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WASHINGTON, DC Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman and leaders of major Christian, Jewish and Islamic faith groups today urged voters to hold America's leaders accountable for the "dreadful, shameful" way disadvantaged children are treated in the world's richest nation.

At a news teleconference, the leaders described extensive nonpartisan efforts to express their concern for children by registering new voters in underrepresented communities, participating in a broad-based Interfaith Service for Justice for Children and the Poor on Thursday, Oct. 28, at the Washington National Cathedral and, most importantly, getting voters to go to the polls on Election Day, Nov. 2.

Edelman was joined by Rev. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., Rabbi David Saperstein, executive director of the Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, and Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America.

"The point of our efforts is that it is not too late for leaders on both sides to do the right thing," Edelman said. "There really is good politics in treating the poor justly…Tax cuts for the rich have drained the country of resources. We must go out and vote and be there to hold our leaders accountable to address dreadful, shameful facts of child poverty in this country."

The cathedral event is expected to draw thousands of religious leaders and congregants.

Edelman said invitations have gone to the Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates, President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney, and their Democratic opponents, Sen. John Kerry and Sen. John Edwards, as well as all members of Congress.

"I have been so pleased that the faith community has responded with an extraordinary range of endorsers…that reflects almost every denomination," she said. "We need to make judgments about who is speaking up for children and the poor."

The three faith leaders explained that all of their religious traditions require them to assure social justice for the weak, the powerless and children.

"We need to re-establish that bipartisan sense of commitment to the children of America, and that is part of what an ethical society is about," Rabbi Saperstein said. "We want to be sure that at a time when people are focused on Iraq and terrorism and record budget deficits that children don't get lost in this. A country that turns its back on its children will not make it in the long run."

Rabbi Saperstein said hundreds of faith leaders around the nation have endorsed the Oct. 28 event because "they want the leaders of the wealthiest nation in the world to recognize that there is still poverty here, and 9 million of our children have no health insurance."

Dr. Syeed said that it was fitting that the interfaith service be held in the midst of Ramadan, a month when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk and develop a sense of commiseration and compassion for those who must do without. "We have a core concern for the poor, the dispossessed and the weak," he said. "Islam has made that central to its message."

Rev. Edgar said the Oct. 28 event at the cathedral—known around the world as America's National House of Prayer for all People—is a potent symbol of a mobilization that cuts across all religious and denominational lines.

"We love the fact that the interfaith community is standing up, being recognized and speaking out on behalf of the poor—and especially the children of our nation and the world," he told reporters.

"This is about all political leaders taking this seriously," he said. "We believe that new priorities of focusing on the poor and caring for children are very critical for all of those elected officials to realize."

Over the last five weeks, the Children's Defense Fund has registered more than 25,000 new voters around the nation and has set up a central command unit to urge them to go to the polls. The unit has contacted more than 40,000 faith leaders to urge voters to take their children with them to the polls in this crucial election. Until Election Day, Edelman will deliver sermons and reach out to voters in targeted areas almost daily, particularly in areas with large populations of historically under-represented people.

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• Click here for more information on the Interfaith Service

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The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds.