Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, along with other denominational leaders, has written a letter to Congress urging them to deal with increasing poverty, rather than celebrating the end of welfare. In the letter, the denominational leaders said this:
Our five denominations, steeped in the biblical imperative to care for the "least of these," represent close to 20 million members in the United States. We understand that many in Congress may be inclined to celebrate a political anniversary: the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 (PRWORA) and the "successes" of the law that as President Clinton said, "ended welfare as we know it." This is a celebration in which we cannot join. Welfare may have ended as we know it, but poverty in our nation has not.
PRWORA is not a success when many of our brothers and sisters lack adequate access to affordable child care, education and training, health care, affordable housing, quality nutrition and other basic human needs. Despite caseload reductions in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF), child poverty has risen for the last 4 years. According to recent US Census figures, the number of Americans living below the poverty line has increased every year since 2000 from 11.3% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2004. This now represents 37 million Americans, including 13 million children.
For some reason, the full text of the letter and news release are not on the ENS website, although I received a copy from them by email earlier this morning. When it appears online, I'll post a link to the news release, which contains the full text of the letter.
UPDATE: The article has magically appeared on the ENS website now. Enjoy.
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