Yesterday, fellow ONE members Trisha Hensley and Sheila Lynch joined me in meeting with Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (CA-6). After thanking the Congresswoman for voting in support of the PEPFAR reauthorization and the JUBILEE Act last year, as well as her co-sponsorship of the ‘Paul Simon Water for the World’, ‘Newborn, Mother and Child Survival’ and ‘Initiating Foreign Aid Reform’ bills this year, we asked her what issues facing the world’s poor she was most passionate. It was clear from Rep. Woolsey’s response that she has a deep understanding of the interconnectedness of the vast array of poverty-related issues, but her personal experiences in Africa have led her to connect most deeply with the prevention of HIV/AIDS and improvement of child and maternal health.

Earlier this year Congresswoman Woolsey joined CARE on a trip to Tanzania to learn more about the challenges facing people in the region. The interactions that she had with women in Tanzania and the struggles they face with lack of prenatal care and the risk of HIV/AIDS continue to compel her to work side-by-side with us at ONE in the fight against extreme global poverty.

Next, we learned more about Congresswoman Woolsey’s courageous stand on ending the genocide in Darfur. It isn’t everyday that a visit to a congresswoman is spent recalling an arrest for civil disobedience action organized by the Save Darfur Coalition outside the Sudanese Embassy in Washington!

Below are some of the Congresswoman’s remarks delivered immediately prior to her arrest:

“After recognizing genocide in Darfur almost five years ago, it’s far past time for the international community to come together to end it. We’re here today to send a message to Khartoum, and to the world, that lawmakers in the United States Congress are making ending the genocide in Darfur a top priority. This isn’t a Democratic issue or a Republican issue – this is one of the moral issues of our time.”

As a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Lynn Woolsey continues to be a great champion for world’s poorest people. She expressed gratitude for our visit, as well as the important work ONE is doing, and she encouraged us to spread the word to other members of ONE to visit their representatives, especially those members of Congress who haven’t already demonstrated strong support on these issues.

-Lori Saltveit, ONE San Francisco Bay Area