Last Tuesday, Brock Haussamen, Cordelia Smith and I met with NJ freshman Congressman Leonard Lance and his Deputy Chief of Staff Amanda Woloshen at the Congressman’s Westfield, NJ district office. We were absolutely delighted by Congressman Lance’s congeniality, bipartisan support and goodwill towards ONE.

The Congressman was very interested in how each of us became involved with ONE. Brock Haussmann is a retired English professor who is an active crusader against poverty on both the local and regional levels. Cordelia Smith is a former NJ insurance attorney who enjoys her work with ONE because it gives her a chance to advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves. I became aware of ONE after I incurred a severe brain injury in 2005 and could not resume my career as a publishing executive. A family member introduced me to ONE, suggesting that I volunteer for ONE because it would be intellectually and emotionally fulfilling.

We made the following requests–or “asks”:

• Congressman Lance enthusiastically agreed to cosponsor H.R. 1410, the “Newborn, Child, and Mother Survival” saying, in true bi-partisan spirit “I know and respect Rep. Reichert and I will be sure to introduce myself to Rep. McCollum.”
• We discussed Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank’s efforts to add an estimated $5 billion in profits from IMF gold sales to help sustain low-income countries through the economic crisis, an initiative that Congressman Lance agreed to support.
• We also requested that Rep. Lance express to Rep. Jerry Lewis, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, that he support the President’s request with a $51.8 billion allocation to the Foreign Operations bill which supports development assistance.

Rep. Lance was very impressed when we told him that there are 5,000 ONE members in his district and nearly 60,000 statewide. Clearly, the sheer size of ONE’s local membership is an asset.
So, to the 4,997 other District 7 members, we hope you will get in touch with us—as well as with Congressman Lance and our other legislators–to make our Central Jersey voices heard. Brock, Cordelia, and I would love to hear from you and meet you.

-Maureen Rooney, ONE Member