Bread monthly meeting at Medical Teams Real Life exhibit

Our meeting for November was a trip to Medical Team's headquarters in Tigard Oregon. We toured the Real Life exhibit, which is basically a museum dedicated to showing what life is like for the poorest billion or so people on our planet. It is a powerful and moving experience. I like to read the familiar Matthew 25 before walking through to remind me that I am seeing Jesus in the faces of the people in the camps, clinics, and streets.

The exhibit shows the effects of disaster, conflict, disease, neglect, and poverty. You see pictures of people waiting in long lines for medical treatment, it tells the story of children kidnapped and forced to become soliders in Africa. You see a bosnian refugee camp which is basically a city of thin small white tents that stretches to the horizon, you hear the story of people who had to flee for their lives from conflict. You see and hear the story of families who live in a garbage dump in South America because its the only opportunity that is available to them. You see an African village that has been devastated by aids.

It ends on a call to action, showing that one group and one person can do when combined with the actions of many others. This combined action is Bread's underlying principle as well and has shone important results over the years. A small pond is there with a rock added by each person pledging to take some action, the rocks have built up to cover the bottom and so our work continues. Come and see the exhibit when you get the chance, it can be a truly life changing experience.
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Farm Bill update, calls needed

This is very late-breaking, but it appears there will be an important procedural vote on Friday to move forward on the farm bill. This is called a "cloture" vote - it requires 60 votes and is designed to define the paramaters of debate and amendments. If this vote fails, we are looking at the very real possibility that the farm bill will not be voted on by the Senate until next year. If it passes, it's possible they will be voting well into the night on Friday - possibly with some votes held the first several days they return. The politics of what's behind this are outlined in the article below from CongressDaily (subscription)

Our analysts are working extremely hard to figure out what the best course of action is right now. We are unsure at this point what kind of chance this cloture motion has of passing. I will keep you posted as events unfold, and if and how we may be able to contribute.

In the interim, I sincerely ask fo your prayers for lawmakers to remember the people and faces behind the legislation. I also ask your prayers for our staff in DC who have been working tirelessly over the past several weeks and months. I can't tell you the number of times I've called them after 7 or 8 Eastern Time and they're still in the office plugging away.

Hope to know more in the morning...

Peace and Blessings,
Matt



Reid Files Cloture On Farm Bill To Set Up Key Friday Vote

Saying he was frustrated by Republican unwillingness to agree to an amendment package on the farm bill, Senate Majority Leader Reid Wednesday filed a cloture motion to force a vote Friday morning.
"We need to get this bill done," Reid said on the floor. "We could still complete the bill before we leave here. If we couldn't complete the bill before we leave for Thanksgiving, we could get it teed up so we can finish it in a day or two when we come back."
Minority Leader McConnell, with whom Reid has been jousting about amendments, did not offer such a speedy scenario, but after the cloture motion was filed on Agriculture Chairman Harkin's bill, he proposed and Reid agreed to limit the universe of farm bill amendments to the 264 that have been filed.
Many of those amendments are nongermane -- among them ones dealing with repeal of the estate tax, fixing the alternative minimum tax and limiting litigation from the Exxon Valdez oil spill -- and will fall if cloture is invoked.
Senators have until 1 p.m. today to file amendments that would be germane after cloture.
Reid said he considered McConnell's offer "a small step," but he would not withdraw the amendments and motions he used to fill the amendment tree and block Republicans from offering amendments.
Reid said Democrats would agree to limit their amendments to five, a decision he acknowledged would probably not please members of his party.
He said he does not expect Republicans to limit themselves to only five amendments and that he has told Agriculture ranking member Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Minority Whip Lott he will "take a look at some nonrelevant amendments."
He noted past farm bills have usually had only one nonrelevant amendment.
A Senate Democratic aide said Reid's goal is to encourage Republicans to agree on amendments by Friday or to face angry constituents over Thanksgiving break.
Reid praised the Agriculture Committee-passed bill and said Democrats from all states, not just the farm states, "want to do the farm bill."
Harkin supported Reid's move.
"It is frustrating and perplexing that we cannot move such a strong, bipartisan measure that came out of committee without a dissenting vote," he said in a statement.
Reid had said earlier Wednesday he would file a cloture petition on a payment limitations amendment by Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
A Reid spokesman said the senator was motivated to file for cloture because Chambliss had objected to Harkin's requests Wednesday to proceed on some amendments until a "global agreement" had been reached on all amendments.
"For two weeks we have repeatedly requested that all senators, Republican and Democrat, simply be afforded the opportunity to offer amendments in regular order and to have a debate on those amendments," said Chambliss.
"The farmers and ranchers we represent are depending on us as policy makers to get our work done," he added. "It is my sincere hope that both sides can come together to move this farm bill forward in the Senate."
By Jerry Hagstrom

Please call your senators toll-free RIGHT NOW at 1-800-826-3688.

Urge them to support the following amendments to the farm bill as they come to the floor:
Lugar/Lautenberg Amendment
Grassley/Dorgan Amendment
Other amendments that strengthen nutrition programs
(Note: This toll-free number will connect you to the Capitol switchboard; please ask to be connected to your senator’s office in order to leave your message.)

The Senate vote on the farm bill will make a critical difference in whether the 2007 farm bill will include changes that benefit hungry and poor people in the United States and around the world and make programs more fair for U.S. farm and rural families.

Please call as soon as possible. Then, let us know when you've made your calls.

Tell your senators that the full Senate now has its chance to pass a fairer farm bill. There are several amendments that would improve the farm bill:

Lugar/Lautenberg Amendment: Would broaden the agricultural safety net by making a free revenue insurance program available to all farmers, saving billions of dollars to be used for nutrition, conservation, the McGovern-Dole international school meals program and more.

Grassley/Dorgan Amendment:Would cap commodity payments at $250,000 per household, helping ensure that payments are targeted to those who need them.
Other amendments that add funding to nutrition programs:Several amendments will be offered to increase funding for the Food Stamp Program and other vital nutrition programs.

The amendments would provide a safety net for all farmers—not just those who grow program crops; make our commodity system fairer for smaller family farmers; and adequately fund other vital needs in nutrition.
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Mercy Corps film library

Did you know that Mercy Corps has an extensive film library? And that you can borrow any of its hundreds of DVDs for free?!

Mercy Corps' "Film Connection" is a community of film lovers, social activists and lifelong learners who use our non-profit online film library to watch, discuss and act on compelling films from around the globe. We have hundreds of documentaries, indie films, foreign movies, Hollywood features, and obscure films that might just change your life. The Film Connection can also be a resource to explore themes, like the recent e-newsletter on environmental films below. Other themes have included "The Road Movie Near and Far," "Challenging the 'Hollywood Arab,'" and "Wuxia" (think "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon").

Check it out at www.filmconnection.org. And happy viewing!
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Millennium Campaign Director Speaks at St Luke's about Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals were agreed upon by the international community back in 2000. The goals include measurable and achievable targets on reducing global poverty, and improving access to education, water and other benchmarks. When those goals were conceived, the countries of the world envisioned achieving them by 2015.






Now that we're at the halfway point (or a little beyond), many people are wondering how far we've come toward attaining these goals. The UN Millennium Campaign has some answers in a detailed report

In the meantime, Salil Shetty, director of the Millennium Campaign, spoke to us at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Portland about the progress we are making towards these goals. (Thanks to St. Luke member Lisa Wenwick for organizing this event).

Mr. Shetty described these goals as a shared commitment between rich and poor countries. Some significant progress is being made, particularly in developing country reforms in democracy, but a lot more work still needs to be done. The developed countries are falling short of the pledges they made in aid and debt forgiveness. Another key goal is reducing developed country agricultural subsidies and opening our markets to trade (the farm bill).

The positive developments include a one-third reduction in extreme poverty since 1990, and if this trend continues we will meet the goal in poverty reduction. Even in sub-Saharan Africa the number of poor has leveled off and the poverty rate has started a small decline, but we are still not on track to meet the goal here. Progress is being made in education and child mortality. We are falling short of the goals in reducing maternal mortality, the proportion of under weight children, improving basic sanitation and in the fight against AIDS.

He mentioned that the most important thing we can be doing is to demand that our leaders keep their word and meet our commitments in aid, debt forgiveness and disease prevention. He cited the key work being done by groups like The One Campaign, Bread for the World and Jubilee. Writing letters and getting the word out so more people will write letters, this was in effect our assignment and our challenge.

Mr. Shetty quoted from Bono saying:

“God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.”

He closed by saying that we are the first generation that can end poverty, we are running out of time and excuses. All I can add to that is- now lets get to work.
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