Yesterday, I joined Pennsylvania ONE Members and representatives from CARE in a meeting with Rep. Chaka Fattah’s Chief of Staff Charles Hayden. Congressman Fattah is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and has been a supporter of many of ONE’s legislative priorities throughout his career. The meeting went very well as we were able to represent over 6,000 2nd District PA ONE Members. We made sure to ask Mr. Hayden to pass along our gratitude to Rep. Fattah for voting in favor of the PEPFAR reauthorization last year and more recently for Co-Sponsoring the Paul Simon Water for the World Act and the Initiating Foreign Aid Reform bills this Congress.

Mr. Hayden listened intently as we presented information on ONE and the reasons as to why it is critical to have leadership for those who do not have a voice. We requested Mr. Hayden to ask Rep. Fattah to please urge all other members of the House Appropriations Committee to lead by example with their votes when it comes to critical legislation that saves millions of lives. Mr. Hayden thanked us and said he would certainly pass on the specifics of our meeting to Congressman Fattah. Meeting with your Member of Congress this August is extremely important while they are in-district so they know their constituents support them in the fight against global poverty and disease. I hope all ONE Members schedule a meeting today with their respective elected official!

-Deesha Dyer, PA ONE Member