Most of us can’t imagine trying to support ourselves, let alone our entire family, on just a dollar a day. But millions of women around the world are forced to do exactly that because they do not have economic opportunity.

This February, in honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month (March), I left my home in Annapolis, MD and traveled to Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in the Americas, to try to experience what it was like to live on less than $1 a day.

In Nicaragua, I stayed with a member of FEMUPROCAN, an agricultural cooperative that helps women produce and sell crops in organic, sustainable, and income-generating ways. I met (more…)

Wednesday, Sen. McCain returned to NH to hold a town hall meeting and thank the people of New Hampshire. ONE Vote ‘08 members made it out on the trail one more time for help raise our voices for the poorest people on Earth. We had ONE members in the front rows, in the balcony, and a few even on stage.

As soon as Sen. McCain came on stage he noticed us in our ONE shirts and thanked us for being there and he even had ONE’s Marine Michael Castaldo stand and recognized him in front of everyone.

After a few questions, Sen. McCain spoke about ONE and had the microphone passed to Michael. Michael spoke about ONE and mentioned NH’s Senator Sununu’s efforts to restore and secure billions to the International Affairs Budget. Check it out:

As the town hall ended, I was able to speak directly with Sen. Joe Lieberman and told him about the Biden-Lugar Amendment to restore 4.1 billion dollars of critical life saving funds to the Budget. He told me that he would support it and to count him in. (The amendment passed, with his vote, at 1 a.m. today.)

And as Sen. McCain made his way to his campaign bus, ONE member Emerson Lennon was able to make it through the crowd to reach him right before he took off.

-Matthew Bartlett

At 1 a.m this morning, 73 senators, aided by the support of their ONE member constituents, voted to restore $4.1 billion to the international affairs budget. Below see the break down of “yeas” and “nays.”

(You can also use the links at the bottom to see the same list broken down by voting position and home state.)

Yeas and Nays:

Vote Summary

By Senator Name

By Vote Position

By Home State

Just moments ago, at 1 am, Senators Biden and Lugar won an amendment on the Senate floor to restore $4.1b to the International Affairs budget. Over the course of the day, ONE members helped bring 34 cosponsors to the amendment. It was a great collaborative effort with InterAction and US Global Leadership Campaign, as well as over 75,000 members who signed the petition and made well over 3,500 calls to their Senators’ over the last two days.

The final vote was 73-23. In our favor!

As background, President Bush requested a $3.1b increase to this part of the budget. The House Budget committee gave a $1.5b increase ($1.6 below the President). The Senate Budget Committee cut $4.1b…cutting all of President Bush’s requested increase, PLUS $1b from current spending.

At first, we thought we could only get support for a floor amendment for $2.6b, which would bring the Senate level up to the House. We lined up Senate sponsors, worked with ONE members and partners, and coordinated media outreach. Then in a late night push, Senators Biden and Lugar stepped up to offer an amendment that restored this account to the President’s level…a $4.1b amendment. This was twice the size of any amendment we’ve ever won. All our champions from the earlier amendment moved to support this and we thank every Senator that put their support behind the final, new amendment.

Make no mistake, this is an amazing victory that will translate to millions of lives saved.

It’s late, I’m tired and I’m going to bed — but I know I’ll sleep well. For tonight at least, good night and thank you.

It’s going to be a late night for us and the Senate. The vote on the Biden-Lugar Amendment is scheduled to happen tonight and the Senate will be in session late as they vote on a large series of amendments.

Below is the list of supporters for the Biden-Lugar Amendment. The number currently stands at 40 known supporters, spanning all sides of the aisle – and we are sure there are more out there. ONE Members have placed thousands of calls over the last two days to let their senators know that this amendment is important to them and to the lives of millions of people around the globe. Keep up your hopes and prayers, and check back soon for updates.

Thanks each and everyone of you who have put so much support behind this effort!

…than when they are united in their objects and wishes.”
- Marcus Tullius Cicero

I just want to take a moment to point out that struggles like today’s hopeful passage of the Biden-Lugar Amendment are rarely won without the hard work of many individuals and NGOs.

Two coalitions in particular, Interaction and the US Global Leadership Campaign, are playing critical roles in organizing and leveraging numerous other organizations in support of the Biden-Lugar Amendment.

Thanks, good luck, and keep up the hard work!

Feel free to give them some love in the comments, we’ll send the messages on.

The first big step today we’ve already taken. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, by an overwhelming 18-3 vote this morning, approved an bold expansion of the US commitment to fighting AIDS, TB and malaria through a program called PEPFAR.

In Washington’s marble halls, PEPFAR is a funny name for a part of America’s foreign policy. But for people around the world, PEPFAR is a lifeline to medicines and doctors’ care. Already, through PEPFAR, America has helped provide 1.4 million HIV/AIDS patients with antiretroviral drugs. The new legislation would build on that success. It would provide for medical treatments of 3 million people with AIDS, help to prevent 12 million new infections, and care for 12 million people impacted by the disease, including 5 million orphans. Importantly, the legislation would train 140,000 new health care workers while transforming PEPFAR from an emergency response to a sustainable response program.

The Senate legislation was written by Democratic Senator Joe Biden and Republican Senator Richard Lugar. They lead the Foreign Relations Committee. Later today, they’ll combine forces to press the Senate to approve a budget amendment to restore critical funds for America’s lifesaving work around the globe. We’ll have more as the debate moves forward. Keep the calls headed to your senators and urge them to support the Biden-Lugar amendment.

The next step for PEPFAR is for the full House and the full Senate to vote on their versions of the bill. Stay tuned for updates as the legislation moves ahead.

Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Richard Burr (R-NC) sign on as cosponsors to the Biden-Lugar Amendment!

That’s all I got…nothing to see here…move along…just the hard work of saving millions of lives.

Just had one of our Government Affairs people run over. He’s confirming that the vote on the Biden-Lugar Amendment will happen today.

If you have not called your senators, you must now – 202-224-3121. Because this funding determines expenditures for the entire year, losing this fight will make every other fight that much more difficult. (Up-to-date list of senators cosponsoring the amendment here.)

The call is easy to make, all you need to tell your Senators’ office is:

• You are constituent and a ONE member
• You want them to support the Biden-Lugar amendment to restore $4.1 billion to the international affairs budget, to match the president’s budget request.

7 new sponsors!

The momentum is really starting to build. We’ll be following developments throughout the day on the blog. We expect the Senate to vote on the legislation, which would restore $4.1 billion for the international affairs budget, today or tomorrow.

If you don’t see both of your state’s senators below then, call them – at 202-224-3121 – now

Sen. Biden (D – DE)
Sen. Bingaman (D – NM)
Sen. Bond (R – MO)
Sen. Boxer (D – CA)
Sen. Brown (D – OH)
Sen. Cantwell (D – WA)
Sen. Cardin (D – MD)
Sen. Clinton (D – NY)
Sen. Coleman (R – MN)
Sen. Collins (R – ME)
Sen. Corker (R – TN)
Sen. Dodd (D – CT)
Sen. Dole (R – NC)
Sen. Durbin (D – IL)
Sen. Feingold (D – WI)
Sen. Feinstein (D – CA)
Sen. Hagel (R – NE)
Sen. Isakson (R – GA)
Sen. Kerry (D – MA)
Sen. Mikulski (D – MD)
Sen. Leahy (D – VT)
Sen. Levin (D – MI)
Sen. Lugar (R- IN)
Sen. Martinez (R – FL)
Sen. Menendez (D – NJ)
Sen. Obama (D – IL)
Sen. Schumer (D – NY)
Sen. Smith (R – OR)
Sen. Snowe (R – ME)
Sen. Sununu (R – NH)
Sen. Vitter (R – LA)
Sen. Voinovich (R – OH)