Press Release
FOR RELEASE: April 28, 2015
CONTACT: Stephanie Niedringhaus, 202-347-9797 x224, sniedringhaus@networklobby.org

Religious Leaders Brief Congressional Staffers on
“Faithful” Federal Budget

WASHINGTON, DC— In a Capitol Hill briefing, prominent faith leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions today expressed alarm about today’s federal budget priorities. In place of current congressional budget proposals, they offered a “Faithful Budget” (www.networklobby.org/files/FaithfulBudget2016.pdf), an interfaith statement about budget priorities that are rooted in justice. It is based on the values and principles their faith traditions share.

These Faithful Budget principles include:

• Restoring economic opportunity through investments in education, sustainable jobs with living wages, and policies that help people build assets
• Ensuring adequate resources for shared priorities, including a fair tax system
• Prioritizing true human security for individuals, families and communities
• Meeting immediate needs such as those for food and housing
• Providing for future generations, making sure that they are not left with a legacy of debt or rising poverty and inequality
• Using gifts of creation sustainably
• Giving everyone access to healthcare
• Upholding the role of government to overcome poverty, reduce inequality, and rebuild the middle class.

The speakers provided details about how current congressional proposals fail to address these principles (e.g., by inadequately funding SNAP, Pell Grants, child nutrition programs, SSI and healthcare programs while providing $90 billion in additional war funding).  They called on members of Congress to work together toward fulfilling their moral responsibility to serve the common good. Funding vital human needs programs is an important aspect of meeting that responsibility.

QUOTES ON “FAITHFUL BUDGET” FROM PRESENTERS:

“’To whom should we go first?’ Pope Francis’s question rings true as we seek new budget priorities for fiscal year 2016. Our different faith traditions agree that Congress should not simply respond to those with the loudest voices, whose money and political clout promote their own self-interest. Rather, our elected leaders must consider those whose voices are intentionally ignored, those who can’t rely on wealth or powerful connections to ensure that their needs are addressed.” –Sister Simone Campbell, Executive Director, NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby and leader of NETWORK’s “Nuns on the Bus”

“As a follower of Christianity, I believe that ‘to whom much is given, much will be required.’ God’s justice insists that those who have much must contribute to the good of all. Indeed, God’s vision of shalom wants a society in which each of us has enough – not too much and not too little. We are living in a New Gilded Age where the gap between rich and poor grows ever deeper. Today’s worship of money and things is nothing less than idolatry, and justice requires us to change if we are going to live up to God’s radical vision for us. Responsible taxation is a linchpin of democratic society and from a Christian perspective, greater tax justice is a necessary and key response to rising inequality.” –Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Director for Public Witness at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness

“The Prophet Muhammad taught that a community is like one body. If one part is in pain, the rest should take every measure to alleviate its suffering. Our nation has a moral responsibility to ensure that ours is a healthy community, by addressing social, economic, and physical disparities in access to health care and other basic services. The Qur’an teaches us that true righteousness does not come from faith alone, but also from spending on others out of what we cherish for ourselves. A nation with as many resources as ours should not allow anyone to go without food, shelter, health care, or other basic services.” –Ms. Maggie Mitchell Siddiqi, Program Director of American Muslim Health Professionals

“In the Five Books of Moses, we learn of our responsibility to others: “If your kinsman becomes impoverished and his hand (assets) become shaky among you, then you must support him [so to] the stranger” (Leviticus 25:35).  Throughout this country, our neighbors, our fellow congregants, and those within our own families are struggling. Each of us must hear the call to action and advocate for important social safety net programs that can lift up those in need.” –Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director, Religious Action Center and Senior Vice President of the Union for Reform Judaism

NETWORK—a Catholic leader in the global movement for justice and peace—educates, organizes and lobbies for economic and social transformation. Founded in 1971 by 47 Catholic sisters, NETWORK is supported by thousands of groups and individuals committed to working for social and economic justice.
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