The Next 48 Hours Are Crucial for Poor and Hungry People

Flickr, Keith Ramsey

Early this morning we were alerted that the next 48 hours are critical as the Super Committee finalizes its recommendations.

Please call your U.S. senators and representatives today at 1-800-326-4941, and ask them to urge the Super Committee to create a circle of protection around funding for programs for hungry and poor people in the United States and abroad.

Tell your members of Congress:

• Don’t sacrifice programs for hungry and poor people in order to reach a deal. Combating poverty and hunger is both a Christian and an American value. Congress should hold firm to this principle as it seeks ways to address our deficits.
• The Super Committee should protect programs for hungry and poor people from budget cuts. Programs such as SNAP and poverty-focused development assistance are effective and give people the tools they need to pull themselves out of poverty.
• The Super Committee’s recommendations for budget cuts must be balanced and include revenues. Poor people didn’t create the deficit, and the budget shouldn’t be balanced on their backs.

To come up with $1.2 trillion in cuts over 10 years, everything – EVERYTHING – is on the table. Funding for programs for hungry and poor people in the United States and abroad is at serious risk. You must tell your members of Congress not to let the Super Committee sacrifice these programs to reach a budget deal.

Programs such as SNAP (formerly food stamps), the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child Tax Credit are working to keep hunger and poverty at bay for millions of Americans in this recession. Emergency food aid and development assistance provide sustainable and lifesaving support for children and mothers, including in the famine-stricken Horn of Africa. These and many other programs are on the chopping block. The budget must not be balanced on the backs of poor people.

Use our toll-free number to call your members of Congress at 1-800-326-4941, no later than Nov. 17.

Ask them to urge the Super Committee to create a circle of protection around funding for programs for hungry and poor people in the United States and abroad.

Remember, the next 48 hours are critical. Thank you for your support.

David Beckmann is president of Bread for the World.