ONE Reaches out to Members of Congress

Feb 19th, 2009 3:35 PM UTC
By Kim Smith

As you may have already noticed from past posts on the ONE Blog, volunteers all over the country are delivering ONE information packages to the district offices of their Members of Congress. These packages contain background information on the organization and our advocacy efforts for the world’s poorest people, a synopsis of local ONE member activities and a letter requesting a face to face meeting with the Member of Congress. Delivering these packages is not only important in spreading the word about ONE but also it opens the door to building relationships with our elected leaders and their district office staff. Below are some excerpts from some of the deliveries that have happened this week:

Prior to joining Congress as Nevada’s representative from the 3rd district, Congresswoman Dina Titus served as an Ambassador of ONE in Nevada during our ONE Vote ‘08 initiative. During that time Congresswoman Titus was able to attend several of our ONE events and advocate for us on a state level. Now as a member of Congress, Titus can take her support for policies that will save lives and help people in the world’s poorest regions all the way to Washington DC.

I had a chance to sit down with Titus’s District Director, Dan Giraldo, on Friday and introduce him and the in-district staff to ONE.

We requested an opportunity to sit down with the Congresswoman to thank her for her support and advocacy, and to discuss legislative measures she can now support in Congress to continue the fight to eradicate extreme poverty. We are tentatively schedule to sit down with Congresswoman Titus in April, and we look forward to the meeting.

-Matt Higginson, ONE NV Field Organizer

This week I was joined by fellow PA ONE member, Pam Haser in a visit to U.S. Senator Arlen Specter’s Pittsburgh, PA office to deliver a ONE info packet introducing ONE and detailing Pennsylvania’s ONE activity. We also wanted to request an in-district meeting with the Senator. At the office, we were able to quickly meet with Adam Pope, the Senator’s community affairs coordinator. Adam was immediately very supportive and already familiar with ONE’s platform and message. He assured us of the Senator’s support for the MDGs and his continued backing for global health and poverty initiatives. We were able to go over some of the content of the info packet with Adam and afterward, agreed to reconnect with him in the next few weeks about a future meeting where we could more fully discuss ONE and these issues so important to the world’s poor. All in all, it was a great first meeting.

-Brian Thomas, PA ONE Member

Last week I stopped by Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Minneapolis district office and afterwards, the office of Minnesota’s District 2 Congress member John Kline, to introduce myself, ONE, and the issues of extreme poverty and preventable diseases in developing countries. I also dropped off an information packet that included a letter requesting an in district meeting with each of these elected leaders.

As a 2008 Minnesota ONE Co Chair, Senator Klobuchar and her staff required little introduction to ONE and were very welcoming. Minnesota ONE members represented by Senator Klobuchar are looking forward to continuing to communicate with Senator Klobuchar on the importance of international poverty focused assistance and hope to have a chance to discuss with her issues and legislative acts that are supported in ONE. In the photograph, Senator Klobuchar staff member Teresa DeTrempe accepts the ONE informational packet and the request for a meeting from ONE volunteer Rochelle Gibbs.

Congress member John Kline’s staff member also kindly received the ONE packet and my request to meet with him. As in district congressional meeting opportunities arise, I hope Congress member Kline will take the time to hear personally why I think the issues that ONE focus’ on are worthy of his and America’s support.

-Rochelle Gibbs, ONE Twin Cities Member

TAGS: From ONE Members, ONE