In a press release issued today, leaders from many faiths came together to urge the Senate to pass a more just 2007 Farm Bill. “We
can and must do more to address the plight of struggling family farmers,” said
the Most Reverend Ronald Gilmore,
President of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. As it stands, the 2007 Farm Bill will be extremely harmful to smallholder farmers in the developing world as well as family farms in the United States. At AFJN, we urge you to CALL YOUR SENATORS and ask them to markup the Farm Bill in a way that provides hope to millions of farmers worldwide. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senator.
To view the entire press release,
FAITH
LEADERS CALL ON SENATE TO REFORM 2007 FARM BILL
October
24, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC – As the
United States Senate prepares to begin marking up the 2007 farm bill today, an
alliance of U.S. faith groups called upon Senators to adopt reforms designed to reclaim the farm bill’s historic
moral identity as a covenant with small- and medium-sized farmers in the U.S.,
and a source of hope to people in need at home and around the world.
“Fairness and
opportunity for farmers in times of need were the fundamental values upon which
Congress built the first farm bill in the 1930s,” said the Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori,
Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church. “Today’s farm policy has abandoned those
values. 2007 is the year for Congress
to put fairness and opportunity back
into U.S. farm policy and establish a new covenant with rural America and those
in need at home and around the world.”
"Our
country needs a fresh, new approach to the farm bill, one that helps people who
need it the most—U.S.
farmers of modest means, struggling rural communities, hungry people and
farmers in developing countries,” said the Reverend
David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World. “The demand for
comprehensive reform is mounting from many people of faith and both sides of
the aisle.”
“I pray that
Congress understands that the future of rural America is no longer inextricably
linked to farming, as is reflected in small towns throughout South Dakota that
are struggling to survive,” said the Reverend
David B. Zellmer, Bishop of the South Dakota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America. “We need
increased investment in rural development, conservation, and nutrition; these
are the programs that are most meaningful to rural America.”
“The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
has expressed concern that payments are going to the largest, wealthiest farmsRev. Clifton
Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
“We urge the Senate to pass meaningful commodity program payment limits
such as those proposed by Senators Dorgan (D-ND) and Grassley (R-IA).” while leaving behind the majority of farm
families,” said the
"If we
fail to provide real reform to trade distorting commodity programs, then our
subsidized export is not food, but poverty for the developing world," said
the Reverend Dr. Earl Trent Jr.,
Executive Director of Mission
for the Progressive National Baptist Convention.
"We have
a historic opportunity with this legislation to reduce hunger and poverty both
here in the United States
and in some of the world's most impoverished countries,” said the Reverend Jim Wallis, President and CEO of
Sojourners/Call to Renewal. “It's time for our Senators to show courageous
leadership to enact reforms that
serve the common good."
“We can and
must do more to address the plight of struggling family farmers,” said the Most Reverend Ronald Gilmore, President of
the National Catholic Rural Life Conference. “Have we honestly done enough to target farm
supports to those who need it most?”
Contact: Shawnda Hines, Bread for the
World: 888-75-BREAD ext.2 (toll free); (301) 960-4913 (direct)
Alex Baumgarten, The Episcopal Church:
(202)547-7300
Bob Gronski,
National Catholic Rural Life Conference: (515)270-2634
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