FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 18, 2005

CONTACT: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider 202-226-7616

Pelosi: 'It is an Act of Worship to Minister to Needs of World's Poorest'

Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on the report of the United Nations Millennium Project, which outlines a strategy for reducing world poverty in half by the year 2015:

"Although the last 50 years have been a period of growing economic and political freedom, billions of people are left behind because they live in extreme poverty. Poverty is not just a challenge to peace and stability; it is a moral challenge as well. To combat global poverty, we need to have stronger, faster, and more comprehensive support from the international community.

"The United Nations Millennium Project report, 'Investing in Development: A Practical Plan to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals,' provides a set of goals and recommendations to reduce world poverty and its many dimensions -- income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of infrastructure, and shelter. At the same time, it promotes gender equality, education, health, and environmental sustainability. Achieving the goal of reducing world poverty by half in the coming decade will require substantial leadership and investment from the international community.

"Our faith teaches us that to minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship, to ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us. It is an act of worship to minister to the needs of the poorest and most disadvantaged people anywhere in the world.

"In December 2004, I joined a bipartisan group of Members of Congress in a letter to President Bush requesting a robust increase in the fiscal year 2006 International Affairs budget. I hope that the President will provide the necessary leadership by supporting additional foreign assistance now to complement our investments in the war on terrorism.

"It is essential that long-term sustainable development be a top priority for U.S. foreign policy. As the former Ranking Democrat on the Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, I have seen firsthand how our humanitarian and development assistance saves the lives of the most vulnerable people in the world. We serve our interests and the world's when we lead in fighting infectious diseases, including the HIV/AIDS pandemic which has left 13 million children orphaned in the developing world. We serve our interests and the world's when we work to provide safe drinking water and primary education for the developing world. We serve our interests and the world's when we provide economic opportunity, family planning, and prenatal care to women, 600,000 of whom die of pregnancy complications every year. Our foreign assistance helps to express the compassion of the American people for those who are suffering from the fury of despair of extreme poverty."

“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi