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<DIV><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
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size=4>Prioritizing True Human Security</FONT></U></STRONG></SPAN><SPAN
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<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">With well over half of the discretionary budget
dedicated to military spending, the United States is unable to invest in other
areas that build substantial human security in our communities. Global threats
to peace and security need not instill a national inclination to make an
imbalanced investment in new weapons systems, detention centers, and militarized
border walls, leading to disproportionate spending on the mechanisms of war and
enforcement, while we become less secure in so many other ways. We believe a
faithful budget must reevaluate these priorities, increase investment in the
areas of health, education, and community well-being that are essential to true
security. <EM><B>Our budget priorities should reflect a more balanced approach
to the full spectrum of investments that build meaningful security for
individuals, families, and communities.</B></EM></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><U>Meeting Immediate Need</U></STRONG>:
As it always has been, the faith community itself continues to be committed to
serving vulnerable populations at home and around the world. At the same time,
we urge our nation to implement policies that will reduce poverty and hardship.
As a united people committed to compassion and justice, we fulfill our calling
as a people when we invest in a social safety net that will support the
vulnerable in times of hardship, such as recession, unemployment, sickness, and
old age. … Proactive stimulus policies and the elasticity of the mandatory
safety net programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) and Medicaid, are incredibly effective measures that have prevented
millions from falling into poverty. <EM><B>Congress has the moral and pragmatic
responsibility, even as it pursues long-term deficit reduction, to adequately
fund critical human needs, social service, environmental protection, and
humanitarian and poverty-focused international assistance programs, all of which
ensure human security in its broadest sense.</B></EM></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><U>Accepting Intergenerational
Responsibility</U></STRONG>: We cannot leave our children a legacy of debt, but
neither must we leave them a legacy of rising poverty and growing inequality. As
educational programs, adequate housing, health care, nutrition programs, job
training, and other community services all fall victim to pressures to reduce
the deficit, economic vulnerability continues to grow and more families find
themselves one disaster away from poverty. Our nation’s vital social safety net
did not create the deficit, and the vulnerable populations served by the social
safety net it should not bear the brunt of deficit-reduction measures.
<STRONG><I>A Faithful Budget will seek wise and far-sighted ways to reduce the
nation’s long-term deficits while protecting the most vulnerable among
us.</I></STRONG></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><U>Using the Gifts of Creation
Sustainably and Responsibly</U></STRONG>: In the book of Genesis, God called
Creation “good.” … While the earth has been given to us as a home, and while its
resources are bountiful and good, we have abused this gift, placing
unsustainable burdens on our environment and its resources. … Environmental
degradation has substantial, and potentially irreversible, short and long-term
impacts, such as rising health care costs from air pollution and resulting
respiratory problems; increased premature deaths due to the cumulative impacts
of poor air quality; declining water quality in our communities; degradation of
public lands; global climate change, which is already affecting some of the most
vulnerable populations on earth; and loss of open space. <EM><B>A Faithful
Budget must encompass a reverence for our created environment, making choices
that protect air, water, and land—the entirety of Creation—gifts from God that
must be available to and protected for this generation and those to
come.</B></EM></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><U>Providing Access to Health Care for
All</U></STRONG>:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>… <STRONG><I>A
Faithful Budget will ensure access to quality health care by investing in
wellness and making needed improvements in the health care
system.</I></STRONG></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><U>Recognizing a Robust Role for
Government</U></STRONG>:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>…People
who need help paying rent or feeding their children come to us, frequently as a
first and last resort, and we do all we can to provide the aid that
compassionate love demands. And yet, faith communities and agencies cannot do it
alone. The need is great as many who once gave to our ministries of mercy are
now recipients of our charity. <EM><B>We need the government’s continued
partnership to combat poverty by providing a truly adequate short-term safety
net, and by means of policies that serve to prevent poverty, reduce extreme
inequality, restore economic opportunity for all, and rebuild a robust middle
class.</B></EM></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>