(COMTEX) A: Bush promises faith groups cultural change ( United Press International )
WASHINGTON, Jun 01, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- President Bush Tuesday promised a change in U.S. culture to help faith-based organizations, creating three more federal centers for faith-based initiatives.
"It's hard to be a faith-based program if you can't practice faith," Bush told attendees of the first national annual White House Faith-Based Initiatives Conference in Washington.
"And the message to you is: we're changing the culture here in America," he said. "And we're making progress. We're changing the attitude here in Washington, D.C."
Bush signed an executive order Tuesday creating three more centers in federal departments -- for the Department of Commerce, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration.
These new centers join seven others that Bush created to help grass-roots faith-based organizations find federal funding.
"Government can't spend money on religious programs simply because there's a rabbi on the board, cross on the wall or crescent on the door. I view this as not only bad social policy -- because policy bypassed the great works of compassion and healing that take place -- I viewed it as discrimination, and we needed to change it," he said.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
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