September/October 2007

Washington Report to Presbyterians

Congress will reconvene on September 4, following its summer recess. With a scant legislative record to its credit so far, much remains to be done before adjournment later this fall. Among the issues yet to be resolved are three covered in this issue of the Washington Report to Presbyterians:

• The Second Chance Act, providing opportunities for people who have been in prison to make a start on a new life.
• The energy bills and resolution of differences between the House and Senate versions.
• Immigration, with particular emphasis on family reunification.

Support the Second Chance Act

By Elenora Giddings Ivory

The Second Chance Act (S. 1060/H.R. 1593) has passed out of the relevant Committees of both the Senate and the House. It can now be placed on the Calendar of each Chamber for a floor vote as soon as the Members return from their summer recess. We now need to urge our Senators and Representative to pass this legislation when they return to business.

There will be competing priorities coming at the Members when they reconvene. We need to make sure that S. 1060 and H.R. 1593 get to the top of their priority list. This legislation can be seen as a crime prevention bill, in that its purpose is to reduce recidivism by providing grants to states and local areas to begin to address the need for drug and mental health treatment, job training and education opportunities, and housing, as well as other critical services for individuals when they return to the community after incarceration.

Call, fax or email your United States House Member and your two Senators in Washington, D.C. In order to determine your congressional member’s contact information in D.C., please visit the Legislative Action Center or call the United States Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

The bill was introduced in the Senate on March 30 by Senators Joe Biden, D-Del., Arlen Specter, R-Pa., Sam Brownback, R-Kans., and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Chairman Leahy and Committee Ranking Member Specter led the mark-up session. The House version of the Second Chance Act was introduced by Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., and 92 co-sponsors, and approved in March by the House Judiciary Committee. 

This important legislation is a significant first step in addressing many issues facing more than 600,000 men and women who re-enter society each year from federal and state prisons, as well as the thousands more who re-enter from local jails every day.

The treatment of the least fortunate in this world is a critical part of our faith commitment. Unfortunately, returning inmates are most decidedly the least fortunate in our society.  Too few of those who return to our communities from prison or jail are prepared for their release or receive any supportive services beyond a bus ticket and a few days’ spending money. One-third of all corrections departments provide no services at all to prisoners upon release.

In addition, many of those leaving jail and prison suffer from chronic health problems, have no housing, little education or job training and generally lack the supportive services needed for a successful re-entry. As a result, 67 percent of persons released from state prisons were arrested for new crimes within the first three years after release, according to a 2002 study by the Justice Department.

The Second Chance Act of 2007 is a significant first step toward creating a more just criminal justice system and safer communities. H.R. 1593 and S.1060 will help to reduce recidivism rates, establish safer communities and build stronger families by:

• Providing grants that can be used by states, local governments and non-profit organizations to fund support services such as job counseling, housing assistance, substance abuse treatment/mental health services to persons re-entering society from prisons and jails;
• Providing grants to non-profit organizations for mentoring adult offenders or providing transitional services for re-integration into the community;
• Creating a federal interagency taskforce to identify programs and resources on re-entry and to find ways to better collaborate; developing interagency initiatives and a national re-entry research agenda; and reviewing and reporting to Congress on the federal barriers that exist to successful re-entry with recommendations;
• Establishing a national resource center for states, local governments, service providers, faith-based organizations, and corrections and community organizations to collect and disseminate best practices and provide training and support around re-entry;
• Providing grants to states and local governments that may be used to expand family-based treatment centers that offer services for parents and their children as a complete family unit; and
• Providing grants to states and local governments to develop or adopt procedures to ensure that dangerous felons are not released from prison prematurely.

Urge your Senators and Representative to support this important legislation and ensure its enactment this session.

Energy Bills Pave Road for Climate Change Legislation

By Leslie G. Woods

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15, NRSV)

In Genesis 2, the record of the story of the first person, God places amidst the beauty of the newly-created world someone whose job is “to till and keep it,” which is frequently read as a command to stewardship of creation. Indeed, the first person’s function in the world is to be a steward to the created order — the garden, the trees and the creatures that God has yet to bring forth in search of that perfect human “partner” (2:18). On a closer look at the original text, this interpretation is even more clearly obvious. 

The word in this passage that is translated “to till” comes from the Hebrew root meaning “to serve,” as in a person who “serves” God or who “serves” another person, that is, a servant.  Further, the word translated “keep” comes from the Hebrew root meaning “to watch over, keep or protect,” as in a shepherd “watching over” the flock. So, Genesis 2:15 might be more appropriately translated “the Lord God took the human and put him in the Garden of Eden to serve and watch over it.” It sounds different from “to till and keep,” doesn’t it? It sounds like the human’s relationship with creation is as much for the care and good of creation itself as it is for the health and sustenance of human beings.

As I contemplate the meaning of this initial command to “serve and watch over” the created order, my mind wanders to the state of the world today. In modern times, God’s creation has endured a great deal of stress; from the industrial revolution, to the dropping of the atomic bombs, to the recent trend of global climate change, God’s creation has born a startling burden of human-created trauma. As hot places grow hotter, cold places grow colder, storms grow more destructive, and droughts grow more severe, I am struck that one thing we have failed to do is “to serve and watch over” this creation. It is not too late to correct this failure.

In 2003, the 215th General Assembly “called on the United States government to join in the world effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to develop and enact a national emergency response, underwritten by law, with adequate financial support, and economic enforcement mechanisms, to be fully functioning by 2005, with targeted reductions by that time” (Minutes, 2003, p. 617). Like our community failure to adhere to the mandate of Genesis 2:15, we have also missed the mark set by the General Assembly — a comprehensive climate change policy by 2005.

It is now nearing the end of 2007 and the 110th Congress seems likely to take up climate policy bills, though not until 2008. This year, however, some legislative steps have been taken to pave the road toward passing climate policy that will answer to the 2005 General Assembly call, and may also begin to answer to the command from Genesis 2:15.

Before leaving for August recess, both chambers of Congress passed energy bills, each containing important mechanisms that will bring United States policy closer to the goal of “reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” that is, mostly carbon emissions, though the policies are written with the intention of reducing United States dependence on foreign oil. 

In the coming months, the energy bills passed by the House and the Senate must be reconciled and voted on again. Advocates for energy conservation and carbon emissions reductions are hopeful that the strongest provisions from each bill will be included in the final conference report, though there are some questions about how compatible these disparate bills will be. 

The Senate bill contains “green building” regulations and a CAFE standard, which will require increased fuel efficiency in automobiles, trucks and other vehicles. The House bill, on the other hand, contains efficiency standards for appliances and a Renewable Energy Standard that will require a certain percentage of each state’s energy usage to be produced from renewable resources like solar, wind and bio-energy. 

All of these provisions, though authored with the national security intent of reducing United States  dependence upon foreign oil, will also move the nation closer to the goal of reducing global warming emissions and our contribution to global climate change.

The congressional climate legislation debate will probably take place in 2008, and will seek to codify specific targets for greenhouse gas emissions to avoid catastrophic climate change. Recognized scientific guidelines and recommendations indicate that, to achieve such protection for God’s creation and God’s people, legislation should include mandatory, comprehensive, and aggressive emission requirements with the end goal of reducing United States carbon emissions by 80 percent of 2000 levels by the year 2050. 

This guideline is no small challenge, and for this reason, all regulations that bring the United States closer to this goal before the actual climate debate begins are valuable for moving the debate along.

The Senate and House energy bills face a long road to passage, and the climate change debate looks out onto an even more challenging journey, and yet, together, the two legislative debates may be able to walk hand in hand. 

Many doubt whether the two energy bills are reconcilable at all, but for those who remember the command to “serve and watch over” creation, there is no choice. Certainly, other countries must do their part as well, but as the disproportionately large energy consumer and contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, the United States must lead in seeking the solution. 

Presbyterians are encouraged to contact their legislators to urge swift congressional action on energy and climate bills that will put into place “a national emergency response [to global warming] … with targeted reductions.” The debate will continue into 2008, but Members need to hear a steady voice from their constituents about the urgency of addressing this problem.

As we are called “to serve and watch over” God’s creation, let us remember that individual acts of stewardship and conservation are vital for changing habits and lifestyles, but these approaches only scratch the surface of a monumental problem. 

The creation is groaning and creaking under the strain into which we have forced it, and only community, national and international solutions will make the needed impact to address this global problem. 

Family Reunification For Immigrants

By Laura E. Polk, Intern

Take a minute and think about the members of your immediate family. Now imagine being separated from them for two, four, up to five years, maybe even a decade. Imagine being unable to visit them, not knowing when you will be reunited with them. If an aunt or uncle were sick or terminally ill, imagine not being able to travel to visit them. How would you cope with adjusting to a new culture, perhaps a new language, without your family to support you? This is the reality for immigrants across the United States. As the Senate continues to debate immigration reform, family reunification is a key issue.

Historically, 1965 became a pivotal year for family immigration with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality act, which made allowances for family reunification. However, currently many immigrant families must wait several years in order to join their spouses and children in the United States. They are unable to visit during the wait. For African immigrants, the hardships in bringing family members are heightened because of the difficulty in obtaining visas, particularly compared to more developed countries, as well as the expenses required to travel to the United States  

In placing a limit on the number of family members who can join their relatives in the United States, “family” is being redefined for many immigrants seeking a better life in the United States. In many cultures, particularly for many African immigrants, family extends beyond parents and children and includes grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

What does it mean to redefine the family? Does it mean that those who are newcomers must conform to our standards of the nuclear family? Who defines what the family is? What does this mean for our status as a nation that welcomes immigrants? If we traditionally define the family as simply parents and children, where does that leave grandparents who have taken in grandchildren or aunts and uncles who have taken in nieces and nephews? 

Many of us in the United States place a high value on independence, whereas other cultures stress the importance of relying on families for support. For many African immigrants, this may take the form of remittances or financial support sent to family members back home.

The 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) passed a resolution on advocacy and welcome for all immigrants that included a call to reduce the waiting times for families who are currently separated. 

Comprehensive immigration reform that places an emphasis on family reunification provides an opportunity for lawmakers who stress the importance of family values to put those words into practice. At a press conference in May, several leaders of faith-based organizations calling for comprehensive immigration reform emphasized that “family values don’t stop at the Rio Grande.” 

Long waiting periods for family members to obtain visas to join their families in the United States, mandatory deportation that eliminates the option to consider the family situation and heightened immigration raids on businesses that leave children without one or both of their parents not only drive families further apart but are not an effective solution. 

Several organizations supporting comprehensive immigration reform held a rally in front of the Supreme Court in July, and adults and children alike took turns sharing their stories of being separated from family members. How can we as a nation support laws that encourage children being separated from their parents?

Those who seek to eliminate the “jobs magnets” fail to understand adequately the causes of migration.  People are migrating to the United States, not only because of opportunities for a better life, but also because of a lack of opportunities where they live.

Family reunification has been called by some “chain migration.” Many argue that family ties should not be the sole reason for being admitted into the United States and that highly skilled immigrants should be given priority. This approach ignores the many contributions that low-skilled migrant workers have made to our economy. The reality is that more migrants will be forced to make the difficult decision to reunite with their families through other means if more restrictions are imposed on family reunification. 

These issues must be taken into consideration when implementing a guest worker program.  A temporary program that makes no provisions for family reunification, stability or a path to citizenship is not an effective solution.  As Congress continues to debate this complex issue, it is crucial that they consider how policies affect the unity of families. 

Staff Notice

Elenora Giddings Ivory has accepted a new call to ministry with the World Council of Churches as the Director of the WCC P3 – Public Witness: Addressing Power and Affirming Peace. She has tendered her resignation as the Director of the Washington Office of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and will not be there after the end of October 2007. The final vote on her appointment will take place when the WCC Executive Committee meets in Armenia, September 25-28.

Elenora’s starting date in the Washington Office was November 29, 1989. She says that “It has been an exciting 18 years in this position … (and) I will miss certain aspects of it, but I look forward to the challenges of my new call.”