Coffee with Senator Claire McCaskill
Yesterday, the ONE blog featured a post about coffee farmers in Ethiopia from the ONE and Product (RED) trip to Africa. Our delegation saw first hand how agriculture can encourage economic growth in Ethiopia. This morning at “Coffee with Claire,” I made sure that Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill understood the importance of funding improvements in agriculture infrastructure in developing countries.
Every Thursday, the senator invites her Missouri constituents visiting DC to her office for a cup of joe. She talks about legislation she is working on and answers questions. After the discussion, I gave her 26 handwritten letters that students at Webster University wrote asking her to co-sponsor the Global Food Security Act (S. 384). I also asked her to rally support for President Obama’s $1.4 billion appropriations request for agriculture.
In the discussion the senator mentioned the struggles she faces when deciding on legislation. She says sometimes it is difficult to weigh the positives and negatives of each side.
When it comes to weighing appropriations for agriculture, the scale is tipped. Nearly one billion people go to bed hungry each night and malnourishment is the underlying cause of death for 3.5 million children each year. As ONE members it is up to us to make sure Congress creates a lasting solution to hunger by investing in agriculture.
-Nick Stevens, ONE intern and founder of ONE Webster
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June 18, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Way to represent the “Show Me State” Nick! We need more efforts like these from fellow MO ONE Campaigners to get Senator McCaskill to finally start rallying the necessary support in Congress by Co-Sponsoring vital pieces of development legislation. Perhaps the new slogan of the Missouri ONE Campaign movement could be “Show Me No MO Poverty!” BTW, when are the MO ONE State T-Shirts going to be in the ONE Store?
Cheers,
Matt
June 19, 2009 at 4:40 pm
IM REALLY STARTING TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO OUR PROBLEMS WE HAVE HERE WITH STAVNG CHILDREN AND DIRTY WATER HERE IN THE STATES MORE SO THAN ELSE WHERE IN THE WORLD ,LETS TRY AND TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN PEOPLE HERE IN THE STATES A LITTLE BIT ,HOW ABOUT THAT, I UNDERSTAND AND HAVE BEEN A ONE MEMBER FOR A WHILE NOW AND IM SCARED FOR OUR OWN HEALTH RIGHT NOW!!!!
January 15, 2010 at 3:28 pm
I want to have coffee with the Senator, better yet, I want to have coffee with anyone, especially if their buying!