CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET
WOES
Although the current fiscal year ends on September 30th, Congress is in no hurry to finish its work on the annual appropriations
bills because many members don't want voters to know about the deep cuts they are considering before the election. However,
some of those cuts may still take effect. When Congress fails to pass the appropriations bills by the beginning of the new
fiscal year (Oct 1st), it must either pass a "continuing resolution" (that will keep programs funded for a certain period
of time or until the appropriations bills are passed) or force a government shutdown (think back to the mid 1990s). Since
Congress isn't going to let a government shutdown happen before a midterm election, the House and Senate will likely agree
to a "continuing resolution" before the recess for the election. Usually, a "continuing resolution" will keep programs funded
at their current level until the new level is set by the appropriations bills. However, starting last year, the majority began
using the "continuing resolution" as a way to begin implementing cuts; rather than keeping funding at current levels, they
provided the lowest level of funding that was contained in the House appropriations bills, the Senate appropriations bills,
or the President's budget. Given the deep cuts proposed by the President, particularly to programs in the Department of Labor,
Health, Human Services, and Education (a majority of social services and education programs) a number of programs could see
significant cuts in any "continuing resolution", even though the House and Senate may have rejected some of those cuts. The
bottom line is that this is another congressional sleight of hand, attempting to hide the fact that critical programs remain
on the chopping block!
ACTION NEEDED
Call your Senators and Representative today and tell them to pass Labor-HHS appropriations with an $8 billion increase
in funding for critical programs and to reject any "continuing resolution" that cuts funding from current levels. The American
Friends Service Committee has again generously provided a toll-free number for you to use: 1-800-459-1887*.
For a sense of what some of the cuts could look like, please check out the following great resources from our friends at
the Coalition on Human Needs, which show how funding has eroded since FY2005
and since FY2002.
* The toll-free number is provided courtesy of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization whose
work for social justice, peace, and humanitarian service includes campaigns for a moral budget and a fair minimum wage (
www.afsc.org/economic-justice/). AFSC welcomes groups to circulate and use the toll-free number in support of nonpartisan budget goals
and without linking the alert to a website soliciting donations or actions which may be used to support partisan lobbying
or work.
ENFORCEMENT
ONLY FOCUS IN CONGRESS
As we mentioned last week, the House is using the pre-election session to focus narrowly on piecemeal enforcement-only
bills and refuses to go to conference with the Senate on a comprehensive immigration reform. The House leadership has repackaged
a number of bills to provide more funding for border patrol, to build a 700-mile fence, and other "border security" measures.
While we had hoped that the Senate would stand firm in its support for comprehensive reform, we have unfortunately just learned
that Senator Frist has agreed to bring the border fence legislation up for a vote THIS WEEK. The latest news is that an important
procedural vote on H.R. 6061, the "Secure Fence Act of 2006" (which passed the House last week by a vote of 283-138), will
occur sometime tomorrow and with the hope for comprehensive reform fading, there will be a lot of pressure on Senators facing
reelection to demonstrate that they are "tough on security."
ACTION NEEDED
1) CALL-IN DAY TOMORROW (Wednesday Sept 20th!) Call your Senators and urge them to vote "NO" on the "cloture"
motion for H.R. 6061 (and any other enforcement-only bill!) and to hold firm for COMPREHENSIVE immigration reform. The Capitol
Hill switchboard number is 202-224-3121.
2) Reinforce your phone call by sending a letter to your Senator and Representatives in support of comprehensive immigration
reform and opposing enforcement-only legislation. A sample letter can be found at our action website
for you to edit and send.
INTERNATIONAL DAY
OF PEACE - SEPTEMBER 21st
In 1981, the United Nations established the 3rd Thursday in September as an International Day of Peace to "to devote a
specific time to concentrate the efforts of the United Nations and its Member States, as well as of the whole of mankind,
to promoting the ideals of peace and to giving positive evidence of their commitment to peace in all viable ways." In 2002,
September 21st was made the permanent "International Day of Peace" and many activities and events have grown up around it.
For information on how you can be involved in local activities, please visit the International Day of Peace website
.
One of the suggested activities is gathering in community at noon local time to pray together for peace and we found some
helpful prayer resources at this Dominican website.
Finally, for those interested in a broader reflection on nonviolence, Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) has developed
a new curriculum for people of faith seeking peace. It contains several one hour sessions that place Biblical texts in conversation
with the critical issues of our day-such as terrorism and national security, federal budget priorities, nuclear weapons and
war. For more information and to download the materials please click here.
