Yesterday Super PA ONE Member Dan Donmoyer and I joined representatives from CARE to meet with PA Senator Arlen Specter’s Staff in Philadelphia, PA.

Senator Specter’s Staff Assistant Mallory Cummings was very familiar with ONE and commented on how she attended Live AId and usually wears the “famous” white band!

Dan Donmoyer made sure that Ms. Cummings knew how much PA ONE members appreciate Senator Specter’s leadership in the Senate and for supporting important programs like PEPFAR, the Millennium Challenge Account, and the Global Fund.

Dan also asked Ms. Cummings to thank Senator Specter for his recent vote on the Kerry-Lugar Amendment which restored funds to the International Affairs Budget.

The meeting continued with us requesting Ms. Cummings to please urge Senator Specter to follow through on the Kerry-Lugar Amendment.

We did this by reading a few sentences from Senator Specter’s own letter he sent me in the beginning of the year (which was previously posted on the ONE Blog).  The sentences read were the senator’s own words concerning an “emphasis on international diplomacy and development being critical to achieving global security and that he would continue to advocate for dialogue with the international community and robust funding for vital U.S. international assistance programs.”  We also indicated that PA ONE Members were encouraged by the senator’s words and hopeful that he would please support a robust increase in the International Affairs Budget  and that he please speak or write to the Ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) to fully fund the 302B for State, Foreign Operations at $51.7 billion.

Ms. Cummings said she was going to relay everything we discussed to the senator’s DC Staff in Washington, D.C. We made Ms. Cummings fully well aware that PA ONE members understand the importance Senator Specter plays as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and more importantly on the State, Foreign Operations Sub-Committee with regards to the International Affairs Budget.

The meeting concluded with Ms. Cummings asking to be kept “in the loop” when other PA ONE members engage Senator Specter’s Staff concerning our issues and the important upcoming Appropriations process. We informed her that we will be seeking other meetings with the Senator’s staff across Pennsylvania to reiterate our requests.  All in all, this was a great meeting for ONE!

-Brian Sweeney, ONE Field Organizer