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In a July 28 roundtable discussion on Capitol Hill with religion reporters, Democratic senators acknowledged the involvement of faith communities in debating moral and social issues such as health care reform and economic recovery, but they also questioned whether there are limits to the role religious groups can play when it comes to what Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar called “dealing with the nitty gritty” of partisan politics.

No cameras were allowed at the meeting, billed by the Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee as a conversation about “shared values and common ground.” It was one of several “faith and media” discussions Senate Democrats have held since 2008, responding to criticism of weak Democratic outreach to religious voters and faith communities over the years. The last session with religion reporters was held in October 2009.

Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, a member of the United Methodist Church who chairs the committee, said Democrats have been “governing with a different set of values” for the past 18 months. “It’s not about a particular president,” she said. “It’s about a philosophy we debate every day on the Senate floor.”

Stabenow cited Wall Street reform, job creation, economic stability, small business credit access, and extension of unemployment benefits among the Congress’s recent accomplishments, despite what she called “a maze of filibusters.” She thanked faith communities “for being with us every step of the way” and for supporting passage of last year’s Recovery and Reinvestment Act and this year’s health care reform bill—domestic policy achievements that “wouldn’t have gotten done without the strong voice and commitment” of communities of faith, she said.

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, praised the economic and social justice values of religious groups, citing a trip he took with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin earlier this year to examine peacekeeping issues and US foreign assistance programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, where Brown said “so many faith-based groups deliver direct services.” The values that underlie their work, he said, are “what bind us,” and such values should inform “what we ought to be doing in foreign policy.”

Both Durbin and Maryland Senator Ben Cardin addressed the looming foreign policy issue of America’s nine-year-old war in Afghanistan, where Cardin acknowledged that the lack of a legitimate, credible partner is “testing the resolve of the American people.” Durbin, who voted against the Iraq war but for the Afghanistan war, said the consequences of combat in Afghanistan, particularly growing numbers of wounded and disabled veterans, “weigh dearly on me.” He added that Americans must continue to ask not only what the US has achieved in Afghanistan but also “how will it end, when will it end, and at what cost.” This week, more than 100 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted against a $58.8-billion war funding bill, which passed 308 to 114.

Asked about arms control and nuclear nonproliferation, issues long of concern to religious groups, and about prospects for Senate ratification of the New START treaty, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley said it will be “a very heavy lift to get it done.” Merkley said the treaty is in trouble “because it’s an election year,” and there are “not many voices to depoliticize” the debate, despite what he called “an international social contract around nonproliferation.” Merkley praised Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana for trying to keep the treaty “out of the political realm” and called for more grassroots efforts to weigh in on its importance. At town hall meetings, said Merkley, he hears only from treaty opponents, and “that’s a problem.”

But just how far religious groups and communities of faith are willing and able to go when they enter the political fray on moral and social issues was a question raised by Klobuchar, who suggested there are “limits on advocacy” for religious coalitions. She said that is especially the case when Republicans represent “a clear obstacle to moving forward” in areas such as immigration reform, one issue that has attracted considerable faith-based support across the spectrum. “How far can they go in pointing out the obstacle?” asked Klobuchar. “How strong an advocate can they be?” Durbin added that while 11 Republican senators once supported immigration reform, now there are none. “That’s what’s stopping us” from passing a bill, he said.

Klobuchar said in conference calls with Minnesota faith leaders about Senate slowness on immigration issues she has been told that when it comes to pure political strategy, religious groups are “not involved” and “don’t deal with that stuff.” How, then, can faith communities “play a larger and louder role” and “push back,” she asked, at a time when the politics of immigration reform are most at issue? Can they serve as a force and a voice for getting past political differences to common ground? Stabenow added that some religious groups do, in fact, have “comfort in the partisan arena” and are willing to “get into strategy and partisan differences.”

Asked about a reported decline in Democratic Party outreach to faith communities, Stabenow characterized Senate Democratic outreach as “aggressive” and “not diminishing.”

“Every issue,” Stabenow said, “is about values.”

PRAYER FOR THE SENATE
June 18, 2007

Eternal and dependable Creator of the universe, we acknowledge you as the giver of every good and perfect gift. You are our solid rock; you arm us with strength. Thank you for the seasons and climates, for sowing and reaping, for color and fragrance. Thank you for the time of harvest when our labors and dreams are rewarded.

Today, bless our lawmakers. Illumine their lives to keep them on the right paths. May the creative power of your word produce in them a stronger faith and an indomitable hope. Keep them from slipping; fill them with courage as you show them your unfailing love. Give them an attitude of openness to receive the fullness of your grace and truth. We pray in your precious name. Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL CEREMONY
Tuskegee Airmen
U.S. Capitol Rotunda
March 29, 2007

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, we do not doubt your generous love. We know that you gave our nation the gift of heroic men and women who became the first African American airmen. Because of your providential love, you equipped the Tuskegee Airmen with the intelligence, skill, courage, and patriotism to expand the role of African Americans in the military. You enabled them to produce a record of excellence in spite of having to encounter racism, discrimination, and bigotry in America and overseas.

Lord, you infused them with the courage to disobey unjust laws, engaging in judicious civil disobedience that opened doors of opportunity for thousands who followed them. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of the Tuskegee Airmen.

As we have been blessed in honoring these great Americans at this wonderful ceremony, give us this day:

forgiveness for the past,
courage for the present,
and hope for the future.

In the days to come, bless the Tuskegee Airmen in their going out and coming in, in their rising up and lying down, in their moments of pleasure and sorrow, in their labor and leisure, until they cross the bar to experience another medal ceremony in a land beyond sun, moon, and stars, where the days know neither dawn nor darkness. May they hear you, the commander in chief of the universe, say to them in that day, “Well done, good and faithful servants. You have been faithful over a few things, come on up a little higher, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter now into the joys of your Lord.” We pray this in your sovereign name. Amen.

PRAYER FOR PRESIDENT GERALD R. FORD
38TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
ARRIVAL CEREMONY, CAPITOL ROTUNDA
December 30, 2006

Eternal Lord God, the giver of every good and perfect gift, this evening we express our gratitude to you for giving our nation the blessing of President Gerald R. Ford.

Lord, when this land desperately needed strong moral leadership, you gave it President Ford’s astuteness, honor, commitment, and courage. When we needed a model of unswerving integrity, you provided us with someone who was true and honest. Accept our gratitude for his courage to decide based on principles, for his pragmatic leadership during cynical times, and for his long life of exemplary service. Thank you for his efforts to do what was in the country’s best interest and for helping to bind the nation’s wounds after Watergate and Vietnam. Thank you also for permitting him to remind us that family and faith still matter and that right living is a language which is clear to everyone.

Comfort those who mourn, particularly Mrs. Ford and the children. May the memory of President Ford’s dignity, decency, diligence, and decisiveness challenge us to use our lives for your glory.

We pray in the name of him who is the resurrection and the life. Amen.