ICAN - Press Release

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Date: December 14, 2005

For more information, contact:
Matt Russell, 515-689-8219
MRussell@IowaCAN.org

Iowans Host Prayer Services, Vigils, and Meetings as National Religious Leaders put themselves on the Line in Act of Civil Disobedience

Des Moines/December 14 – People of faith in Iowa held events to coincide with the national call to prayer issued by Sojourners and Call to Renewal, national faith based organizations that have called on Congress to abandon the budget reconciliation process that targets the nation’s most vulnerable: elderly, children, students, people who are sick, and people living with disabilities. Many of the religious leaders convening in Washington, DC are preparing to be arrested tomorrow in an act of Civil Disobedience. Iowans held/are holding prayers services, candlelight vigils, demonstrations, and meetings with congressional staff today.

“The reason we’re praying this morning is that as people of faith we’re called to challenge any system that is narrowly defining its constituency and not taking into account the most vulnerable,” said the Reverend Susan Schneider, associate pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Des Moines. “It’s not the church’s job to provide quality, affordable health care. In our democracy, we come together in our government to shape a society that enables people to meet their basic needs. This proposed federal budget does not serve the common good.”

“There is a sense of moral outrage about the values that appear to be driving the budget and tax reconciliation process,” said Matt Russell, organizer for Iowa Citizen Action Network and helping to organizing A Prayer for a Moral Budget in Iowa. “Congress is literally cutting billions of dollars out of programs for the most vulnerable and in the case of the House budget, actually changing the rules of the safety net making it more difficult for people who need it AND passing on billions of dollars in tax cuts to the very wealthiest among us. This is out of step with the values of every faith tradition that Americans celebrate.”

“It’s ironic at this time of year when many people of faith are celebrating the birth of a homeless child that this constituency and other vulnerable Americans are being targeted for deep cuts in Congress’s deliberations,” said Reverend Schneider.

People of faith are protesting the federal budget plan that would cut such programs as Medicaid, Food Stamps, Child Support Recovery, Student Loans, and SSI. They are also protesting plans to offer additional tax cuts to the nation’s wealthiest members. They are calling these plans a moral outrage.

In Des Moines and Iowa City, events are being planned to encourage Senator Grassley and Representative Leach to hold firm to their positions staked out so far that protect vulnerable people from the most egregious aspects of the cuts. Representative Leach voted against both the budget reconciliation bill and the tax reconciliation bill. In the Senate, Grassley, as the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, targeted drug companies and managed care organizations for savings from Medicaid rather than targeting Medicaid participants as the House bill does. Overall, the House cuts $15 billion more than the Senate and those cuts target vulnerable populations directly.

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