Celebrating Public Witness Victories

Washington Report to Presbyterians, Spring 2015

Victory on Establishing Diplomatic Relations with Cuba

In December 2014, the U.S. made a historic step forward in its Cuba policy when the Obama Administration announced that the U.S. will have full diplomatic relations with Cuba, ease travel restrictions, and review the additional policies that hinder the free relationship between the two countries. This was a huge victory for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the many Presbyterians who have worked together with our partners in Cuba for over fifty years. The Office of Public Witness has worked to advocate and to help Presbyterians advocate for this change of policy. Through action alerts, meetings with Congress and the Administration, and hosting delegations of our Cuban church partners, we have continually pressed for a full and free relationship between the two countries. We are looking forward to making sure these changes are fully implemented in the coming year.

Standing with Low-Wage Workers

J. Herbert Nelson stands with low-wage
workers in April 2015

In July 2014, the Reverend J. Herbert Nelson stood with striking low-wage federal contract workers to call on the President to set a new standard in the U.S. labor market. As the largest creator of low-wage jobs in the country, the U.S. government, through its contracts, has tremendous power to lead the labor market and improve jobs for millions of workers. When President Obama signed an executive order last summer requiring federal contractors to pay their workers at least $10.10 per hour, he set a standard for American workers, and many corporations, cities, and municipalities followed his lead. Days after Reverend Nelson stood with striking workers at Union Station, the President signed the “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order” that will ensure that federal contracts are scrutinized for their compliance with federal labor law, such as wage theft protections and safe workplace regulations. This effort to raise the floor of the U.S. labor market continues in 2015 as the Office of Public Witness stands with workers who are demanding more livable wages and contract preferences for good employers who undercut the poverty jobs market by using taxpayer dollars to create good jobs.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation in Iran

A central concern for the PC(USA) has been Nuclear Proliferation and adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Last year, the Office of Public Witness worked in coalition with our interfaith and ecumenical partners in support of negotiated solution to the Iran nuclear issue and in opposition to harmful sanctions proposed in Congress. Because of your response to our alerts and the coalition of faith partners working in DC, we stopped the additional sanctions that would have derailed an agreement. Early in spring 2015, a historic agreement with Iran was announced — the key parameters of a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program. The details remain to be worked out, but this is a tremendous step forward. We will continue to make the final agreement a key priority in public witness work this year.

 

OPW Staff J. Herbert Nelson and Leslie Woods join religious
leaders to meet with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy

A Step in Addressing Global Climate Change

In 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized new regulations under the Clean Air Act to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. Power plants are the largest carbon emitter in the U.S. economy, contributing 30 percent of U.S. carbon pollution. Absent more comprehensive action from Congress, this regulation by the EPA is the largest step the U.S. has taken toward reducing its carbon emissions and beginning to address global climate change and disruption. The faith community was active in calling for these regulations. The Office of Public Witness provided official comments and testimony during the rule-making process, provided resources for hundreds of Presbyterians to weigh in on the rules, and joined with the inter-religious community to raise a voice for Creation Care in the EPA’s efforts to reduce carbon pollution.

Support Diplomacy with Iran!

Tell Your Rep. to Seize Diplomacy Opportunity with Iran! Click here to ask your Representative to support diplomacy with Iran! On June 14, millions of Iranians cast their ballot for Hassan Rouhani with a resounding 51 percent of the vote in the first round of elections. Rouhani campaigned on the view that obtaining a nuclear weapon would run counter to Iran's strategic interests and has been critical of the nuclear "extremism" of outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A bipartisan pair of representatives is calling for the United States to seize the opportunity presented by Iran's presidential election results to advance a diplomatic solution over Iran's nuclear program. Reps. David Price (NC) and Charles Dent (PA) have teamed up to lead this pro-diplomacy letter, urging President Obama to "pursue the potential opportunity presented by Iran's recent presidential election by reinvigorating U.S. efforts to secure a negotiated agreement." Never before has a bipartisan pair of representatives weighed in to express such strong support for robust diplomacy with Iran at such a crucial time. This effort is a unique chance for citizen advocates everywhere to ensure that U.S. policymakers don't miss a rare opportunity to end the standoff over Iran's nuclear program. Click here to send a message to your Representative today! General Assembly Guidance: The 220th General Assembly (2012) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved the following: Acknowledge the church’s support of a peaceful, diplomatic means to resolve the tensions developing as a result of Iran’s nuclear program between the United States, Iran, European Union nations, Iran’s Arab neighbors, and Israel, and affirm that the provisions of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Act should apply to all nations in the region without double standards. Call for the direct, unconditional negotiations between the United States and Iran with the goal of finding and implementing a peaceful resolution and affirm the longer term goal of reestablishing diplomatic relations. Oppose preemptive military action by any nation against Iran and by Iran against any nation. Call for a renewed effort at all levels people-to-people, interfaith groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and government—to help the United States and Iran eliminate the tensions thathave existed between our two nations and to unite the people of the United States and Iran in efforts for their common good. Encourage members, councils, and appropriate offices of the General Assembly Mission Council/Presbyterian Mission Agency to support measures both to prevent war and to open channels for citizen diplomacy, cultural exchange, and rebuilding long-valued relationships with the church in Iran in a new context.

Iran Bombing Threat: Creating a Mindset that Leads to War

By Chris Iosso, an editorial

 published by Unbound: An Interactive Journal of Christian Social Justice

Ban­ner photo by “jonasjonas,” the chess of cal­cu­lated rhetoric

The first thing one encoun­ters in dis­cussing the war drum­beat tar­get­ing Iran is the one-sidedness of the debate. Glenn Green­wald of Salon gives a quick sum­mary on this point, and James Wall, for­mer Chris­t­ian Cen­tury edi­tor, describes the same real­ity. This sug­gests that the talk of war with Iran, though help­fully called, “loose talk,” by Pres­i­dent Obama in his Sun­day, March 4, speech to the Amer­i­can Israeli Pub­lic Affairs Com­mit­tee (AIPAC), is actu­ally quite delib­er­ate and orches­trated talk designed to cre­ate a mind­set favor­ing war. And even if this talk is a repeated strat­egy to dis­tract the U.S. pub­lic from con­tin­ued set­tle­ments or other Israeli polit­i­cal objec­tives, it con­tin­ues to mil­i­ta­rize U.S. for­eign pol­icy and affects our rela­tions not just with Iran, but with the larger com­mu­nity of nations. In prac­ti­cal terms, it keeps us from build­ing stronger alliances to deal with the cri­sis in Syria (for exam­ple) and revives a uni­lat­er­al­ist mind­set that dis­re­gards inter­na­tional law. (continue reading on Unbound)