, been some positive
steps in the funding of humanitarian and peace building efforts.
The Administration and Congress have taken critically
important first steps to insure the relief and development needs of the Iraqi
people. Both the Senate and House versions of the supplemental provide funding
for development and humanitarian aid, including funds for community development
programs that have been highly successful at promoting stability through the
rebuilding of communities, bringing together participants from different ethnic
and religious backgrounds.
Critical funding was also allocated to support the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian
groups that assist the 1.7 million Iraqis displaced inside Iraq and the two million
Iraqi refugees in nearby states.
Other positive steps include the work of the State
Department’s Office
for the Coordinator of Reconstruction and Stabilization in Iraq, and recent steps
taken by the Secretary of State to meet with Syria and Iran on the Iraqi situation.
These talks are a huge development in U.S. diplomacy, indicating the Administration
may now recognize that long-term stability requires both a diplomatically engaged
Middle East and strong economic development.
Key religious and humanitarian organizations urge more support for Iraqi civil
society, peace building, humanitarian relief and responsible economic development.
During the budget and appropriations process there will be a push to increase
funding for these programs. Steps by the United States and international community
that support diplomacy, political processes, and international cooperation might
help end the violence and establish a process to end the civil war. These steps
could lead to a stabilized Iraq, making reconstruction and reconciliation possible.
Congress will have several opportunities in the near
future to insist on further changes in policy. Your long-term involvement
in supporting changed Iraq policy is needed. |
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Immigration Reform
by Elenora Giddings Ivory
Religious and social justice groups in Washington continue
to work on immigration reform. Newspapers across the country are often
filled with stories of factories being raided, border patrols on increased vigils
and families being separated. It is time for our government leaders to come to
an agreement on the state and status of our twelve or so million undocumented
people, many of whom are children who seek medical services and educational opportunities
at both the kindergarten through grade twelve and college levels. Without a recognized
status, many young people do not have access to in-state college tuition in places
where they may have progressed academically from grade school.
Washington advocates for a just immigration policy
have worked closely with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the
nation's oldest, largest and most diverse civil and human rights coalition. The
LCCR has strongly criticized an immigration reform proposal announced by President
Bush, the details of which had been previously leaked. LCCR urged Congress to
focus instead on passing “comprehensive
immigration legislation that includes a meaningful path to permanent residency
and that ensures our immigration laws will be enforced in a sensible, humanitarian
manner.”
"Throughout our nation's history, immigrants have played a critical role
in enriching the American economy and the American way of life. As it contemplates
reforming our broken immigration system, Congress must protect the civil and
human rights of everyone who is contributing to this nation," said Wade
Henderson, LCCR President. "But if Congress went in the direction that President
Bush seems to want, it would head down a dangerous and discriminatory path. Instead
of bringing hardworking immigrants out of the shadows, Bush's plan would drive
them further into an underground economy, leaving our system more broken than
ever."
In a recent letter to Congress, pro-immigration reform groups joined with
the LCCR to advocate for the following as elements of any reform legislation
that goes forward toward congressional approval:
- Hard-working immigrants
who are contributing to this country should be encouraged to come out of the
shadows and regularize their status. Forcing millions of undocumented workers
to hide in an underground economy hurts the health, safety and welfare of all
Americans. Proposals
that would create a legal but permanent underclass would be equally unfair and
discriminatory. Our goal should be to integrate immigrants into the United States,
once they meet reasonable requirements like background checks and payment of
back taxes. This can only be done by providing them with meaningful opportunities
to become lawful permanent residents and eventually U.S. citizens.
- Our nation's immigration
policies must be consistent with humanitarian values and with the need to treat
all individuals with respect and dignity. Any proposal — like H.R. 4437 in the previous
Congress — that would criminalize undocumented immigrants, encourage state
or local police to enforce immigration laws, or penalize anyone for providing
humanitarian assistance to their fellow human beings must be strongly opposed. Criminalizing
undocumented immigrants or the people around them with new punitive measures
will not deter illegal immigration; it will only drive it further underground.
- In 1996, Congress enacted
immigration laws that drastically affected the rights of immigrants. The laws
imposed an extremely harsh new system of mandatory detention and deportation
for immigrants with prior criminal offenses, even legal permanent residents with
very old or minor infractions. The term "aggravated felony" is now applied in immigration law to go
far beyond what most members of Congress contemplated, to include even misdemeanors.
Many forms of judicial review have been curtailed. Any immigration reform proposal
that fails to address — or even worsens — the well-publicized, unfair
impact of the 1996 laws would raise serious concerns. Immigrants facing deportation
for any reason must have access to fair, humane and common-sense procedures.
- Our family-based immigration
system needs to be significantly reformed. It can take years — often more than a decade — for
close relatives of U.S. citizens or permanent residents to obtain immigrant visas. This
simply encourages people to overstay temporary visas or find some other way to
enter the country. In order to reduce backlogs, any proposal should stop
subtracting the visas given to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens from visas
available to all family immigrants, thereby artificially depressing the number
of visas available to other close relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
We must also stop preventing U.S. citizens and permanent residents who can support
their families at or above the poverty level guideline from reuniting with their
families.
Future flow of workers to United States
While LCCR members have differing views
on the need for, and nature of, a program for new workers, we are united in our
belief that any immigration proposal designed to meet the proven needs of employers
for new labor must fully protect the rights of both immigrant workers and those
already here. A proposal that simply forces established workers to leave the
United States after a short period of time, with no path to citizenship, will
make the workers vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
Readers are invited to re-read the Washington Office April 2006 article
on immigration reform, entitled “In Christ, there is no East or West.”
Keep communicating your concerns to the President and
your Congresspersons about this issue, and pass this request on to others who
may have an interest in acting on it. |
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Farm Bill Reauthorization: Imagining a Sustainable Living
Bill
by Leslie G. Woods
“Give us this day our daily bread,” we pray. Wrapped into the
prayer Jesus taught us to pray is an appeal that no one go hungry, even for a
day. Indeed, if the Lord’s Prayer reflects a vision of earth “as
it is in heaven,” we are called by Jesus and by our own prayers to take
active steps to ensure that each person has daily bread: no more, no less.
The Farm Bill authorizes some of the country’s most important tools
for fighting hunger in the United States and — unlike its name implies — it
does not affect only American farmers. In fact, the Farm Bill touches the
life of almost every person living in the United States, and many who live in
the global community. Perhaps it would be more aptly named the “Comprehensive
Food, Land and Trade Policy Bill.”
Folded into the broad reaches of the Farm Bill are
topics that range widely — from
anti-hunger measures like the Food Stamp Program, to government subsidies for
farmers and policies that affect international trade agreements, to programs
designed to protect the environment. The Farm Bill also governs international
food aid policy, as well as plans to promote development in rural communities
in the United States. The reaches of the Farm Bill are so diverse that all advocates,
whether they are concerned about hunger, the environment or international development,
should take notice of the 2007 reauthorization of the Farm Bill.
Many are concerned that current farm policies are unsustainable and unjust,
both in the global economy and environmentally. While the Food Stamp Program
has made important strides toward reducing hunger in the United States, for the
most part, the Farm Bill has not done a good job of promoting “daily bread” for
all God’s children. The legislation is due for reauthorization this year,
and advocates are working to produce a more sustainable Farm Bill, and to convince
members of Congress that reform of current U.S. farm policy is imperative in
order to create a more just and supportable system, both at home and abroad.
Included in the many titles of the Farm Bill legislation are:
- Nutrition programs that aim to provide immediate assistance to hungry people
in the United States;
- Commodity programs that subsidize U.S. farmers;
- Conservation programs that provide incentives for farmers to protect and
retire endangered and overworked land;
- Rural development programs that support rural communities
and create opportunities as farming’s share in the U.S. economy shrinks;
- Research and energy programs that produce better crop varieties, standards
to ensure a safe, high-quality food supply and incentives to farmers who adopt
energy-efficient practices; and
- Trade regulations that govern United States participation in international
bodies and allow for food aid in times of disaster in developing countries.
Current policies in the Farm Bill have become less than effective over time
in promoting rural communities worldwide and in providing aid to those who need
it most. The commodities program, for example, was originally intended as a safety
net for family farmers in years when crop production was low. However,
because payments are not based on the size of the farm or evidence of need, they
increasingly benefit large farms and agribusiness, leaving small and mid-size
farmers without that important safety net.
Further, the Food Stamp Program, which has greatly reduced hunger in the United
States, needs a benefit update, so that participants in the program are able
to purchase an adequate, nutritious diet for their families. Current Food Stamp
benefits average $1 per person per meal and the household monthly minimum benefit
is as low as $10. Anyone who has recently visited a grocery store knows that
this benefit is not adequate to provide a nutritious diet.
Both the Senate and the House recently indicated willingness
to improve the Farm Bill by providing new federal spending for the reauthorization.
Now, advocates must ensure that this new money benefits those who need it most — the
hungry, the small and mid-size farmers, and farmers working to ensure environmentally
friendly procedures on their farms.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office is working on Farm Bill
advocacy in concert with a Religious Working Group of faith-based organizations,
including other Protestant denominations, the Conference of Catholic Bishops,
Bread for the World and Church World Service. The Working Group has produced
the following principles, stating that the 2007 Farm Bill should:
- Increase investments that combat rural poverty and strengthen rural communities;
- Strengthen and expand programs that reduce hunger and improve nutrition in
the United States;
- Strengthen and increase investment in policies that promote conservation
and good stewardship of the land;
- Provide transitions for farmers to alternative forms of support that are
more equitable and do not distort trade in ways that fuel hunger and poverty;
- Protect the health and safety of farmworkers;
- Expand research related to alternative, clean and renewable forms of energy;
and
- Improve and expand international food aid in ways that encourage local food
security.
“From God’s initial command to be good stewards of creation to
the Prophets’ call for justice among governments and nations, people of
faith in every age are called together to work for the common good,” begins
the statement by the Religious Working Group.
As people of faith, we are called to advocate for a
just Farm Bill that will ensure “daily bread” for all, literally and figuratively. As we work
for Farm Bill reform, may the goal be to produce a bill that would more aptly
be named the “Sustainable Living Bill,” for the U.S. Farm Bill
has a true opportunity to take first steps toward the domestic and global community
living sustainably together. |
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