Congressman Carson's Concern for Global Hunger

On Tuesday, June 17, over 200 Bread for the World members met with their congressional representatives.  David Miner, the Chair of Bread's Board of Directors, met with Congressman Andre Carson from Indiana's 7th district.  The congressman serves on the House Finance Committee.  During a hearing on Wednesday, June 18, he mentioned his visit with David and other members of Bread for the World:

I am pleased that the Administration sought significant increases in the U.S. contribution to the IDA and for the African Development Fund.  We must target these crucial multilateral resources towards fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic, combating global climate change, stabilizing weakened governments and addressing the global food crisis.

Yesterday, I met with David Miner, Chair of the Board of Directors for Bread for the World and a highly respected member of the Indianapolis community.  He highlighted the severity of the world food crisis and how imperative it is that we give weight to this problem in examining how global assistance through the IDA is directed.  He said that the current high food prices represent a significant setback and that at this point, he doesn’t think the world community has fully realized the impact of this. 

I could not agree with him more and I would add that during my recent trip to Haiti, I was deeply moved by those I saw suffering from extreme poverty and hunger.  In a world with such wealth and resources, we must aggressively fight to make sure the resources we devote to foreign assistance can truly bring about the substantive structural changes within governments to help those living at the margins of society.

It's great when we see visible examples of our advocacy efforts!