Pubdate: Wed, 31 Jan 2001
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Section: Pg. A04
Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company
Contact:  1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
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Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Mike Allen, Washington Post Staff Writer
Note: Staff writer Dana Milbank contributed to this report.

LIMITS SET ON 'FAITH-BASED' PLAN

Religious Aspects Still Face Criticism

The social service programs funded by President Bush's "faith-based 
initiative" could include religious content -- such as Bible reading -- as 
long as taxpayers' money was used only for lights, chairs or other 
nonreligious expenses, administration officials said yesterday as they 
released details of the plan they will send to Congress.

Bush's plan includes a requirement that a secular alternative also be 
available in the neighborhood in which a faith-based program is funded by 
the government. But the administration's acknowledgment that clients of 
faith-based programs may be encouraged to convert to a particular faith, 
even though no federal dollars would go to buy Bibles or crosses, could add 
to the concern of critics that the plan could breach the constitutionally 
ordained separation of church and state.

According to the blueprint Bush released yesterday, one of the program's 
main goals is to "identify and remove needless barriers that thwart the 
heroic work of faith-based groups," including churches, synagogues, mosques 
and other charities. Bush's White House Office of Faith-Based and Community 
Initiatives, which he created by executive order on Monday, will encourage 
such groups to seek government contracts to provide day care for children, 
treatment for drug addicts and shelter for the homeless.

Interviews yesterday suggested that Bush's plan may face some criticism 
from those it would benefit, as well. An official at Catholic Charities, 
which calls itself the nation's largest private network of social service 
organizations, said she would warn parishes against grabbing for the 
contracts that Bush is hoping to make available to church groups.

"Our agencies always lose money on contracts with the government, so it 
would mean the parish subsidizing government," said Sharon M. Daly, vice 
president for social policy at Catholic Charities USA, an umbrella 
organization. She also said First Amendment groups "will be looking for a 
place to litigate this, and congregations might want to make sure they are 
not spending more money on lawyers than on serving the poor."

Bush announced details of the program in Northeast Washington at the 
Fishing School, which describes itself as "a faith-based after-school 
family and child support center." The Christian fish decorates literature 
about the school.

"Government, of course, cannot fund and will not fund religious 
activities," Bush said. "But when people of faith provide social services, 
we will not discriminate against them."

He also reached out to opponents by saying: "Our job, regardless of our 
political party, is to recognize the strength of the country, to nourish it 
and feed it within the Constitution."

The submission of the legislation to help faith-based groups is an example 
of Bush's consistent message. When Bush announced in March 1999 that he was 
forming an exploratory committee to run for president, he said he would 
work "to remove obstacles from faith-based groups and our local communities 
being involved in the compassionate delivery of help to those in need."

In announcing his program yesterday, Bush said he would encourage mentoring 
programs for the children of prisoners and would support "programs that, 
when possible, help to mend broken families." He also said he wants to 
create a Compassionate Capital Fund, which would fund start-up programs for 
the needy.

"The change we seek won't come all at once, by any act of Congress or any 
executive orders signed by the president," Bush said. "Real change happens 
street by street, heart by heart -- one soul, one conscience at a time. It 
happens in places like this one, the Fishing School."

Continuing a pattern set with the other two legislative packages he has 
submitted to Congress -- his education and prescription drug plans -- Bush 
said he is willing to adjust the details as long as his principles survive. 
"I'm open to any good ideas that will come from the Congress," Bush said.

Bush stood in front of a banner that showed black-and-white photos of 
caregivers and was emblazoned "Armies of Compassion," a reference to a 
phrase he used during the campaign. He was joined by Sen. Joseph I. 
Lieberman (D-Conn.), an observant Jew.

At a White House briefing, the Rev. Mark L. Scott, a Pentecostal minister 
from Boston, said the Bible might be used if the youth program he heads, 
the Ella J. Baker House, reaps new government funds. Asked if such a 
program was designed to help potential converts "see the light," Scott 
said, "Right."

"We think if you read good literature, it can motivate you to change your 
life," Scott said. "We might use a Bible as a piece of literature, but it 
could include all kinds of literature."

Stephen Goldsmith, a top Bush campaign adviser, will play a key role in 
implementing the faith-based program. He said Bush "rejects the idea that 
government needs to be the monopolist on good deeds."

He said government money will not be used "to fund the Bibles, not fund the 
crosses, not to fund the Stars of David or whatever."

Bush's idea is not entirely new. The independent diocesan programs that 
belong to Catholic Charities USA received 62 percent of their $ 2.3 billion 
budget in 1999 from counties, states and the federal government. The 
contracts include day-care programs and shelters. Some users of the 
government-funded programs are invited to chapel services or referred to 
religious institutions, but no such participation is required, a Catholic 
Charities official said.

The Salvation Army, which calls itself "an evangelical part of the 
universal Christian church," issued a statement saying it had "quickly 
answered the clarion call from President George W. Bush to enter a 
partnership with government."

Conservative Michael Horowitz and Marvin Olasky, a Bush adviser on 
faith-based issues, will offer a mixed review at a news conference today. 
"The First Amendment not only protects us from religion," Horowitz said, 
"and, more importantly, in this instance -- it protects religion from us."
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