New Mexico Petitions Delivered

Our heartfelt THANKS! to the 151 New Mexicans who signed the Bread for the World petition online asking our congressional representatives not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. (See text of petition below)

On Tuesday, July 12, Ellen Buelow and I delivered petitions to the Albuquerque offices of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Sen. Tom Udall and Rep. Martin Heinrich, and Bro. Jim Brown brought a petition to the Santa Fe office of Rep. Ben Ray Lujan. Alicia Sedillo will be bringing petitions to Rep. Steve Pearce's office in Los Lunas.

"I was able to meet with his Constituent Liaison, Eliza Sultan, and pass on information to her as well as letting her know that we are aware that Rep. Lujan has been very supportive of our issues," said Bro. Jim. "We had a very good meeting."

Sen. Bingaman and Sen. Udall each received all 151 signatures. Reps. Heinrich (63), Pearce (29) and Lujan (59) each received the signatures of their constituents.

The petition we presented to legislative aides is marked URGENT.  This is because the White House and Congress are making crucial decisions on the budget and the debt ceiling in the next week,and we wanted to make sure that programs for the most vulnerable receive the most protection possible under these circumstances. See proposed cuts.

Bill Woldman (Sen. Tom Udall)

Matthew Zidovsky (Rep. Martin Heinrich)

Jessica Perez (Sen. Jeff Bingaman)

Memo

TO: Our Senator or Representative

FROM: Your Constituents (enclosed)

RE: Things to Consider Before You Vote

As you work to balance the federal budget and reduce the deficit, I want to make sure you know my priorities. The economic recovery is still too slow. One in six families in the United States struggles to put food on the table. And one in five people around the world lives on less than $1.25 a day.

I agree that we need to substantially reduce future deficits, but not at the expense of hungry and poor people. You must create a circle of protection around programs vital to hungry and poor people. As you debate how to balance our budget, I want you to keep the following questions in mind:

• Did I vote to protect vital programs needed by the most vulnerable people here and abroad in these difficult times?

• If I did not, what do I tell the men, women, and children who have been hit hardest?

Or ask yourself, “What would Jesus cut?”

I'm counting on you as my representative in Congress to do the right thing. As a voter, I care deeply about the 26,000 kids abroad who die daily because they are simply too poor to survive, and about the millions of people here at home looking for work and trying to make ends meet.

Hunger has never been a partisan issue. Now is not the time to make it one. I'm interested in protecting hungry and poor people in these difficult times.

Thank you for listening.