Bishop Don DiXon Williams
It may be difficult to understand
how the current budget debates in Congress relate to you and why you should
care. The truth is, there are many implications of the fiscal year 2012 budget
proposals and the debt ceiling negotiations, but perhaps most dramatic are the
possible impacts on hungry and poor people. As citizens and as people of faith,
there are a few things you need to know.
Contrary to what you may be hearing, only 14 percent
of our federal dollars go to domestic social safety-net programs (not including
Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance
Program). But these programs do a lot to keep people from going hungry. In 2009,
for example, U.S. poverty reached record levels-14.3 percent for the general
population and 25.8 percent among African-Americans! However, poverty and food
insecurity would have been much higher had it not been for social safety nets
such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called
food stamps), unemployment insurance, and federal feeding programs, which helped
feed millions of families.
Rev. Derrick Boykin
At the same time, less than 1 percent of our federal
budget goes to foreign assistance programs that help hungry and poor people
abroad. It's a small percentage, but here is what U.S. foreign aid provides in
human terms: school breakfast and lunch for 5 million children each year; care
for more than 10.1 million people affected by HIV/AIDS worldwide, including more
than 4 million orphans and vulnerable children; vaccines that save 3 million
lives each year; and clean water and sanitation projects for 750 million people.
Cuts to U.S. foreign aid will cost lives, add to global instability, and have
long-term consequences for America's leadership role and national security.
The bottom line is, in the wake of one of the worst
recessions this country has ever seen, people-your friends, relatives,
neighbors, even you-are still suffering. Cutting programs that provide vital
assistance to millions of people who need it is not the way to reduce the
deficit-especially since these programs didn't cause this deep deficit in the
first place.
In March, several of our colleagues, including
Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World; Ambassador Tony Hall,
director of the Alliance to End Hunger; Jim Wallis, president and CEO of
Sojourners; and Ritu Sharma, president of Women Thrive Worldwide,
participated in a fast to pressure Congress to protect programs that support
hungry and poor people from devastating budget cuts. That fast became the
Circle of Protection movement, which has been endorsed by more than 60 heads
of Christian denominations and religious organizations, as well as 45 heads
of development agencies and leaders of other faiths. But there is still work
to be done to urge lawmakers to protect funding for programs that help those
most in need.
You may be asking yourself, "How can I help?"
The answer is simple-advocacy. It is within our power to end hunger in our
time. In fact, as people of faith, God is calling us to do so by reaching
out to those in need and confronting structures and policies that allow
hunger and poverty to persist. We must supplement our charity work with
action for people in need. Advocacy is the most effective way to help our
neighbors. This belief guides the work of Bread for the World and its
supporters every day as we urge lawmakers to enact policies that are vital
to hungry and poor people.
August 2 may have been the debt ceiling
deadline, but the battle wages on. Tell your lawmakers that reducing our
nation's debt is important to you, but it shouldn't be done on the backs of
hungry and poor people. Urge Congress to review the entire budget, including
tax revenues and military spending, and not to cap federal spending at the
expense of programs that protect hungry and poor people. It's as easy as
writing a letter. For more information on how to get involved, visit
www.bread.org/help/.
Bishop Don DiXon Williams is racial/ethnic
outreach associate at Bread for the World, and bishop of ecumenical and
political affairs at United Way of the Cross Church of Christ, Danville, VA.
Rev. Derrick Boykin is the associate for African American Leadership
Outreach at Bread for the World, based in New York, NY.
