D1. Fourteen U.S. Representatives, Letter to the Slated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Condemning Presbyterian Divestment Resolution, Washington, DC, 13 September 2004 (excerpts)

Abstract

On 2 July, the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Assembly——the denomination's highest policy-making body, which meets annually——passed the ““Resolution on Israel and Palestine (2004),”” one paragraph of which called upon the church to ““initiate the process”” of selective divestment of stock in corporations within its $$8 billion portfolio that profit from the Israeli occupation. The decision, which in practical terms means only that the church's Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) will begin studying the issue, caused great concern among American Jewish organizations as a possible precedent among mainstream Protestant churches, especially in light of the key role of divestment in the strategy used by U.S. churches in the struggle against South African apartheid in the 1970s and 1980. The 216th General Assembly also voted to condemn Israel's construction of the ““security wall”” in the West Bank and to disavow Christian Zionism as a legitimate theological stance.The following letter deploring the Presbyterian Church's initiative was sent to Rev. Clifton Kirpatrick, head of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, by fourteen congressional representatives led by Howard L. Berman (D-CA). The other signatories are Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Roy Blount (R-MO), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Tom Feeney (R-FL), Barney Frank (D-MA), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Mark Steven Kirk (R-IL), John Lewis (D-GA), John Linder (R-GA), Deborah Pryce (R-OH), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Lamar Smith (R-TX), and Henry Waxman (D-CA). Their letter is available at www.pcusa.org.