Ten letters from Rhode Island ONE members were hand delivered today to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s office in Providence, RI. The letters thanked Sen. Whitehouse for his support of President Obama’s $58.5 billion FY 2011 request for the International Affairs budget, funding for the 150 account and for his leadership as a signatory to the bipartisan support letter to Sen. Conrad and Sen. Gregg earlier this month.
Thanks again to everyone that made it out to the Providence workshop and took part in this important action.
ONE members met together on Saturday in Providence, RI for a ONE advocacy workshop, part of a series of ONE workshops being held across the country (find one near you!)
The training centered on policy, advocacy, the legislative process and the importance of engaging members of congress. Following this discussion, attendees wrote letters to Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, thanking him for his support of the administration’s FY’11 request of $58.5 billion for the international affairs budget, and to ask that he continue to use his position on the Senate budget committee to be a champion for the world’s poorest people.
These letters will be hand delivered to Sen. Whitehouse’s office by local ONE members and we look forward to continuing to engage elected leaders around the country on these important issues.
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!
Historically, as we move closer to the general election, campaigns, media and electorate itself, tends to talk a lot more about the horse race and a lot less about the issues.
Today, with critical presidential primaries in four states, I and my many ONE member friends and colleagues must work that much harder to raise the profile for global poverty in this country.
Remember, you can look at the candidate’s plans for global poverty on ONE Action’s On The Record site. If you happen to live in Ohio, Texas, Vermont or Rhode Island, you could consider talking about global poverty while in the voting line.
And, as always, stay tuned for more urgent actions in the days, weeks and months ahead.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
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2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
ONE members met together on Saturday in Providence, RI for a ONE advocacy workshop, part of a series of ONE workshops being held across the country (
