for many other FBOs, collaborating with government may be a fruitful strategy that advances their mission and strengthens their community development projects and/ or their initiatives to lovingly assist vulnerable citizens in achieving their highest potential.

H.R. 7 takes seriously the tremendous current contribution FBOs and houses of worship currently make in strengthening America's social safety net. Recent studies by Professor Ram Cnaan of the University of Pennsylvania and Professors Carl Dudley and David Roozen of Hartford Seminary,8 for example, suggest that over 85 percent of congregations provide critical social services, from preschools to prison ministries, health clinics and tutoring programs, to food pantries and literacy classes. Moreover, there is significant anecdotal evidence as to the effectiveness of FBOs in solving our most difficult social problems and growing empirical evidence of the importance of religion in the lives of at-risk youth in assisting them to escape the deleterious effects of living in disordered and distressed neighborhoods. 10 In the era of welfare reform devolution, it is clear the strength of the faith sector must be tapped in the great struggle against poverty. H.R. 7 proposes to do so through a variety of means. The expansion of charitable choice is one certainly not the only effort needed-but one that has thus far well-served the interests of those whom many in our society consider "the least of these."

TABLE A.-CONTRACTING UNDER CHARITABLE CHOICE [Results from 9-State Study (research completed 8/99)]

TABLE B.-ADDITIONAL/UPDATED INFORMATION
[AP and other news accounts, 2001]

11 $2 million was awarded in 19 contracts to FBOs with no formal history of receiving government funds.

7 Ram A. Cnaan and Gaynor I. Yancey, "Our Hidden Safety Net," in E.J. Dionne and John J. Diflulio, Jr., eds., What's God Got to Do with the American Experiment? (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 2000) chapter 21.

8 Carl S. Dudley and David Roozen, "Faith Communities Today," (Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford Seminary, March 2001).

9 See, for example, Amy L. Sherman, Restorers of Hope (Crossway Books, 1997); Ronald J. Sider, Just Generosity (Baker Books, 1999), and Robert L. Woodson, Sr., The Triumphs of Joseph (The Free Press, 1998).

10 See, for example, Byron R. Johnson, "A Better Kind of High," (University of Pennsylvania Center on Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society, 2001).

TABLE D.-STATES' EFFORTS TO REACH OUT TO FBOs

Faith-based Liaisons

* 14 states have formally designated a staff person(s) to serve as liaisons to the faith community (AS, AR, CA, ČO, GA, MD, ÑJ, NY NC, OH, OK, PA, TX, VA). Conferences

*VA, CO, TX, NJ, IN, OH, OK, PA and UT are among those that have sponsored state wide or regional info conferences.

Technical Assistance

*IN and TX have formal systems for providing TA to FBOs. Monitoring/Tracking CC Implementation

*TX has a formal system.

* Data provided by Wisconsin's Department of Workforce Development.

APPENDIX A.-F-B CONTRACTING IN CONTEXT IN WI 2000

12 Does not include contracts with two FBOs that receive money on a per client basis.

Chairman HERGER. Thank you for your testimony, Dr. Sherman. And now we will hear from Reverend Luis Cortes, president of the Nueva Esperanza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Reverend Cortes?

STATEMENT OF REVEREND LUIS CORTES, JR., PRESIDENT, NUEVA ESPERANZA, INC., PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL HISPANIC RELIGIOUS PARTNERSHIP FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH

Rev. CORTES. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I represent Nueva Esperanza, the largest Hispanic faith-based community development corporation in the country. I also serve as chairman of the National Hispanic Religious Partnership for Community Health, a national ecumenical umbrella organization of over 5,000 Hispanic congregations in 40 States, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. It is the only network of its kind in the country.

I represent the hundreds of Hispanic communities of poverty that desperately need this legislation. H.R. 7 would allow us to compete for Federal funds in areas such as health care, housing, economic development, childcare, juvenile delinquency, crime prevention, and domestic violence prevention, where are currently precluded to compete but most qualified to serve.

Remove this discriminatory practice against us and create a level playing field and allow all who wish to increase service to their communities to compete for Federal funds. Only the most qualified will ultimately receive Federal funding, but the opportunity to compete should be for all.

Once allowed to compete, faith-based organizations can do a better job of reaching those the Federal programs are designed to serve. I know we can do better because we have done so with State funds, private funds, and foundation grants, and local initiatives. Located in Hispanic Philadelphia, Nueva Esperanza serves the poorest community of our city. In a community with a 40 percent male high school drop-out rate, we run a charter high school program that is a national model and recently started a junior college. We have built and rehabilitated over 100 single-family homes and helped over 700 families obtain their first mortgage.

We own a 150-acre campground outside of the city where many Philadelphia children experience their first overnight camping experience, their first night outside of the city.

We are currently developing a 6-acre industrial site into a community service building, and it is turning around an entire neighborhood.

We have touched thousands of lives in Philadelphia and Nueva is just but one agency with only 13 years in existence. Congregations and faith-based organizations can do so much more if we are provided the opportunity to compete for resources.

And there is a need for more. Despite America's recent prosperity, many Americans have indeed been left behind: 34.5 million Americans live below the poverty level; 44 million go without health insurance. Many are Hispanic Americans who, despite working very hard, find themselves isolated in rural and urban communities. Isolated first by poverty and second by language.

The Hispanic families turn to the local faith community as their primary place of assistance. In many Hispanic communities, the local congregation is the only institution that is owned by the people of the community-not the police, not the fire, school, or even the social service agency, if one exists.

In the Hispanic congregation, even God speaks Spanish.

Our people turn to that institution because of their trust in ittrust that has been earned through decades of service. It is a better, faster, and more effective way to communicate and serve those in need.

Frequently, the most trusted institution, churches and congregations are physically and socially at the center of the Hispanic community. Unfortunately, congregations in those communities are in the poorest neighborhoods, and they reflect the economics of that neighborhood and often lack the finances to provide better services. Expansion of charitable choice would provide the opportunity to partner with the Federal Government to help serve our communities, to reach those who have remained untouched by traditional agencies and services.

It is faith-based 501(c)(3) agencies like Nueva Esperanza, founded by people with a mission, connected to and trusted by the community, that have the best chance at succeeding where traditional agencies have failed.

I believe faith-based institutions can do better because of their desire and motivation to succeed. Service is not just employment, but also a sacred trust, a duty, a mission.

For religious organizations, it is a mission that is bound by our religious conviction to love. This is a commodity that cannot be purchased by government, and it is a byproduct of the mission, yet it is the ingredient that has assisted more people to transform their lives.

Mr. Chairman, there are unfortunate families; they are on the brink of dissolving. Hungry, abused, neglected, isolated Latino Americans they need help and this is what is at stake here.

This is what charitable choice is about. I ask you to allow us to compete and show that we are worthy of the opportunity. Thank you for allowing me to testify before you today. [The prepared statement of Rev. Cortes follows:]

Statement of Reverend Luis Cortes, Jr., President, Nueva Esperanza, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Chairman, National Hispanic Religious Partnership for Community Health

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and members of the Committee for inviting me to testify before you today on the importance of H.R. 7-the Community Solutions Act of 2001.

I am The Reverend Luis Cortes, Jr., president of Philadelphia-based Nueva Esperanza the largest Hispanic faith-based community development corporation in the country. I also serve as chairman of the National Hispanic Religious Partnership for Community Health, a national ecumenical umbrella organization of over 5,000 Hispanic congregations in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. It is the only network of its kind in the country. The Partnership was initiated under the Clinton Administration but it is only today, with President Bush's faith-based initiative and the advancement of H.R. 7 that its full potential can be realized. Communities of poverty desperately need this legislation. Unfortunately, a great deal of confusion and misconception still exists about what this legislation will and will not do, and why it is so very important.

The misconceptions regarding H.R. 7 fall into three broad categories: issues surrounding the separation of church and state guaranteed by our First Amendment, concern over discriminatory hiring practices and, most important, questions regarding the necessity of expanding charitable choice to serve Americans in greatest need. The first misconception is that by permitting government funding of faith-based social service providers, H.R. 7 threatens the First Amendment-the cornerstone of American religious liberty-the separation of church and state.

H.R. 7 clearly prohibits federal, state, and local funds from being used for "sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytization." This, quite simply, insures the Acts' compliance with the First Amendment. Nueva Esperanza has served the Hispanic community in Philadelphia for over twelve years and we have never proselytised, we do not attempt to convert anyone from their beliefs, if any, to ours.

Nueva Esperanza is not a church-we are a 501(c)(3) agency that provides services to our community. Our mission is to serve those in need. Many, if not most,

of our hospitals and universities began and remain faith-based institutions, working side by side with all levels of government and the private sector for generations. At Nueva we, like these hundreds of faith-based hospitals, universities and thousands of non-profit faith-based based agencies, understand the distinction, the need to separate church and state.

The second misconception surrounds claims that The Community Solutions Act would allow faith-based groups to discriminate in their hiring practices, excluding those with different beliefs, different lifestyles. It is actually the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that states, "in order to maintain their religious character, faith-based organizations may require that its employees adhere to the religious practices of the organization". This provision has been in place for over 35 years.

Over the course of nearly four decades this provision has been at the disposal of religious organizations that have been providing services to the poor with government assistance. Nueva, for example, has hired hundreds of people and religious preference has not been an issue in our hiring. Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army, countless faith-based universities and hospitals have done the same. There is no evidence that the 1964 Civil Rights Act has led to discriminatory hiring practices in four decades. Nor would we expect any with the passage of H.R. 7.

The third misconception and most fundamental area of confusion relates to the need to expand charitable choice. Charitable choice refers to the provisions of the 1996 welfare reform legislation that allows faith-based organizations to compete for federal funds-but only under the limited Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) jurisdiction. To date, these funds have been used very successfully for social services block grants, and drug and alcohol addiction services. The charitable choice provisions of H. R. 7 would allow faith-based organizations to compete for federal funds in areas from which they are currently precluded.

We have a fundamental right in this country to compete. H. R. 7 would allow us to compete for federal funds in areas such as health care, housing, economic development, childcare, juvenile delinquency, crime prevention and domestic violence prevention. These are areas where today congregations are never allowed to compete and faith-based non-profit organizations are only occasionally allowed to compete for federal program funds. We should create a level playing field, remove past biases against us, allow all who wish to increase service to their communities to compete for federal funds. Only those most qualified will ultimately receive federal funding, but all should be allowed to compete.

Once allowed on the playing field, we can do a better job of reaching those the federal programs are designed to serve. I know we can do better because we have done so already. We have done so with state funds and private funds and foundation grants and local initiatives.

Nueva Esperanza is located in Hispanic Philadelphia, the poorest community of our city. In a community with a 40% male high school drop-out rate, we run a charter high school that serves as a national model and recently started a junior college. We have built and rehabilitated over 100 single-family homes and helped over 700 families obtain their first mortgage. We own a 150-acre campground outside of the city where many Philadelphia children experience their first overnight camping experience, their first night outside of the city. We are currently developing a 6-acre industrial site into a community service building and it is turning an entire neighborhood around. We have touched thousands of lives in Philadelphia and Nueva is just one agency with only thirteen years in existence. Congregations can do so much more if we are provided the opportunity to compete for resources.

And we must do more. Despite our recent prosperity many Americans have indeed been left behind. 34.5 million Americans live below the poverty level; 44 million go without health insurance. Many are Hispanic Americans who, despite working hard, find themselves isolated in rural and urban communities. Isolated, first by language and second, by poverty. These Hispanic families turn to the local faith community as their primary place of assistance. In many communities the local congregation is the only institution that is owned by the people of the community. Not the police, fire, school or even the social service agency-if one exists. In the congregation even God speaks Spanish. Our people turn to that institution because of their trust in it-trust that has been earned through decades of service. It is a better, faster and more effective way to communicate and serve those in need.

Churches and congregations are physically and socially at the center of the Hispanic community, frequently the most trusted institution. Unfortunately, congregations in the poorest neighborhoods reflect the economics of that neighborhood and often lack the finances to provide better services. Expansion of charitable choice would provide the opportunity to partner with the federal government to help serve our communities, to reach those who have remained untouched by traditional agencies and services.