30+ Protestant Bishops: Budget is Morally Indefensible, Turns Back on Vulnerable
As the Senate prepares to vote this evening on the House GOP budget, more than two dozen bishops from the Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Methodist Church sent a letter to Congress today telling lawmakers that the budget contains immoral cuts that would harm the most vulnerable. Clergy signers include the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, and other leading church officials from NY, VA, AZ, NC, MN, OH, TX, ME, AR, IL, OH, OR, SC, MO, AL, MD, TN, WA and WV.
Full statement with signers below.
The statement from over 30 Protestant bishops follows a letter from leading Catholic bishops to Members of Congress reminding them of the moral mandate to care for the most vulnerable and to pursue the common good. Also, dozens of Catholic theologians recently sent a letter to Speaker Boehner in advance of his commencement address at Catholic University, urging him to revisit his record on economic justice issues.
Protestant Bishops’ Statement on the Budget
The federal budget debate in Congress raises essential questions about our values and priorities as a nation. As bishops compelled by the Gospel to give voice to those who suffer at the margins of society, we speak not as policy experts or politicians, but as disciples of Jesus and faithful citizens.
If the moral measure of a just society is found in how we treat the most vulnerable, the budget proposal passed by the House of Representatives, which the Senate will vote on this week, fails the basic tests of justice, compassion and a commitment to the common good.
This budget eviscerates vital nutrition programs for mothers and infants (WIC), and makes cuts to Medicaid that will hurt sick children, struggling families and seniors in nursing homes. Proposed changes to Medicare will break the promise that all American seniors get the healthcare they need by forcing them to buy private insurance without assuring that it is affordable. It asks those who need our help the most to fend for themselves in a volatile marketplace where profit, not human dignity, sets the agenda. Unlike the Good Samaritan, who stopped to care for a wounded stranger on the side of the road, the House budget turns its back on the most vulnerable at a time of grave economic uncertainty even as it endorses policies that gives tax breaks for the privileged few. This is morally indefensible.
We urge Senators voting on the House budget proposal this week to consider the human costs of massive cuts to social programs and come together across partisan lines to shape a budget that defends human dignity and basic economic security for all Americans.
The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
New York, NY
Bishop James F. Mauney
Virginia Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Salem, VA
Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño
Desert Southwest Annual Conference
United Methodist Church
Phoenix, AZ
Bishop Kenneth L. Carder, retired
United Methodist Church
Durham, NC
Bishop David B. Zellmer
South Dakota Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Sioux Falls, SD
Bishop Ray W. Chamberlin, Jr., retired
United Methodist Church
Winchester, VA
Bishop Wayne K. Clymer, retired
United Methodist Church
Wayzata, MN
Bishop Judith Craig, retired
United Methodist Church
Powell, OH
The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson
Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire
Bishop Elias G. Galvan, retired
United Methodist Church
Scottsdale, AZ
Bishop Alfred W. Gwinn, Jr.
North Carolina Annual Conference
United Methodist Church
Raleigh, NC
Bishop Kenneth W. Hicks, retired
United Methodist Church
Little Rock, AR
Bishop Stephen S. Talmage
Grand Canyon Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Bishop Robert T. Hoshibata
Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference
United Methodist Church
Portland, OR
Bishop S. Clifton Ives, retired
United Methodist Church
Portland, ME
Bishop Ernest S. Lyght
West Virginia Annual Conference
United Methodist Church
Charleston, WV
Bishop Joel N. Martinez, retired
United Methodist Church
San Antonio, TX
Bishop Felton Edwin May, retired
United Methodist Church
Riverdale, NY
Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey, retired
United Methodist Church
Lake Junaluska, NC
Bishop Marshall L. Meadors, Jr., Retired
United Methodist Church
Anderson, SC
Bishop Robert C. Morgan
Bishop-in-Residence
United Methodist Church
Birmingham-Southern College
Birmingham, AL
Bishop Albert Frederick Mutti, III, retired
United Methodist Church
Kansas City, MO
Bishop Gregory V. Palmer
Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference
Immediate Past President of the Council of Bishops
United Methodist Church
Springfield, IL
Bishop Sharon Zimmerman Rader
Ecumenical Officer for the Council of Bishops
United Methodist Church
Chicago, IL
Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, retired
United Methodist Church
London, OH
Bishop Forrest C. Stith, retired
United Methodist Church
Upper Marlboro, MD
Bishop James E. Swanson, Sr.
United Methodist Church
Holston Annual Conference
Alcoa, TN
Bishop Jack M. Tuell, retired
United Methodist Church
Des Moines, WA
Bishop Joe A. Wilson, retired
United Methodist Church
Georgetown, TX
Bishop George W. Bashore, retired
United Methodist Church
Pittsburgh, PA
Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton
Northeastern Ohio Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Bishop Mike Lowry
Resident Bishop of the Central Texas Conference
United Methodist Church
Fort Worth, TX
Bishop Beverly Shamana, retired
United Methodist Church
Los Angeles, CA
Bishop Richard B. Wilke, retired
United Methodist Church
Winfield, KS
Charles N. Crutchfield
Resident Bishop, Arkansas Conference
United Methodist Church
Little Rock, AR
Bishop Warner H. Brown, Jr.
United Methodist Church
San Francisco Area, CA PO
Bishop Hope Morgan Ward
Mississippi Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church
Jackson, MS
Bishop Marcus Matthews
Upper New York Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church
Baldwinsville, NY
Bishop Charles N. Crutchfield
Arkansas Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church
Little Rock, AR
Bishop Ann B. Sherer-Simpson
Nebraska Annual Conference
The United Methodist Church
Lincoln, NE
Bishop Roy Sano, retired
United Methodist Church
Oakland, CA
Bishop Callon W. Holloway, Jr.
Southern Ohio Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Bishop Neil Irons, retired
Executive Secretary of the Council of Bishops
###
