CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "The people of the United States and, indeed the world, need your strong, active leadership now to restore our government's full participation and leading role in the United Nations," officials of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) wrote Jan. 16 to President Bill Clinton. "The U.S. government has a fundamental obligation to pay its full assessment to the UN on time and without condition."
The letter was signed by the Rev. Mark B. Brown, associate director for public policy advocacy ministry with the Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA) in Washington, D.C., and by Dennis W. Frado, director of the Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC) at the United Nations in New York.
They urged Clinton to use his State of the Union address Jan. 27 "to bring this issue before Congress and the American people."
"We know that you are concerned about the failure of Congress to authorize payment of U.S. arrears to the UN," wrote Brown and Frado. "We are concerned that the importance and gravity of the continuing failure of the United States to pay its dues has not been adequately communicated to the public and that Congress does not understand the depth of your concern for this issue."
LOGA is the federal public policy advocacy office of the ELCA -- 5.2 million Lutherans in the United States and Caribbean. LOWC is a shared ministry of the ELCA and the Lutheran World Federation -- a Geneva-based communion of 124 member church bodies in 69 countries, representing about 57.6 million of the world's 61 million Lutherans.
For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
