As Farm Bill Floor Debate Begins, Religious Leaders Appeal to Senatorsʼ Conscience

**PRESS CONFERENCE Tuesday, NOV. 6 at 10:00 AM**

Friday, November 02, 2007

(Washington , D.C.) As the 2007 Farm Bill heads to the Senate floor, religious leaders will appeal to Senatorsʼ conscience. Members of the Unites States Senate must make a choice: continue to prop up the wealthiest farmers and landowners with subsidies that undermine the livelihoods of American farmers and the worldʼs poor, or put our great nation on the path to fighting hunger in America and extreme poverty that kills 30,000 of God's people each day.

Religious leaders will announce support for specific amendments that reduce commodity payments for the wealthiest beneficiaries, which hurt small farmers here and abroad, and increase investment in nutrition programs, rural development, and conservation.

WHO:
Bishop Thomas Kabore, Bishop of Kaya , Burkina Faso
John Carr, Executive Director, Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Rev. David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World
Rev. Jim Wallis, President and CEO, Sojourners and Author, Godʼs Politics
The Right Rev. John Bryson Chane, Bishop of Washington (Episcopal)
Rev. Dr. Earl Trent Jr., Progressive National Baptist Convention

WHERE: U.S. Capitol Building , Room SC-6

WHEN: Tuesday, November 6, 2007, at 10:00 AM
*Breakfast will be served.*

CONTACT: Katie Barge, Faith in Public Life, (202) 243-8289; Kevin Moore, USCCB, (202) 541-3206; Shawnda Hines, Bread for the World, (301) 960-4913; Alex Baumgarten, The Episcopal Church, (202) 547-7300