Victory in the House!

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives just voted 286-140 to pass the 2007 continuing resolution!!

If the bill also passes in the Senate before Feb. 14 then instead of AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and refugee programs receiving no increases from 2006 to 2007, they will receive an increase of $1.45 billion. The difference will add up to hundreds of thousands of lives.

Thank you to those in the House who voted to fully fund the programs that are working to end extreme poverty. We’ll post their names here shortly.

UPDATE: The 2007 CR vote roll call is below.

—- NOT VOTING 9 —

Alexander
Buyer
Davis, Jo Ann
Gilchrest
Hastert
Higgins
McDermott
Norwood
Paul

House is Voting Now

House members are voting on the 2007 continuing resolution as I type.

Stay tuned for the results…

Live House Debate on $1.45 Billion for 2007

The $1.45 billion increase for extreme poverty funding in 2007 (as part of the continuing resolution) is currently being debated on the House floor. You can watch it live online on C-Span here.

The vote will follow.

(NOTE: After further scrubbing of the numbers we found $1.45 billion in extreme poverty funding in this bill, instead of the $1.3 billion we posted on the blog yesterday. The figure, which includes increases for AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and refugee programs in 2007, went beyond both our expectations and initial assessment.)

Bono Book Booked for April 2007

Bono is set to release a new book titled On The Move: A Speech By Bono, in April of this year. The book will include the keynote address Bono gave at a White House Prayer Breakfast Address in 2005 as well striking photos he took in Ethiopia during his first visit to the continent in 1985.

A quote from On The Move:

“In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it’s a completely avoidable catastrophe. I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did—or did not to—to put the fire out in Africa.”

The idea for the book came from David Moberg a Sr. VP and Publisher for Thomas Nelson after he heard the speech at the White House in ’05. All proceeds will go to the ONE Campaign.

We’ll keep you posted here at the ONE Blog with more updates.

Breaking News: 1.3 Billion More Dollars to Fight Global Poverty!

Excellent news about the continuing resolution (which, as those who
follow the ONE Blog know, was set to leave U.S. funding at 2006 levels
for all of 2007):

A bill was filed last night asking for a $1.3 billion increase in AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis funding for 2007 - a full $300 million more than
the $1 billion increase ONE members urged for over the last two months.
If the bill passes, AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis funding would be $4.5
billion in 2007.

Money and increases are extremely tight in the 2007 budget, and without
pressure from this community – without ONE members’ over 200,000
letters, emails, phone calls and faxes – it’s very realistic that that
this funding never would not have been recovered. At a critical moment,
however, ONE members came together and showed our representatives that
Americans don’t just care about extreme poverty, but we pay attention
and we act. Without exaggeration, your actions could end up saving
hundreds of thousands of lives in the world’s poorest countries.

Nothing is a done deal until the bill passes both houses of Congress. A
House vote is scheduled for tomorrow and a Senate vote is set for February
5. We will keep you posted on the ONE Blog on vote times and outcomes.

ONE Music: The North

Members of The North have been big supporters of ONE for years. Their
Louisville, Kentucky, solid American rock sound comes to ONE members
today at the request of Kentucky ONE Field Organizer, and long-time The
North fan, Kim Smith.

Listen to “New Fixation,” and all the ONE Music, on the ONE Podcast
page.

Below a note from Douglas Lucas of The North:

“For years, the suffering in Africa has been a distant voice that has
been ignored by many. But now thanks to the ONE Campaign, and the coming
together of like-minded individuals, even the smallest voice matters. I
am thankful to be one of those voices. Together as ONE we have a hope
for tomorrow.”

-Douglas Lucas, The North
http://www.myspace.com/thenorth

CARE Employee Geoffrey Chege Killed in Kenya

On Saturday night, Geoffrey Chege, the Regional Director of ONE Partner
CARE International, was shot and killed in Nairobi, Kenya. He was returning from a prayer meeting with his wife, who we understand, was not hurt.

“A 25-year veteran of CARE, Geoffrey Chege, was killed Saturday night in
Nairobi during a car jacking attempt. He would have turned 57 in March,” a CARE statement said.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Chege’s family and friends.