WASHINGTON - Congressional supporters of President Bush's faith-based initiative yesterday welcomed endorsements from the Salvation Army and the US Roman Catholic bishops as a sign that the proposal to expand partnerships between government and religious charities is gaining momentum.
The leaders of the Salvation Army and the US Catholic Conference preside over huge, national social-service networks that receive government funds, and the White House sought the support of both influential sectarian groups.
US Representative J.C. Watts, chief sponsor of a House bill that mirrors Bush's plan to provide tax incentives for charitable giving and to allow social ministries wider access to federal contracts, called the endorsements ''a significant achievement.''
Watts, an Oklahoma Republican, said he hoped for a House vote on the bill before the July Fourth recess.
But from the tough questions Watts fielded at a joint hearing of two House Ways and Means subcommittees yesterday, it was clear that many Democrats remain far from convinced that the White House has resolved the constitutional, administrative, and financial issues that still dog the initiative.
Even the Salvation Army and the Catholic bishops, in their separate endorsements, questioned whether the president's goal - to improve the delivery of social services to the poor - could be achieved if the administration committed no new federal resources to poverty programs.
''More competition over the same or fewer resources is not the answer,'' Cardinal Roger Mahoney, archbishop of Los Angeles and chairman of bishops' domestic policy committee, said in a statement. ''Indeed, a commitment to increase federal resources to address the needs of the poor would strengthen the proposal and assist its supporters.''
Mahoney said he was pleased by the plan's focus on overcoming poverty but was disappointed that Bush's proposal to establish a Compassion Capital Fund, which would provide federal matching money to private-sector grants for community and religious charities, was not included in the House bill.
Major George Hood, the Salvation Army's national director of public affairs, called the principles of Watts's bill ''right on target.'' But he added, ''We would agree there needs to be more money to fight poverty.''
The population served annually by the Salvation Army has grown over the last six years from 24 million to 37 million, Hood said. In 2000, the organization's operating budget was $1.8 billion, with 15 percent coming from the federal government.
Both the Salvation Army and the Catholic bishops endorsed provisions in the House bill to give taxpayers incentives for charitable giving. The measure would allow nonitemizers to deduct charitable donations; permit IRA rollovers into charitable funds or trusts without a penalty; and expand the charitable deduction for food donations by farmers and small businesses, not just corporations.
The tax incentives have some bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. But even proponents questioned Bush's commitment to the costly proposition - $52 billion over 10 years in lost tax revenues, according to the White House.
''I don't think it will be difficult to reach agreement on the tax proposals as long as we can find a way to pay for them,'' said Representative Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the Ways and Means subcommittee on Human Resources.
He said it was ''regrettable'' no White House official was appearing before the committee.
An aide to Cardin said the full committee is tentatively scheduled to debate the bill next Wednesday and could send it to the House floor without voting on charitable choice, its most controversial provision.
Opposition to charitable choice, which would allow sectarian charities to get federal contracts without altering their religious character, has been led by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, other civil-rights groups, and labor unions. They argue that it would foster unconstitutional proselytizing and employment discrimination by social ministries receiving federal funds.
When pressed on whether drug treatment programs that promote Christian conversion would be eligible for federal funds, Watts said, ''I believe they should be.''
More worrisome, he said, is that religious charities doing good works don't qualify for federal grants ''because they are people of faith.''