A tip-of-the-hat to Jean K. for recommending this story to us
Like most Americans, Sister Simone Campbell is feeling desperate about the current stand-off and shut down of the government. So Sister Simone along with an interfaith group of religious leaders decided to do something about it. Over 70 prominent religious leaders joined with locked-out federal workers in a pilgrimage on Capitol Hill this morning; an action organized by Faith In Public Life together with other religious groups.
As religious leaders stopped to pray at the office of U.S. Representative Frank Wolf (R-VA), the congressman released a statement titled, “Show Humility and Start Governing,” that the congressman delivered earlier on the House floor. The statement affirms that “The Congress and the president have been entrusted with much, namely the responsibility to govern this country. The American people rightly expect us, regardless of party affiliation, to come together, especially during times of crisis, and find ways to get things done. They are understandably fed up with this current dysfunction, and I am, too.” The congressman’s spokesperson noted that Rep. Wolf would support a clean and unconditional continuing resolution to open the government and to raise the debt ceiling without preconditions.
“As a Virginian, I am proud of Congressman Wolf’s bold leadership to call upon his colleagues to show humility and start governing. He is an example of what we need more of in this current Congress,” said Douglas Grace, director of Ecumenical Advocacy Days and a participant in today’s faith leader pilgrimage.
An extreme faction of Congress is recklessly playing politics with the lives of countless Americans: seniors seeing “Meals on Wheels” cut, pregnant women and infants losing vital nutrition support, workers locked out of their jobs as bills pile up, veterans facing benefit cuts, and communities put in peril by the suspension of crucial environmental protection efforts.
“It’s time for irresponsible factions in Congress to stop this reckless behavior and end this shutdown immediately,” said Sr. Simone Campbell, Executive Director of NETWORK, A Catholic Social Justice Lobby . “There is no moral justification for holding struggling families, pregnant women and seniors hostage.”