Bush praises faith-based groups

[Terri]

By AP STAFF
Associated Press
June 30, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush said Saturday that religious charities, partly financed with federal money, have helped reduce homelessness, found jobs for former inmates and helped combat malaria and HIV/AIDS overseas.

Bush used his weekly radio address to trumpet the "remarkable difference these groups have made over the past eight years."

The president said he wants to level the playing field so religious charities and secular charities compete for government money on an equal footing. His White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives survived a legal challenge from a group of atheists and agnostics last year when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that ordinary taxpayers cannot sue to stop conferences that help religious charities apply for federal grants.

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