This Monday the 25th, volunteer Dan Donmoyer and I continued our August “crunch” to meet with our respective Congressman and Senators while they are in recess. Many members use the August congressional recess to host town halls and forums in their communities – so check out their websites for a schedule to meet up with yours. If you can go, wear a ONE T-shirt and use your voice for the world’s poorest people. These events are free and open to the public so it is a great opportunity to let your representatives in Congress know that you care about fighting extreme poverty and global disease.

Our third town hall meeting of this August’s recess was with Senator Arlen Specter. About 40-50 of his constituents came and spoke directly with the Senator about issues that are important to them.

During the meeting volunteer Dan Donmoyer made sure to thank Senator Specter for his support of the AIDS, TB and Malaria funding bill PEPFAR and asked him to do everything in his power to ensure that Congress exercises its oversight responsibilities with respect to PEPFAR, thoroughly and regularly. Senator Specter agreed that PEPFAR will “save millions of lives” and that he felt we as a country need a re-evaluation of these priorities which he said he would commit to if he becomes Chairman of Appropriations in 2010. According to Specter this process has never taken place over the course of his 28 year tenure.

All in all, this was a great experience and fantastic exposure for ONE as the meeting is being aired on PCN television.

-Brian Sweeney, PA ONE Field Organizer