Peace with Justice
2008 Legislative Priorities
By General Board of Church & Society/Wayne Rhodes

GBCS Sets 2008 Legislative Priorities
By Wayne Rhodes
Editor, Faith In Action

The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society (GBCS) has set seven legislative priorities for 2008 in which the faith community can bring a unique and much needed voice to the debate. The priorities target two kinds of legislation: that already being considered in the U.S. Capitol, and that which should be considered to address issues of justice and inequality.

They either are objectives that we think can be accomplished this year, or issues that are so important that they need to be emphasized regardless of our hopes to accomplish them
this year or not.

The 2008 legislative priorities of GBCS, the public witness and advocacy arm of the denomination, cover a broad spectrum: global warming, poverty, health care, drug sentencing reform and ending the war in Iraq. All of these priorities support emphases of the GBCS Board of Directors, and further specific objectives adopted by the board at its annual meeting.

“They either are objectives that we think can be accomplished this year,” explained Mark Harrison, director of GBCS’s Peace with Justice Program,“or issues that are so important that they need to be emphasized regardless of our hopes to accomplish them this year or not.”

The 2008 priorities are as follows:

Increase Affordable Housing
“As the housing crisis across the country deepens, GBCS remains committed to passage of the ‘National Housing Trust Fund,’” said John Hill, director of Economic and Environmental Justice. “This is a dedicated fund to provide local communities with resources necessary to increase housing opportunities for people in lower income households.”

GBCS will focus its support in 2008 on the “National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act” (S.2523). Hill said this is a companion bill to legislation that passed the House of Representatives last fall.
For more information on this priority, contact Hill at (202) 488-5654 or jhill@umc-gbcs.org.

Reduce Global Warming Pollution
GBCS supports comprehensive legislation to reduce GBCS and global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Hill. “While Congress acted in 2007 to increase fuel efficiency standards as part of an energy bill, it must now move forward with comprehensive global warming legislation that reduces emissions and protects those most vulnerable both to the impacts of climate change and the potential price impacts of the legislation,” he said.

GBCS supports efforts to strengthen the “Climate Security Act of 2007” (S.2191). Hill said this is a bipartisan effort to reduce U.S. global warming pollution.
For more information on this act, contact Hill at (202) 488-5654 or jhill@umc-gbcs.org.

Protect Children’s Health
Children’s health in the U.S. is jeopardized every day by lack of access to health care ...
“Children’s health in the U.S. is jeopardized every day by lack of access to health care and through the predatory practices of the tobacco and alcohol industries that lure children into becoming life-long smokers or underage and binge drinkers,” said the Rev. Cynthia Abrams, director of GBCS’s Alcohol, Other Addictions, and Health Care program.

To protect the health of all children, Abrams said GBCS will encourage Congress to support three pieces of legislation: H.R.1108/S.625, which provides for regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration; full funding for the “STOP Underage Drinking Prevention Act” (Public Law #109-422); and reauthorization of the “State Children’s Health Insurance Program” (SCHIP).
For more information about these pieces of legislation, contact Abrams at (203) 488-5636 or cabrams@umc-gbcs.org.

Re-authorize the President’s AIDS Plan
President Bush’s current AIDS funding expires at the end of 2008 and “must be reauthorized,” declared Linda Bales, director of the Louise and Hugh Moore Population Project at the board.

Bales noted that according to current HIV/AIDS statistics, $50 billion is needed to continue the ongoing HIV/AIDS work worldwide. She said the U.S. needs to provide its “fair share” globally.
GBCS will work in collaboration with other faith-based and secular groups, Bales said, to achieve this level of funding for prevention, care and treatment. She said the U.S. contribution to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria is crucial to have any chance to achieve the goal.

For more information, contact Bales at (202) 488-5649 or lbales@umc-gbcs.org.

2nd Chance Act
Bill Mefford, director of GBCS’s Civil and Human Rights Program, said the “Second Chance Act” (S 1060) is “a necessary first step towards reforming the criminal justice system.” He said the act will reduce recidivism and will strengthen families of ex-offenders through providing critical programs in the areas of employment, housing, and substance abuse and mental health treatment.
For more details, contact Mefford at (202) 488-5657 or bmefford@umc-gbcs.org.

End Global Poverty
GBCS supports the “Global Poverty Act.” Harrison said this bipartisan bill requires the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the U.S. foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty.
The Rev. Liberato Bautista, GBCS Assistant General Secretary for United Nations and International Affairs, emphasized that the U.S. policy objective is to help meet a set of eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals aimed at reducing poverty in half by 2015.

For more information, contact Harrison at (202) 488-5645 or mharrison@umc-gbcs.org, or Bautista at (212) 682-3633 ext.3112 or lbautista@umc-gbcs.org.

End the War in Iraq

GBCS will support legislation that requires a date certain to remove U.S. military forces from Iraq. Harrison said the legislation should specify that no permanent military bases should remain in that country.
There should be greater diplomatic and political engagement in the region.

“We believe there should be greater diplomatic and political engagement in the region,” Harrison said, “and the U.S. should provide funding for an economic reconstruction program controlled by the Iraqi people.” An important facet of any withdrawal legislation, according to him, should be adequate funding for services to meet needs of U.S. veterans returning from the war.
For more information, contact Harrison at (202) 488-5645 or mharrison@umc-gbcs.org.

The General Board of Church and Society is one of four international general program boards of The United Methodist Church, which has more than 11 million members worldwide. The board’s primary areas of ministry are Advocacy, Education and Leadership Formation, United Nations and International Affairs, and resourcing these areas for the nearly 35,000 local churches of the denomination. It has offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and at the Church Center at the United Nations.

Action Networks
GBCS’s program staff sponsors Action Networks that provide information on these and other advocacy issues. The networks are free. They include legislative updates, advocacy resources and identify opportunities to take action.
Action Networks address:
“AIDS,”
“Alcohol and Other Addictions,”
“Civil and Human Rights,”
“Economic Justice,”
“Environmental Justice,”
“Health and Wholeness,”
“Peace with Justice,”
“United Methodists Against the Death Penalty,”
“United Nations," and
“Women and Children.”

Information is distributed via e-mail. You can subscribe to any or all of the networks.
You can join a network the following ways: by mail to General Board of Church and Society, 100 Maryland Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20002; by fax to (202) 488-5639; or online at www.umpower.org or www.umc-gbcs.org >>My GBCS.
For more information, go to My GBCS on the GBCS Web site, www.umc-gbcs.org or contact Donna Brandyberry: (202) 488-5641 or via e-mail to dbrandyberry@umc-gbcs.org.