Faith Community to Hold Congress Accountable
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
*** Tele-Press Conference Tuesday***
Faith leaders will hold a press teleconference at 11 AM this Tuesday to hold Congress accountable to the faith agenda.
Successful candidates across the country spoke on the campaign trail more than ever about their faith and how it influenced their positions on Iraq, poverty, the minimum wage, and other issues. Religious groups working to expand the values debate also were more organized and active than in any previous election.
As the headlines boasted – and post-election polls demonstrated – on Election Day, faith voters rejected a go-it-alone strategy in Iraq and politicians that put power ahead of policies that promote the common good.
Join faith leaders on Tuesday as they discuss how Congressional leaders now have an opportunity to move American forward on issues that are not a matter a right a left, but a matter of right and wrong.
WHAT:
Teleconference with prominent faith leaders, each representing a national campaign aimed at a critical legislative issue.
WHO:
Jeff Carr, COO, Sojourners and ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. Carr will discuss Sojourner’s grassroots lobbying campaign around the Covenant for a New America, a policy agenda designed to overcome domestic and global poverty.
Rev. Sam Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, which serves approximately 15 Million Evangelical/Born Again Christians. Rodriguez will discuss how Hispanic Evangelicals and working with other faith leaders to press the 110th Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation.
Rev. Dr. Paul de Vries, National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) board member and President of New York Divinity School, will discuss the Evangelical Climate Inititive and how the NAE is taking action on the creation care agenda.
Rev. Dr. Paul Sherry, National Coordinator of Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, which played a major role in state minimum wage increases in 2006. Sherry will discuss Let Justice Roll’s efforts to pressure Congress to pass a clean wage increase bill, which included sending a letter signed by more than 1,000 faith leaders to Congress and mobilizing thousands of people of faith to call Congress in support of the issue this week.
Rev. Rick Ufford Chase, Christian Peace Witness for Iraq. Chase will discuss efforts to pressure Congress to end the US occupation of Iraq and improve support for our troops when they come home. Chase will discuss a massive upcoming mobilization, including a service at the National Cathedral and an all-night prayer vigil at the White House.
Jeanne Herrick-Stare, Chair of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. Herrick-Stare will discuss NRCAT’s request for hearings on the military commissions legislation passed last year, which permitted torture and inhumane treatment of detainees. NRCAT works for passage of legislation that will prohibit all policies that allow for or encourage torture – without exception.
WHEN:
Tuesday, January 9, 2006 at 11 AM Eastern
WHERE:
Call-in number: 1-800-658-0035
Password: Faith Agenda
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CONTACT: Katie Barge 202-481-8147 or 202-243-8289 or kbarge@faithinpubliclife.org
