c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Religious and other supporters of increased U.S. spending on humanitarian assistance abroad have found a new way to dramatize their cause _ pizza.

At a Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday (April 16), the aroma of fresh pizza wafted from a meeting room as reporters, congressional staffers and relief agency advocates munched on small, thin slices of pizza and heard David Beckmann, president of the Christian anti-hunger group Bread for the World, say that 1.3 billion of the world’s people live on $1-a-day _”less than the average cost of a slice of pizza.” And at lunchtime, a pizza box was hand-delivered to every member of Congress. But instead of finding bubbling hot slices inside, legislators found only styrofoam pizza and an appeal to spend more on eradicating world hunger.

The pizza party was sponsored by InterAction, an umbrella organization of more than 150 religious and humanitarian groups, and was the latest effort in the group’s campaign to remind lawmakers and the public that the United States spends very little fighting overseas hunger and poverty and in promoting Third World economic development.

Mike Kiernan, InterAction spokesman, said the combined yearly sales of Pizza Hut and Domino’s Pizza are greater than the combined U.S. humanitarian aid to more than 100 developing countries.

U.S. per capita spending to fight hunger and poverty in foreign countries is $24 annually compared to $144 per person in France or more than $240 in Norway, said Kiernan.

President Clinton is proposing $5.3 billion in humanitarian foreign aid in next year’s budget but InterAction argued the foreign aid budget has been cut by one-third in recent years. It said Congress should add $1 billion to Clinton’s proposal to fund small entrepreneurship programs, agricultural development, famine and disaster relief initiatives.

The pizza boxes delivered to lawmakers contained a letter signed by some 20 House members who support InterAction’s request.

They also contained the styrofoam pizzas, each imprinted with a small wedge marked in red and the words,”Less Than Half of 1 percent of the Federal Budget Goes to Fight World Hunger and Poverty. (Not very satisfying, is it).” At the Wednesday news conference, Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman, R-N.Y., chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said he would seek increased foreign humanitarian aid at a dinner meeting with Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and 60 congressional leaders to be held later in the day.”Yesterday an appeal was made to feed all of North Korea’s children under age 6,”Gilman said.”If the (Clinton) administration can assure us that the aid will reach those children _ and not be diverted to the military _ I will urge Congress to support this effort.” Much of Wednesday night’s meeting, however, focused on the Clinton administration building support for ratification of a treaty to ban chemical weapons.

Rep. Tony P. Hall, D-Ohio, chairman of the Democratic Task Force on Hunger,told the lunchtime news conference there is wide support among Americans to increase aid to fight hunger and disease, especially when they learn the current level of U.S. spending.”The funding is now at rock bottom. It’s only one-fifth of what Americans spend on pizza every year,”said Hall.

Will Lynch of Catholic Relief Services said politicians don’t realize the level of public support for hiking aid.”In all the mania to balance the budget, there is a lack of awareness in Congress of how much the U.S. people care and are repulsed by the specter of 10,000 kids dying daily from malnutrition.,”said Lynch.

MJP END GAMBER