Mark Souder: “today was an historic day for the United States because our President, George W. Bush, announced a new office for…”

“today was an historic day for the United States because our President, George W. Bush, announced a new office for faith-based initiatives. Many of us have worked for many years, as has President Bush and the State of Texas, in many of these initiatives and are very excited about what the President has done. There have been many people toiling away in our inner cities, in our rural areas, and other places trying to extend a helping hand to the poor, yet often ignored in the public arena, while many groups who have been less effective have been able to get the funds. Nobody is arguing that there are not well-meaning people in multiple bureaucracies of the Federal Government and of State and local governments. But we also know that many of the most life-changing experiences, many of the most effective programs, have actually occurred at the neighborhood level, the grassroots level, from people who live in those communities, who work in those communities, who are deeply invested; they leverage the funds, and yet they are not eligible when we have different programs.”