As we move into October, the push we started in August for ONE members to meet with their Members of Congress is still going strong. ONE Members across the country had over 70 meetings with district staffers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate! These meetings provided an amazing opportunity to let our elected leaders know that Americans really do care about the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. However, these meetings were just the beginning when it comes to building relationships between ONE members and their Members of Congress. We hope these meetings mark the beginning of a long-term dialogue in our ongoing fight for the world’s poorest people.

Below are a few more of the meetings that recently happened, and continue to follow the ONE Blog to check out all the future meetings and activities of ONE members taking action in towns and cities across America.

Visit with Senator Chambliss’s office in Atlanta, GA

On September 15th Jessica Given had the pleasure of representing 40,000 ONE members in Atlanta when she met with staffer Steven Meeks in Senator Saxby Chambliss’ office. Specifically, the meeting was to discuss the urgency of the issue of Climate Change and to ask Senator Chambliss to support 5% of any revenue produced from future climate legislation to directly address this issue as the poorest people of the world would suffer the most while contributing the least to the problem of global warming. The meeting went well and Mr. Meeks assured Jessica that he would make sure to pass along the information and our request would be heard.

Visit with Senator Mikulski’s office in Fells Point, MD

On Thursday September 17, 2009 Deidree Bennet and six ONE members met with staff in Senator Mikulski’s Fells Point office where they asked that the Senator sign on to co-sponsor S.1524 Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009. They were also able to talk about all the great activities that over 36,000 MD ONE members have helped with this year and discuss the Senator’s constituents want to take action in the fight against extreme poverty. The staffer’s also let us know that there is new email option on the Senator’s website and encouraged ONE member to let the Senator know their views through the website, so if you’re from Maryland shot them an email. It only takes a few minutes but it is important to let our leaders know we care about these issues.

Visit with Senator Crapo’s office in Boise, ID

On September 29, Matt Miller led a group of Boise ONE members to meet with Senator Crapo’s regional director, Bryan Ricker. Through the meeting they were able to discuss ONE’s mission as well as the need to remember the world’s poorest people in any upcoming climate legislation, the Water for the World Act and the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009. The volunteers were also able to discuss PEPFAR and how such life saving bills have direct ties to our national security interests in addition to helping those in need.

Mr. Ricker was interested to hear that ONE is over 5,000 strong in Idaho and growing. The meeting went very well and he was kind enough to meet with us for 45 minutes and assured them that all of the issues that were discussed would be brought to the Senator.

Visit with Senators Webb and Warner’s offices in Roanoke, VA

Before Allison Martin headed back to school for the fall she spent her last few days of summer advocating on behalf of the world’s poor! She coordinated a great group of ONE members in Roanoke, VA to introduce ONE and discuss global poverty issues at Senator Warner and Senator Webb’s local district offices. The volunteers were excited to represent over 46,000 ONE members across the state who come from all walks of life, faith communities, and political backgrounds to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease as one.

ONE members from New York to California and everything in between are still going on in-district office visits with their Senators. While the requests for meetings started as part of the August recess, there are many scheduled in September and confirmed meetings are still rolling in as well. Below are just a few meeting updates from the field:

Visit with Senator Schumer’s office in New York City, NY

On Tuesday, Olav Athayde and three other ONE members to meet with Phillip Goldfeder, Director of Intergovernmental Relations for Senator Chuck Schumer, to engage the senator’s staff regarding ONE’s campaign for the world’s poorest people.

At the meeting, they were able to address the issue of foreign aid reform to improve our aid effectiveness in delivering the best results as well as our request that any climate change legislation introduced in the Senate devote 5% of the revenue generated to help the world’s most impoverished regions adapt to climate change.

The group also thanked Senator Schumer for voting in favor the reauthorization of PEPFAR legislation to expand access to prevention, treatment care to combat global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and requested that he co-sponsor the Senator Paul Simon ‘Water for the World’ Act of 2009 to expand access to clean water and sanitation for 100 million water-stressed people.

Olav and the group were able to discuss ONE’s growing voice and influence with over 2 million members nationwide and 136,000 ONE members in NY state alone. We were very encouraged by Mr. Goldfeder’s interest in these issues and his desire to help NY ONE members build a stronger relationship with Senator Schumer in the future.

Visit with Senator McCaskill’s office in Springfield MO

Springfield MO, ONE advocates, Beth DeHaven and Eric Mayle, met with Senator Claire McCaskill’s district officer Crystal Quade to discuss the upcoming climate bill. During the meeting ONE members and Ms. Quade exchanged ideas, information, and thoughts on the importance of making certain that the climate bill include a provision to devote 5% of revenue generated to help in adaptation and mitigation on behalf of the world’s poorest people. Ms. Quade promised to convey our sentiments to the Senator and we plan to follow up with her in a few weeks.

Visit with Senator Feinstein’s office in San Francisco, CA

San Fran ONE members Michelle Droz and Lisa McFadin attended a meeting with John Murray, Senator Feinstein’s Field Representative. John had some knowledge of ONE at the start of the meeting and was receptive to learn more about the history of ONE, our goals and objectives. We began the meeting by introducing ourselves, our passions and how they relate to our ONE membership. After the initial introductions, Lisa spoke about the history of ONE and the nationwide ONE membership as well as noting that California with nearly 250,000 has the largest concentration of members in the United States. ONE Field Organizer, Roscoe Mapps stressed our strong relationships and partner organizations that has brought us additional success throughout the years.

Michelle also spoke passionately about the life-threatening effects of climate change in underdeveloped countries. The impact of climate change is a multiplier to other life-threatening issues impacting impoverished countries and ultimately the whole world. John took copious notes, asked great questions, and when he asked us our specific goal of our meeting, we explained that we would like the Senator’s help in securing 5% of the Climate Change Bill for foreign assistance development (currently it’s at 1% in the House Bill). We were encouraged to receive John Murray’s assurance that Senator Feinstein and her staff were interested in our keeping them updated as to ONE’s goals and activities and we look forward to being a conduit of information to Senator Feinstein in San Francisco.

Visit with Senator Kaufman’s office in Milford, DE

On August 28th, Lisa Flowers and Anshu Dixit and several other ONE Delaware members meet with Senator Ted Kaufman’s Kent County/Sussex County coordinator, Kevin Smith. During our meeting we introduced ONE and requested that Senator Kaufman act on the Senate’s climate change bill to allocate 5 percent of any revenue generated by the legislation for the world’s poorest. We also spoke about former Delaware Senator turned Vice President Joe Biden’s past bi-partisan leadership efforts in boost the U.S. international Affairs budget to fight global poverty and preventable disease.

Our visit went very well and Mr. Smith was pleasant and accommodating. He encouraged us to call the senator’s offices at any time to check in with Senator Kaufman as a way to remind him of ONE’s focus. And we will!

-Kim Smith

ONE has been welcomed on several occasions by the office of Representative Gary Peters (MI). I live in the Congressman’s district, and his staff has been most receptive to hearing about the issues which concern his constituents. During a recent meeting with his Outreach Coordinator, Hy Safran, we discussed three foreign aid bills which are pending before the House of Representatives. Following our discussion, Hy put me in contact with the Congressman’s D.C. office, so that I could address the pending legislation with his Legislative Director, Jonathan Smith.

One of the pending bills was the Berman Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act – HR 2139, a true reform bill, which focuses on improving the effectiveness of our foreign aid. It directs the President to develop a comprehensive national development strategy by better defining the roles of USG departments and agencies, improving coordination, and increasing the monitoring and evaluation of U.S. development programs. ONE supports the goal of this legislation.

On July 30, 2009, Congressman Peters signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill. He graciously remitted a letter to me, on behalf of ONE, in which he stated, “In consideration for your support for this bill, I have reviewed it closely and found that it would establish common sense measures to allow for greater taxpayer transparency while making our existing foreign assistance funding more effective. I have decided to cosponsor this important legislation, and plan to support it when it comes to the floor of the House for a vote.” The Congressman further pledged to monitor the status of other bills.

It is a pleasure, as a ONE supporter in Michigan, to know that Congressman Peters will take a common sense, practical stand to ensure that U.S. aid to poverty-stricken countries will be effective.

-Stephen Scapelliti, Michigan ONE member

PS, check out the letter here (click “more” for the second page)

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While some used the last week of August to get ready to go back to school or get in that last summer vacation, ONE members across the country were busy attending meetings with their Members of Congress! Each of these meetings are important and provide an opportunity for ONE members to use their voice for the world’s poorest people. The meetings let Senators and Representatives know that their constituents truly care about the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.

Below are a few highlights of last week’s meetings, and make sure to check out the blog as we get more updates from around the country (click images to enlarge):

Visit to Senator Richard Shelby’s office in Mobile, Alabama

Last week Judith Smits and fellow ONE member David O’Brien met with Tara Johnson in Senator Shelby’s office in Mobile, Alabama to discuss the importance of U.S. leadership in fighting extreme poverty and global disease. Specifically, they discussed the potential impact climate change may have on developing countries. Increased droughts, floods and storms have the potential to reverse many of the gains being made against poverty and disease in some of the poorest countries around the world. Judith and David requested that Senator Shelby ensure that this year’s Senate climate change legislation meets the standard set by last year’s bipartisan Lieberman-Warner climate bill, and allocates 5% of any revenue to begin helping the world’s poorest people overcome the threats posed by climate change.

Visit to Senator Specter’s office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Last Wednesday PA ONE Members met with Senator Specter’s Community Affairs Coordinator Adam C. Pope in Pittsburgh, PA. We made sure that Mr. Pope 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.

We also indicated that ONE hopes that Senator Specter will support 5% of climate related revenue to assist the world’s poorest confront threats arising from climate change. There was also discussion of the upcoming G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, the role Senator Specter will play in those events as well as ONE having a presence in the city and around the meetings.

Visit to Representative Bill Posey’s office in Melbourne, Florida

On Wednesday last week, ONE members joined Jenni Rothenberg and others from the USGLC to meet with Representative Bill Posey’s (R-FL-15) District Director, Kathryn Rudloff. We discussed the importance of development as a key foreign policy tool and the need for development strategies to be elevated to the same level as defense and diplomacy (i.e. the ‘3Ds’). We are hopeful that Rep. Posey will help us achieve this goal by supporting full funding for poverty reduction programs in the State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill conference report.

Visit to Representative Kathy Castor’s office in Tampa, Florida

On Friday last week, ONE member Alex Savelli teamed up with USGLC one more time to meet with Representative Castor’s District Director, Chloe Coney. We thanked her for Rep. Castor’s previous support on global poverty issues, including her vote in support of the FY2010 State, Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill. She also voted against several amendments which would have substantially reduced funding for 2010 poverty-fighting programs. Rep. Castor’s continued support of full funding for the FY2010 International Affairs Budget will be critical to help elevate development assistance in order to restore America’s image in the world, increase our security and help to lift millions out of extreme poverty.

Visit to Representative Bill Young’s office in Seminole, Florida

Last week, Tampa ONE member Alex Savelli met with Shirley Miaoulis at the Seminole district office of Representative Bill Young (R-FL-10). Representative Young has been in office and serving the people of the 10th Congressional district for close to 40 years. It was great to be able to sit down with his staff and learn more about the issues that Representative Young champions, including his commitment to U.S. troops and their families. As the highest ranking Republican member on the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, his support on initiatives to end poverty and disease is critical.

During the meeting, we talked about the upcoming vote on the State, Foreign Operations conference report and asked that Rep. Young support the highest possible funding for life-saving programs such as The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and PEPFAR, The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The International Affairs Budget provides America with countless opportunities to build global stability, generate much needed allies and advance our national interests. I am hopeful that Rep. Young will support the State,Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill when he returns to Washington this fall.

-Kim Smith

Throughout the month of August, ONE members across the country attended meetings at their senators’ local offices. We’ve had a great response, with almost 4,000 ONE members across the country signing up to attend a meeting and advocate for the world’s poorest people. So far, we’ve had almost 100 meeting requests put in to Senate offices, and to date 45 meetings have been confirmed. Not bad, for a month’s work!

But we’re not done yet. We’re extending our push for ONE members to meet with senators and their staff through September so we can reach as many offices as possible. We will continue to follow up with the offices where we have submitted meeting requests, and do a fresh push to put in requests with the remaining senators so ONE members in all 50 states can have their voices heard in the fight against extreme poverty. While Congress’ August recess is an excellent opportunity to reach your senators, meeting with their staff throughout the year is just as important. We are excited to see what September brings for ONE members across the country.

If you haven’t already signed up to attend a meeting with your senator, it’s not too late and you can do so here. For everyone who already signed up to attend a meeting, we will be in touch soon about next steps for your September Senate meetings.

-Kim Smith

Last week I joined several Milwaukee ONE members to meet with Rebeca Lopez of Senator Russ Feingold’s staff, to encourage the Senator’s continued work on behalf of the impoverished around the globe. As we met, we thanked Senator Feingold for his efforts to alleviate poverty, including his support of HIV/AIDS relief.

We told Ms. Lopez of ONE’s growing grassroots force across Wisconsin with over 27,000 members and mentioned our uniting with various groups in the state- from campus organizations to the United Nations chapter in Milwaukee.

We asked that the Senator consider the effects of climate change on many underdeveloped countries and devote 5% of climate legislation revenue to the world’s poorest people to adapt to climate change.

Finally, we requested Senator Feingold sign on as a cosponsor of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009, a bi-partisan effort to provide access to clean water and sanitation to 100 million people. Rebeca informed us that the Senator has requested of the Foreign Relations Committee that the bill be brought up for a vote this year.

Rebeca assured us that our requests and concerns would be passed on and that Senator Feingold, already an advocate for poverty-stricken nations, would continue to support the fight against global poverty.

-Andrew Hable, Wisconsin ONE Member

Last week, I, along with nine fellow Colorado Springs ONE members met with Annie Oatman-Gardner, staff member for Senator Michael Bennet, to discuss the efforts of Coloradans in the fight against extreme global poverty and preventable disease.

Ms. Gardner wanted to know about ONE’s presence in Colorado. We told her we’re over 30,000 strong in the state and have organized regionally in the major cities and college campuses. We also had a large presence at the Democratic National Convention last year. Like the 10 of us, ONE members come from all walks of life and are committed to non-partisanship.

During our meeting, we asked Sen. Bennet to lend his voice in the US Senate for the world’s poorest people by supporting proven, effective programs like the Global Fund, which directs resources to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria to the neediest people in the world. We requested that he support the highest possible level of funding for the Global Fund as the House and Senate conference this fall.

We also asked that Sen. Bennet remember the world’s poorest as the Senate begins work on its climate change bill, by supporting a 5% allocation of any climate related revenue to go directly towards helping them adapt to the consequences of current and future climate change (i.e. frequent drought and floods, water scarcity and increased health challenges). After all, the world’s poorest are most adversely affected by changes in climate.

We thanked Annie for meeting with us, and expressed to her that we hope to work with Sen. Bennet in the future to ensure that the US implement smart, proven and effective programs to help raise the world’s poorest out of extreme poverty, creating a better, safer world for us all.

-Megan Marsh, ONE Member

Photo (L-R): Ida Zanmiller, Christie Garrison, Megan Marsh, Erin Swanson, Mark Hopewell, Annie Oatman-Gardner, Andrea Staebell, Kelly Hedgecock, Regina Hopewell, Lenore Swaim, Dave Swaim

I and some fellow ONE members in Rhode Island just wrapped up an extremely positive and productive meeting with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and his staffer Rele Abiade. We began the meeting by thanking him for meeting with us and for his prior support in the fight against extreme poverty.

Senator Whitehouse shared with us his account of the years he served in Africa as a member of the Foreign Service which gave him some first-hand knowledge of the issues confronting the continent. We also discussed climate change and asked for his support of legislation that allocates 5% of any revenue to begin helping the world’s poorest people overcome the threats posed by climate change. Senator Whitehouse informed us that his staff would follow up with us on the matter. All in all, we really appreciated the opportunity to meet with the Senator and look forward to continuing the conversation with him in the future!

-John Flynn, Rhode Island ONE Member

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

Jim and Letty Carpenter and I met with Julianna Albowicz, a member of Senator Mikulski’s staff, yesterday at the senator’s Hagerstown, Maryland office. It was an excellent meeting and the information was carefully recorded by Ms. Albowicz to be reported to the senator. We thanked Senator Mikulski for her support of PEPFAR and asked for her continued leadership in the fight against extreme poverty.

We discussed ONE’s campaigns to meet the climate challenge and improve access to clean water and sanitation. As Maryland ONE members, we were excited for this opportunity to advocate for the poor of our world. Sign up to meet with your senator during the August recess!

-Marv Tollefson, Middletown, Maryland