Bishops lobby Congress members on social justice issues
Episcopal News Service – Washington, D.C.. September 17, 2009 [091709-01]
Lynette Wilson
Bishops representing 200,000 Episcopalians from Maine to California made the case for health care and immigration reform, and stricter environmental protection on Capitol Hill Sept. 16.
Together as "Bishops Working for a Just World" and organized by the Episcopal Public Policy Network's capitol-based Office of Government Relations, the seven bishops, guided by General Convention resolutions, made their annual trip to Washington, D.C., Sept. 14-16 to lobby Congress, meeting with more than 30 elected officials and/or their legislative staffs, on behalf of the Episcopal Church.
"Our involvement says that it's appropriate for Christians to be involved in conversation about social issues and bring an informed, theological perspective to the discussion," said Diocese of Connecticut Bishop James E. Curry, the group's convener. "We [bishops] model that, and I could make the case that that is more important than taking a stand [on a specific issue]."
Bishops Working for a Just World is a caucus within the House of Bishops devoted to fulfilling the baptismal covenant to "strive for justice and peace and respect the dignity of every human being."
"We began in 1993 to try to reclaim our public voice," Curry said.
The bishops' three-day meeting included a workshop on community organizing, guest speakers, and a legislative briefing by OGR staff, a prayer vigil and Eucharist. The visit also coincided with release of Montana Democratic Senator Max Baucus' and the Senate Finance Committee's plan to remake the health care system and offer coverage for millions of uninsured.
"The bill wasn't received well," said DeWayne Davis, OGR's domestic policy analyst, adding that the Senate will have to work in the coming weeks to reconcile its differences and that the House is still working on its bill.
"Members still believe that we are going to get health care this year," he said.
July's General Convention passed several health-care-related resolutions (C071, D048 and D088) in support of universal access to quality and affordable health care in the United States, and called on Congress to pass comprehensive health-care reform this year. It also adopted Resolution B006, which called for comprehensive immigration reform that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants who have established roots in the United States, including parents and spouses of legal immigrants, to have a "pathway to legalization and to full social and economic integration into the United States."
General Convention also adopted resolutions addressing environmental issues, including climate change, global warming, economic and environmental justice, creation care and renewable energy.
Though the congressional visits centered on the bishops' requests for universal, affordable, quality health care for all Americans; comprehensive immigration reform grounded in family unity; and support for the climate bill, the recent infusion of incivility the health care debate has inserted into politics and public discourse entered the discussion.
Democratic Senator Frank R. Lautenberg of New Jersey and Republican Senator Susan M. Collins of Maine both expressed concern over the recent incivility, misinformation and fear-based hyperbole characterizing the health care debate in their meetings with Newark Bishop Mark Beckwith and Maine Bishop Stephen Lane, respectively, the bishops said.
Arguments, shouting and the spread of misinformation have characterized town hall meetings nationwide and have proliferated online since the health care reform debate heated up over the summer. More recently Republican Senator Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouted "you lie" when President Barack Obama said during his September 9 address to Congress and the nation that illegal immigrants wouldn't be given access to coverage under the current plan for health care reform. Wilson's outburst led former President Jimmy Carter to suggest September 15 that some of the protests against and opposition to Obama are rooted in racism.
Racism and Carter's suggestion were part of the discussion during a meeting between Democratic Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland and Maryland Bishop Eugene T. Sutton and Washington Bishop John Chane. Sutton reminded Cardin, who is Jewish, that he sent a Muslim staff member to represent him at a celebration commemorating the 325th anniversary of Diocese of Maryland's oldest church, Sutton said.
"We were celebrating the fact that a Jewish senator sent a Muslim to worship at our Christian celebration," he said. "And that's what Maryland is all about."
In his Sept. 16 homily given at the Simpson Memorial Chapel in the United Methodist Building across from Capitol Hill, Beckwith reminded those present that Jesus learned early on how the world worked and spent his life trying to level the playing field, "making the inequity less so."
Rochester Bishop Prince Singh reminded officials from the state of New York that he too is elected and represents constituents, and that participation in the public square doesn't always come in the form of protest or angry calls and emails.
"Not beating people down to convince them of what we believe in is one of the important pieces of our spirituality," said Singh. "We work in soup kitchens; if there is a disaster, we organize a relief initiative … we are doing the heavy lifting in local communities, tutoring in schools and working in the prison system, and in that way being involved in the public policy debate. We are not out at town hall meetings screaming.
"That is a different discourse that is not part of the town hall format; it is important for elected officials to get an impression that there are people who actually show up and be a part of the solution."
Singh participated in an interfaith prayer vigil to end the hateful rhetoric characterizing the immigration debate Sept. 15 on Capitol Hill – a photo of the faith leaders ran on the front page below the fold in the September 16 Washington Post.
One of the challenges that has revealed itself and that became even more apparent through the bishops' meetings with member of congress and their staffs is that even if health care reform passes, because of the negative atmosphere it has created both on the Hill and in communities nationwide, there will be reluctance to take up any kind of immigration reform, said Ana White, OGR's immigration and refugee policy analyst, who with other OGR staff members accompanied the bishops on their Sept. 16 visits.
Immigration is an especially hot topic in California, where Bishop Marc Andrus, of the Diocese of California, has been involved at the local and state level. Andrus expressed his interest in immigration reform, citing the current policies' failure to address root causes, including poverty.
During a visit with Democratic Representative Anna G. Eschoo, Andrus was able to connect a priest in his diocese who is active in immigration issues with one of Eschoo's staff members who works on the same issues.
OGR, which organized and supported the bishops' meetings, was created by Executive Council in 1979. Its mandate is to lobby Congress and the president in response to legislation passed at General Convention.
"These were very good meetings. I am happy the Office of Government Relations could set these up," Sutton said. "Elected officials need to meet with religious leaders who are not intolerant and who don't abuse positions of power to shame, demean or demand."
The Sept. 16 meetings were just a start, said Mary Getz, OGR's grassroots coordinator.
"What the bishops were doing here was starting and building relationships," she said. "The bishops have plans to make follow up visits in the members' home districts."
The bishops also intended their trip to Washington, D.C. to inspire Episcopalians to get involved. The Episcopal Public Policy Network offers educational and technological resources to all Episcopalians interested in participating in public life.
"I've been encouraging people in my diocese to be involved in the public square," said Lane. "I plan to use this experience as an example and to get people out there in support of universal health care. The message will carry more weight now that I have done it."