A Call to Reduce Gun Violence

LENTEN PETITION CALLING FOR COMMON-SENSE MEASURES TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons (and daughters) of God.

- Matthew 5:9

The 219^th General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted the resolution, Gun Violence, Gospel Values: Mobilizing in Response to God’s Call, in exercise of its responsibility to help the whole church address matters of “social righteousness.” The resolution calls both the Church to support and the federal government to establish laws that will prevent and reduce gun violence. The PC(USA) recognizes the seriousness of gun violence in the United States, where more than 30,000 lives are lost each year due to firearms.  We call on all people to conscience to make earnest strides to challenge the pervasive culture of violence that permeates our social fabric.

Sign our Lenten Petition in favor of common-sense federal measures to reduce gun violence.

During this Lenten Season we are joining other faith groups in prayerful engagement and direct action to reduce our culture of violence and to bring peace to our homes, streets, and public venues. Our role as Christians is to be peacemakers. Peace is more than the absence of conflict.  Peace requires our active participation in the work to serve the common good. Making peace often stirs controversy, because it requires engaging in faithful witness on behalf of Jesus Christ, despite the resulting discomfort. Peace exposes human frailty and sin in order to make repentance possible. Jesus affirms that his presence and teachings in the world will create division among those who are closest to him (Matthew 10:34). Therefore, the gospel is a double edged sword that evokes unrest while creating a platform for peaceful reconciliation.

As we journey together through this period of spiritual discipline and contemplation, while also experiencing gun-related grief and trauma in our communities and nation, let us remember that New Life awaits us on Easter morning. 

This petition, calling for common-sense federal measures to reduce gun violence, is one small piece of a larger strategy to address the culture of violence that pervades our nation.  We will deliver this petition to Congress during Eastertide.  Sign it now!

As you move through your Lenten discipline, make this petition – signing it, circulating it, inviting your friends and congregation-members to sign it – one of your personal commitments.  In addition, try these other action steps toward raising awareness and reducing violence and poverty in our nation.

1. Pray for our President and the United States Congress as they struggle with the issue of gun violence.
2. Encourage your Pastor(s) to preach sermons, teach bible studies, and become involved in the efforts to change our culture of violence and to eradicate gun violence in your local community.
3. Host a screening of TRIGGER: The Ripple Effects of Gun Violence, the PC(USA) documentary on eradicating gun violence. Hold congregational and community discussions in your house of worship.
4. Participate in a Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath Weekend, March 15-17. 
5. Write and/or call your Congresspersons and the President each week during Lent stating your support for federal legislation to reduce gun violence. (See the requested actions outlined in the petition). To find contact information for your Members, click here.
6. Read the gun violence policy of the PC(USA) - Gun Violence and Gospel Values: Mobilizing In Response to God’s Call
7. Register and make plans to attend Compassion, Peace and Justice Training Day (CPJ) and Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) in Washington, DC, April 5-8, 2013 (attend both events in one weekend) to receive training in how to become an advocate for justice issues.

The PETITION

As members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and people of faith and conscience, we believe that God desires health and wholeness for all of God’s children – not cycles of despair, poverty, and violence.

We therefore believe that we have a responsibility to reduce such injustice in our midst, wherever we see it.  We therefore call upon the United States Senate and House of Representatives to approve federal legislation that will --

Reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 – banning all assault weapons and high capacity magazines. Assault weapons are weapons of war and have no place in the hands common citizens. Most mass shootings in this nation involve such weapons.

Require universal background checks when purchasing any firearm. Many states do not require background checks, making it simple to acquire a gun for persons with criminal records, persons who do not know how to handle a gun, or persons who suffer from mental illness. Guns only belong in the hands of those who know how to handle them with correct intention.

Make gun trafficking a federal crime. Currently, gun trafficking is prosecuted under a statute that prohibits selling guns without a federal license. This crime carries the same punishment as trafficking chicken or livestock.

Sign this Petition here.

Please forward this petition to friends, church members, organizations and/or other persons and institutions.

Post cards are available for large groups and/or congregations who desire to collect many signatures at once (such as church coffee hour).  Please contact our office at ga_washington_office@pcusa.org to request petition post cards. 

 

25 Groups Call on Obama Not to Block Food, Medicine to Iran

 
A broad coalition of 25 national organizations, including the Presbyterian Church (USA), called on President Barack Obama to take action to ensure that Iranian civilians are not blocked from accessing food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods under existing U.S. sanctions.

According to recent reports, a growing number of Iranians are facing difficulties accessing food and medicine, in part due to sanctions imposed by the United States. The Iranian government's mismanagement and lack of economic transparency has also worsened the situations for Iranian patients, but there are still simple actions that the U.S. government can take to ensure that Iranians are not blocked from accessing food and medicine due to the U.S. sanctions regime.

Click on the link below to read the letter.

http://fcnl.org/issues/iran/coalition_calls_on_obama_not_to_block_food_medicine_to_iran/index.html

Invitation: Screening of TRIGGER, the PC(USA)'s new documentary on Gun Violence

Senate VAWA Vote Tomorrow - Call Now!

The Senate is expected to vote on final passage of the Violence Against Women Act on Thursday, Feb. 7.  We need a strong, bipartisan vote in favor of this reauthorization in order to compel the House to take it up next.  Call now!

When you reach your Senators’ offices, ask for the staff person who handles VAWA.

Click here for phone numbers and talking points.

The following Senators are already co-sponsors of VAWA.  Make sure to include a “thank you” if they represent you:

Senators Ayotte, Kelly (R-NH), Baldwin, Tammy  (D–WI), Baucus, Max (D-MT) , Begich, Mark (D-AK), Bennet, Michael (D-CO), Blumenthal, Richard (D-CT), Boxer, Barbara (D-CA), Brown, Sherrod (D-OH),  Cantwell, Maria (D-WA), Cardin, Benjamin (D-MD), Carper, Thomas (D-DE) Casey, Robert (D–PA), Collins, Susan (R-ME), Coons, Chris (D-DE), Crapo, Mike (R-ID), Donnelly, Joe (D-IN) Durbin, Richard (D-IL), Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA), Franken, Al (D-MN), Gillibrand, Kirsten (D-NY), Hagan, Kay (D-NC), Harkin, Tom (D-IA), Heinrich, Martin (D-NM), Heitkamp, Heidi (D–ND), Heller, Dean (R-NV),  Hirono, Mazie  (D-HI), Johnson, Tim (D - SD), Kaine, Tim (D-VA) King, Angus (I-ME), Kirk, Mark (R-IL), Klobuchar, Amy (D-MN), Landrieu, Mary (D-LA), Lautenberg, Frank R. (D-NJ) Leahy, Patrick (D-VT), Levin, Carl (D-MI) McCaskill, Claire (D-MO), Manchin, Joe (D-WV) ,Menendez, Robert (D-NJ), Merkley, Jeff (D-OR), Mikulski, Barbara (D-MD), Moran, Jerry (R-KS), Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK), Murphy, Christopher (D-CT) Murray, Patty (D-WA), Nelson, Bill (D-FL)  Pryor, Mark  (D-AR), Reed, Jack (D-RI), Reid, Harry (D-NV), Rockefeller, John D (D-WV), Sanders, Bernard (I-VT), Schatz, Brian (D-HI) Schumer, Charles  (D-NY), Shaheen, Jeanne (D-NH), Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI), Tester, Jon (D-MT), Udall, Mark (D-CO), Udall, Tom (D-NM), Warner, Mark (D-VA), Warren, Elizabeth (D-MA), Whitehouse, Sheldon (D-RI), Wyden, Ron (D-OR). 

FMLA 20th Anniversary Celebration

Today marks the 20^th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which President Clinton signed it into law on February 5, 1993.

For the specifics of the FMLA, please read more here: http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/ 

The FMLA works. Workers have used it more than 100 million times to take critical time off to care for family members or to recuperate from their own illnesses, without putting their jobs at risk or losing their health insurance.[i]

Write to your Members of Congress in support of moving forward with next steps and the FMLA.

Presbyterians have long supported policies that promote healthy families, particularly as they relate to issues of employment. In 2004, the 216^th General Assembly urged the church at all levels to "advocate for local, state, and federal legislation that might strengthen family life," including:

"Induc[ing]  employers  to offer  more  flexible work  hours,  more  paid  leave for  the care  of dependent  persons  and child-related activities, more telecommuting  options, more possibilities for part-time jobs with prorated wages and  benefits,  family-supporting wages for all workers, and more available, affordable, and flexible child care programs.[ii]

The FMLA is an important milestone of family-friendly legislation that makes it all the more possible to care for our families and work outside the home.  Most people have interacted with the FMLA through parental leave (both for birth or adoption of a child), and in addition to providing for time to care for the arrival of a new child, FMLA also provides for workers to take protected, unpaid leave to care for a sick parent, spouse, or child, or to recuperate from their own serious illness.

Think Progress' Infographic on Paid Leave in Developed Nations

But not all workers can afford to take the unpaid leave the FMLA ensures and about 40 percent of workers are not even eligible for FMLA, because they work in organizations with fewer than 50 employees or are otherwise exempted from FMLA’s protections.[iii] 

As we celebrate the great strides through the passage of the FMLA 20 years ago, we must also look forward, making efforts to make U.S. family policy even more family-friendly. Of the developed nations of the world, the U.S. is the only nation that does not mandate paid leave for the birth of a child. 

The OPW urges you to contact your Congressional members and advocate for paid leave.

With your help, we can both celebrate the traction this issue has gained over the years and also move into a future where healthy families have are better sustained, supported, and nurtured.

"We envision a society in which families assume primary responsibility for the care and guidance of their own members, supported by other citizens, members of faith communities, and social institutions. It is preferable that those institutions with the best combination of knowledge of the family situation and adequate resources respond to family needs.ⁱⁱ

---

[i] National Partnership for Women and Families, http://www.nationalpartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_work_fmla.

[ii] from "Transforming Families," 216^th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Minutes, 2004, pp. 759-760.

[iii] “Parental Leave Policies in 21 Countries: Assessing Generosity and Gender Equality,” by Rebecca Ray, Janet C. Gornick, and John Schmitt, published by Center for Economic and Policy Research, http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/parental_2008_09.pdf. 

Senate to vote on VAWA this week!

The Office of Public Witness sent three letters about the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to the Senate this morning (Feb. 4): one thanking the lead sponsor of the bill, S. 47, Senator Patrick Leahy; one thanking the 59 Senators who have cosponsored the bill; and one to the remaining 39 Senators who have not cosponsored it.   To find the list of current cosponsors, visit the Library of Congress' website. The Senate is expected to begin debating this measure this evening.  Below, please see the letters thanking the cosponsors and urging support from those who have not yet cosponsored the bill.

Click here to send a message to your Senators in favor of S. 47!

To the cosponsors of S. 47:

February 1, 2013

Dear Senator:

In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we believe that “domestic violence is always a violation of the power God intended for good.”  We believe that “God the Creator is preeminently a covenant-maker, the One who creates, sustains, and transforms the people of God. Domestic violence and abuse destroys covenants in which people have promised to treat each other with respect and dignity.”*

Because of these convictions, we strongly support a robust reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, we thank you for co-sponsoring S. 47, and we trust that you to vote in favor of it when it comes before the Senate early next week.  Further, we urge you to oppose any weakening, harmful, or non-germane amendments and only to support changes to VAWA that are endorsed by the bill’s chief sponsor.

As you know, VAWA’s programs support state, tribal, and local efforts to address the pervasive and insidious crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.  These programs have made great progress towards reducing the violence, helping victims to be healthy and feel safe and holding perpetrators accountable.  This critical legislation must be reauthorized to ensure a continued response to these crimes.

Again, we  thank you for cosponsoring this bill and look forward to its passage, so that we can build upon VAWA's successes and continue to enhance our nation’s ability to promote an end to this violence, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to keep victims and their families safe from future harm.  For our part, we commit to continued ministry with victims and survivors of violence and to do all we can, through our ministries and our advocacy, to end this desperate cycle of violence and brokenness.

We give thanks for your service to our nation and for your leadership on this issue.

Sincerely,

The Reverend J. Herbert Nelson, II

Director for Public Witness

* Belief statements are quoted from Turn Mourning Into Dancing! A Policy Statement on Healing Domestic Violence, approved by the 213^th General Assembly (2001) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

To Senators who have NOT cosponsored S. 47: 

February 1, 2013

Dear Senator:

In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), we believe that “domestic violence is always a violation of the power God intended for good.”  We believe that “God the Creator is preeminently a covenant-maker, the One who creates, sustains, and transforms the people of God. Domestic violence and abuse destroys covenants in which people have promised to treat each other with respect and dignity.”*

Because of these convictions, we strongly support a robust reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, we ask you to co-sponsor it, and we urge you to vote in favor of S. 47 when it comes before the Senate early next week.  Further, we urge you to oppose any weakening, harmful, or non-germane amendments and only to support changes to VAWA that are endorsed by the bill’s chief sponsor.

VAWA’s programs support state, tribal and local efforts to address the pervasive and insidious crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking.  These programs have made great progress towards reducing the violence, helping victims to be healthy and feel safe and holding perpetrators accountable.  This critical legislation must be reauthorized to ensure a continued response to these crimes.

Since its original passage in 1994, VAWA has dramatically enhanced our nation’s response to violence against girls and women, boys and men.  VAWA provides for a coordinated community approach, improving collaboration between law enforcement and victim services providers to better meet the needs of victims. And while VAWA has unquestionably improved the national response to these terrible crimes, much work remains to be done to address unmet needs and to enhance access to protections and services for all victims. We urge you to sponsor and vote for S. 47 in order to build upon VAWA's successes and continue to enhance our nation’s ability to promote an end to this violence, to hold perpetrators accountable and to keep victims and their families safe from future harm.

For our part, we commit to continued ministry with victims and survivors of violence and to do all we can, through our ministries and our advocacy, to end this desperate cycle of violence and brokenness.

We give thanks for your service to our nation and for your leadership on this issue.

Sincerely,

The Reverend J. Herbert Nelson, II

Director for Public Witness

* Belief statements are quoted from Turn Mourning Into Dancing! A Policy Statement on Healing Domestic Violence, approved by the 213^th General Assembly (2001) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Send your own message today!

Congratulations to President Obama and Looking Forward to the Future

January 23, 2013

The Honorable Barack Obama

President of the United States

The White House

Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

I write to congratulate you on your inauguration to a second term as the 44^th President of the United States.  We join in prayer with faithful brothers and sisters across this nation, that God will guide your hand and your heart as you continue in service to our nation.

In listening to your Second Inaugural address, I was pleased to hear that so many of our priorities coincide.  As a church, we have been committed to challenging a culture of violence, with a special focus on ending gun violence and violence against women; reducing economic inequality and poverty, at home and abroad; addressing global climate change; ensuring that immigrant brothers and sisters have a safe and permanent path to citizenship; and building a lasting peace and security around the world.  To our delight, your Second Inaugural Address touched on all these issues.

We look forward to working with you and your Administration in the coming four years in order to achieve these lofty, yet essential goals. 

We give thanks for your service to our country and pray that God will bless you and guide your choices as our leader.

Sincerely,

The Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II

Director of Public Witness

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Feb 12th Second Tuesday Briefing

Come join the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness’

Second Tuesday Briefing and Screening of the PC(USA)

Documentary “TRIGGER”  

Tuesday, February 12, 2013
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon, lunch to follow

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness

100 Maryland Ave NE,  Conference Rooms 1 & 2 (Lobby Level)

Washington DC 20002

10am – 11am –   Movie Screening:  TRIGGER: the Ripple Effect of Gun Violence

  

In the US, more than 30,000 people are killed every year by gun violence; many more are wounded. The disaster caused by gun violence is seen in almost every community. TRIGGER: The Ripple Effect of Gun Violenceshares the story of how gun violence impacts individuals and communities, and examines the "ripple effect" that one shooting has on an individual, a family, a community and a society. TRIGGER also addresses the critical issue of gun violence prevention by moving the conversation away from the polarizing extremes that have long dominated the debate and lifting up the voice and experiences of those who seek common ground and a new way forward.

11am – 12pm –   Question and Answer Session with the Director,  David Barnhart

David Barnhart is an award winning Producer, Director, and documentary filmmaker for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Barnhart has developed story and documentary film initiatives with children living on the streets in Argentina; communities displaced by war and natural disasters in Latin America and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; with survivors in South Korea of systematic rape and torture by the Japanese military during WWII; and with survivors of the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia.  Two of his most recent projects, “Kepulihan: Stories from the Tsunami,” and “Coming Home: Hurricane Katrina 5 Years Later” were broadcast nationally on ABC and NBC and were screened at film festivals across the country and internationally.  “Kepulihan: Stories from the Tsunami” also had the distinguished honor of being selected by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site as part of its D.R.E.A.M Film Series. Barnhart is currently developing long-term story initiatives with survivors from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and has just completed a project that focuses on the ripple effect of Gun Violence that is slated to be on NBC starting in November 2012.

           

RSVP: Annette at 543-1126 x 221 or Annette.Greer@pcusa.org

We look forward to seeing you and your joining us for lunch afterward – all are welcome!

Also, please note that there will be no Second Tuesday event in April.  Instead of 2^nd Tuesday, we hope you and your friends will join us on Friday, April 5^th , for the 3rd Annual CPJ Training Day to educate Presbyterians on the work of the PC(USA) in the face of injustices in global food systems.  Following CPJ Training Day, the ecumenical community will gather during Ecumenical Advocacy Days(April 5 – 8) to seek the abundance and equality that we find reflected in the biblical image of God’s great banquet table. Inspiring speakers will offer a faith-based vision for fair and humane food policies and practices, along with grassroots advocacy training, all culminating with Monday’s Lobby Day on Capitol Hill.  For more information about both events, go to:    www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/washington/

We encourage you to come to CPJ/EAD Advocacy Weekend, and to encourage others to do the same!

Thank you for your faithful witness. 

INTERFAITH FAITH CALL-IN TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE

Monday, February 4 - National Faith Call-In to Prevent Gun Violence

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC is working with an Interfaith Group of Organizations to encourage the United States Senate and House of Representatives to enact gun legislation that will reduce and prevent gun violence in the United States.

 

National Call-In Number

Faiths Calling – Interfaith Call-in to Prevent Gun Violence – February 4^th
www.faithscalling.org 1-888-897-0174
Text "FaithsCalling" to 877877 for a reminder message

Ensure that the voices of faithful Americans ring throughout the halls of Congress.

Call your Senators and Representative and insist that they act to prevent gun violence.

We know that among millions of you in the faith community there are differences in viewpoint and we ask you to convey whichever policies with which you are comfortable. The major components of legislation that Congress is considering are listed below. When you call your Senators and Representative, let them know that you are calling as a member of the faith community, and emphasize those of the policies which you support.

• Require universal background checks for all gun purchases
• Ban semi-automatic assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
• Make gun trafficking a federal crime
• Improve access to mental health services

Tell them that gun violence prevention laws work.

We need your support on this important issue!

Register Now for Compassion Peace and Justice Training Day and Ecumenical Advocacy Days! April 5-8, 2013

Cynthia E. White, Director of Self-Development of People, and Rev. Noelle Damico, Associate for Fair Food, will be speaking at Compassion, Peace, and Justice Training Day!

Go to http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/washington/
to register and for more information.

Cynthia White

Self-Development of People works with groups of economically poor and oppressed people who have organized to address issues impacting them and their community. This will be an opportunity to learn more about the issues, how communities are coming together, and how you can help. Hear how Self-Development of People, through its many Committees across the country, is engaged with communities of need and how you can become involved in this ministry.

 Noelle Damico

The Rev. Noelle Damico is Associate for Fair Food within the Presbyterian Hunger Program. She fosters the church’s participation in the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Campaign for Fair Food, sits on the GAMC human trafficking roundtable, and writes and speaks on issues related to human rights and the gospel. She is a contributor to “Preaching God’s Transformative Justice, ” a lectionary commentary just published in August 2011 by Westminster John Knox Press

VAWA Reintroduced - Call on Senators to Co-sponsor!

Action Alert: VAWA Reintroduced This Week – Call on Senators to Co-sponsor

On Tuesday, Jan. 22, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Michael Crapo (R-ID) introduced S. 47, a strong, bipartisan bill that would reauthorize the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)! This bill closely mirrors the bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Leahy and Crapo last Congress and would improve VAWA programs and strengthen protections for all victims of violence (see description of legislation below).

In order to build on our incredible momentum from last Congress, please take action TODAY by contacting your Senators to co-sponsor S. 47. The goal is to get 60 co-sponsors by January 31^st so that VAWA can get to the Senate floor for a bipartisan victory. We need to keep the phones ringing and emails starting right now!

** please check the following list and edit the message to your senators if they are already co-sponsor (or better yet, put in a phone call).  Make sure to thank them for their witness on this issue.

So far, the bill has the following co-sponsors in addition to its chief sponsor, Senator Leahy (D-VT): Senators Ayotte (R-NH),  Baucus (D-MT), Begich (D-AK), Bennet (D-CO), Cantwell (D-WA), Cardin (D-MD), Casey (D-PA), Collins (R-ME), Coons (D-DE), Crapo (R-ID), Durbin (D-IL), Feinstein (D-CA), Franken (D-MN), Hagan (D-NC), Heitkamp (D-ND), King (I-ME), Kirk (R-IL), Klobuchar (D-MN), McCaskill (D-MO), Mikulski (D-MD), Murkowski (R-AK), Murray (D-WA), Pryor (D-AR), Reed (D-RI), Shaheen (D-NH), Stabenow (D-MI), Tester (D-MT), Udall (D-CO), Udall (D-NM), Warren (D-MA), Whitehouse (D-RI), and Wyden (D-OR). (as of 9:30am 1/25/13)

Also on Tuesday, Representatives Gwen Moore (D-WI) and John Conyers (D-MI) introduced H.R. 11, a House companion identical to the bipartisan Senate bill.  Call on the House of Representatives to work together in a bipartisan effort reauthorize VAWA as a matter of priority.   This bill has 158 co-sponsors in the House.

Today is OrangeDay,* a monthly action on the 25^th of each month when we lift up issues of violence against women.  Join the global effort to confront violence against women by taking action today!

Action Item:

Send a message to your Senators here; OR

Call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask the operator to connect you to your Senators. If you don’t know who your Senators are, you can look them up here. When you’re connected to their offices, tell the person who answers the phone:

1)            I am a constituent from (city and state) and my name is _________.

2)            I urge Senator____ to co-sponsor the S. 47, a strong, bipartisan bill that would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act.

3)            Thank you and I look forward to hearing that the Senator is a co-sponsor.

###

Description of legislation: In addition to many important improvements throughout the bill that received bipartisan support last year, this bill also contains enhanced protections for tribal, LGBT and immigrant victims, which were identified as critical priorities by advocates across the country and also received bipartisan support last year. Last year’s bill, however, also included a modest increase in the number of U visas (created by Congress in VAWA 2000) available to immigrant victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and certain other violent crimes who assist law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. Increasing the number of U visas helps both victims and law enforcement.  Unfortunately, that provision led to a technical objection from House Republican leaders. 

In the interest of obtaining the swift reauthorization of VAWA, the Senate introduced the new VAWA bill without that provision in order to avoid any initial technical obstacles.  However, this new VAWA bill does recommit Congress to important immigration provisions so that all victims are protected. Senator Leahy will be working hard to include the U visa increase in the comprehensive immigration reform legislation that will soon be considered by Congress. The members of the National Task Force likewise commit to support that effort.

* On January 25 – and the 25th of each month – join people around the world in observing an Orange Day to work for an end to violence against women and girls. SayNO – UNiTE toEnd Violence against Women is a social mobilization platform on ending violence against women and girls related to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s campaign, UNiTE to End Violence against Women. The campaign invites us to wear orange and take action on the 25th of each month to end violence against women and girls. Learn more and find ideas for action.

Urge the USDA to help end modern slavery by joining the Fair Food Program

From our Friends at the Fair Food Program and the Presbyterian Hunger Program:

Dear Friends:

As our nation marks the 150^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, it is appropriate to renew our commitment to ending modern slavery in our own nation.  Since 1997 Florida agriculture itself has seen nine prosecutions of cases of forced labor, involving over 1,200 people.  

The Fair Food Program is a comprehensive, proven model created by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, 11 corporate food buyers and the vast majority of Florida tomato growers that is addressing modern slavery and eliminating the conditions in which it flourishes.   

The US Department of Agriculture has lauded the Fair Food Program but has yet to commit to buying its tomatoes for market stabilization and school lunches from this established, effective program.

You are invited to join national religious leaders, including the Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA),  the Rev. David Beckman of Bread for the World, Rabbi Jill Jacobs of T’ruah (formerly Rabbis for Human Rights-North America), in signing onto a Letter of Conscience urging the USDA to purchase its tomatoes from the Fair Food Program.  

In Deuteronomy 24:18, God implores the Hebrew people individually and intimately saying, “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there.”  Remember, says God.  This faith imperative to remember has been handed through the generations to us; not in a facile way of cheap identification, but as a persistent, urgent reminder that God works for freedom and wholeness in every generation.  And that we are invited by God to give shape to this work in our own time and place.

Learn more and sign-on to the Letter of Conscience to ensure our federal government upholds the highest standards for human rights and stays true to its commitment of liberty and justice for all. 

Peace,

The Rev. Noelle Damico, PC(USA) Campaign for Fair Food

Photo:  Courtesy of Scott Robertson

God is Love: A Statement on Gun Violence in the United States

God is Love

A Statement on Gun Violence in the United States

This statement was given by Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson at a press conference held in Washington, DC, on January 15, 2013. Religious leaders and Faith Against Gun Violence came together to press for tighter gun regulations to stop gun violence in the United States. 

First, let me give honor and praise to our Creator for the opportunity to speak with the press today regarding the eradication of gun violence in the United States. I am the Reverend Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, Director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC. I represent nearly two million members of our denomination. I also represent today the National Council of Churches which includes 37 Christian denominations and their over 100,000 congregations and 45 million persons in the United States. Our collective presence of interfaith leaders gathered today is a witness to our belief in the need for faith leaders to bind ourselves together on both national and local levels. We are aware that pressure from the gun lobby and gun owners continues to mount around this issue. But we believe that political leaders in Washington can resolve this problem and achieve meaningful gun reform if only they have the will.

As we celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on his birthday today, it is imperative for us to be reminded that he was a man who advocated for peace and justice. I am convinced that if he were here today, this issue would be the priority of his leadership. In the United States today, since 1997 we are witnessing gun deaths of more than thirty thousand persons per year. From the Revolutionary War in 1775 to the Persian Gulf War in 1991 which totaled 116 years there were 650,858 persons killed in combat. In the eighteen years from 1979 to 1997 we have experienced 651,697 deaths by guns. There were 839 more persons killed by guns during this 18 year period in the United States than in 116 years of foreign wars involving the United States.[i] No longer can faith communities stand idly by and commit to performing burials while bowing to lobbyists whose motivations are driven by a false standard of profit and power. We stand today on the premise that faith does have something to say about life and death. Therefore, it is imperative that we declare that our Creator affirms life abundantly while giving leadership to those of us who will challenge the false choice between guns and freedom.

We have gathered to call for 1) a ban on all assault weapons. These are weapons of war and there is no reason for common citizens to purchase or possess them. We do not use AK-47’s to hunt deer! Therefore, we are calling for the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban which lapsed in 2004. 2) We are calling for universal background checks. Presently, there is no federal provision for background checks and some states that do not require them at all. Therefore, persons that are mentally ill or do not know how to fire a gun or possess criminal records can make gun purchases. 3) Gun trafficking should be made a federal crime. Currently, prosecutions only happen through a law that prohibits selling guns without a federal license, which carries the same punishment as trafficking chicken or livestock. We must empower law enforcement to investigate and prosecute straw purchasers, gun traffickers, and their entire criminal networks.

We must not minimize the struggle of families who mourn the loss of those children and teachers killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The Newtown community tragedy brought this issue of gun violence to the forefront in public debate. However, it is a greater tragedy that we live in a culture of violence that self-perpetuates and makes gun violence acceptable.  According to one journalist, each evening on the eleven o’clock news many television stations wait until two to three minutes before the broadcast to determine the lead story, because they are waiting for the possibility of a late night shooting. The common term in the media for this is “if it bleeds, it leads.” Newtown is representative of a long list of tragic community killings through gun violence. Our purpose here today is to declare that our faith perspectives and holy books call us, first and foremost, to love one another, not to protect ourselves against one another.

In inner city and some rural communities today, the criminal element connected to guns is rampant due to a lack of economic opportunity – dismal job prospects; low wages; and historic, flawed, and failing public education. Without opportunities, children are forced to choose gangs, guns, and incarceration over graduation. All of these dismal realities of community life are perfect for drugs, trafficking, prostitution, and other public safety issues stemming from illegal activities that create an environment for guns to neutralize the affects among criminals in a community. If the real truth is exposed, we would realize that none of us are safe in this country. Shopping malls, political rallies, temples, mosques, churches, schools, including college campuses, and a host of other public venues are all potential sites for gun violence at any given time. The challenge of eradicating gun violence is that there must be a change of heart and Spirit in our nation. This issue of creating peace for our nation is tied to justice and how we treat our neighbors and whether each person has an opportunity for economic livelihood.

If Dr. King were alive today, he would remind us that the United States is a great nation, when it measures its greatness on its moral and ethical actions. “Let us be first in love,” he would declare. Guns must be brought under tighter legislative restrictions for the purpose of saving lives and restoring the integrity of our commitment to promote life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We stand together today, because we know beyond all else that God is love. Let our love bind us together to challenge the onslaught of gun violence in our nation. Tell Congress and our President to pass legislation that will tighten gun laws in this country. God is love!

View the video of this morning's remarks: 

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[i] James Atwood, America and It’s Guns: A Theological Expose (Eugene Oregon: Cascade Books, 2012) Appendix p. 227-228.