December 13, 2005
“Who better than you, who serve on the front lines, who feed the hungry, who clothe the naked, who house the homeless, to tell Congress about the impact of this immoral budget on our families and our communities,” Lee told the assembled. “You recognize that the priorities reflected in our budget are not a partisan issue, but an issue of who we are as a nation, and what are values are. We know that the budget Congress is considering is, quite frankly, immoral, and it does not reflect our values.”
Lee has worked to make poverty a priority in Congress in the wake of hurricane Katrina, developing a package of legislation to focus leadership, create accountability and establish priorities on the issue. She thanked those in attendance for their work for a more moral budget.
“As a nation, we believe in equality, and in opportunity, but belief, in and of itself, is not enough. We must work to make it so,” said Lee and cited James 2 14-17. “What good is it, my friends, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
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Barbara Lee Welcomes Faith Leaders Call for a Moral Budget Scores of Faithful Protest Budget Cuts on the Steps of Capitol Office Building
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) addressed a group of more than 200 faith leaders, who braved the cold on Capitol Hill today to perform civil disobedience to protest cuts in Medicaid, student loans and foodstamps and to call for a moral budget.“Who better than you, who serve on the front lines, who feed the hungry, who clothe the naked, who house the homeless, to tell Congress about the impact of this immoral budget on our families and our communities,” Lee told the assembled. “You recognize that the priorities reflected in our budget are not a partisan issue, but an issue of who we are as a nation, and what are values are. We know that the budget Congress is considering is, quite frankly, immoral, and it does not reflect our values.”
Lee has worked to make poverty a priority in Congress in the wake of hurricane Katrina, developing a package of legislation to focus leadership, create accountability and establish priorities on the issue. She thanked those in attendance for their work for a more moral budget.
“As a nation, we believe in equality, and in opportunity, but belief, in and of itself, is not enough. We must work to make it so,” said Lee and cited James 2 14-17. “What good is it, my friends, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, ‘Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”