During this week’s Moral Mondays In D.C. prayer-protest-rally, impacted people, faith leaders, and other moral activists called on Congress to reject extremism and pass a moral budget that responds to the urgent needs of the poor.
Faith leaders in full vestments stood alongside directly impacted people and a delegation of clergy for nonviolent prayer and protest in and outside the U.S. Capitol. Moral Activists rallied at the Supreme Court and marched to the Capitol, where 51 caskets were laid, representing the 51,000 people who will die next year if the proposed cuts to healthcare pass.
The largest ever cuts to America’s safety net were pushed through the House and the Senate without a single hearing for the people whose lives depend on these programs to testify. Repairers of the Breach held a public hearing on the steps of the Supreme Court to hear the testimonies of those who will be most impacted.
Chris Shumake traveled from Alexander County, North Carolina, with pastor Joel Simpson to share what it would mean for him to lose Medicaid. “I just finished high school and I’m doing auto technician systems training in August. I’m relying on Medicaid and SNAP to help me continue my schooling. If I don’t have it, I’d have to go to school and worry about not being able to eat that day… If you can’t eat, you can’t focus.”
Elaina Hurley is from West Virginia. She may not look like she has much in common with Chris, but you only need to listen to her for three minutes to understand why these cuts would hurt them both the same. “I was receiving Medicaid until I did what state and local representatives said to do: I went to work. And they pulled a whammy on me. I lost the medicine that made it possible for me to work.”
You can watch the full livestream and hear other testimonies delivered at the June 30th Moral Mondays In D.C. gathering below.
Moral activists also laid caskets in the street in front of the Capitol, leading to 24 arrests. Fourteen clergy and advocates were also arrested while praying inside the Capitol for urging lawmakers to reject policy murder and legislative evil in a bill that would strip Medicaid, SNAP, and other vital services from millions of Americans. Repairers of the Breach is urging moral activists to join the Moral Movement and use a Poor People’s Campaign tool to call Congressional leaders to protest the deadly reconciliation bill.
On June 30th, Repairers of the Breach, in partnership with the Institute for Policy Studies and the Economic Policy Institute, also published The High Moral Stakes of Budget Reconciliation fact sheet, which examines the dangerous and deadly cuts in the House-passed version of President Trump’s domestic policy bill. This bill could lead to the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich since chattel slavery and threatens to cut vital services that would cause a surge of economic insecurity and preventable deaths amongst the nation’s poor.
As Congress continues to debate the President’s “Big Ugly Destructive Deadly” Bill, Repairers of the Breach is organizing Moral Mondays in D.C. gatherings to condemn lawmakers’ plans to harm poor and vulnerable communities.
Below are photos from the June 30th Moral Mondays In D.C..