Some excerpts from Senator Biden’s remarks this afternoon as he introduced the Biden-Lugar Amendment. Check here for updates on the senators signed on so far.
“Mr. President, I have an amendment I would like to offer at this time for myself and Senator Lugar. We are joined by Senators Durbin, Smith, Dodd, Sununu, Menendez, Martinez, Kerry, Snowe, Levin, Collins, Obama, Voinovich, Leahy, Corker, and Hagel. Our amendment builds on similar work done by Senator Feinstein – we all share the same goals.
Mr. President, my amendment restores the full amount of the President’s request – $39. 5 billion – to the international affairs budget.
Last week two distinguish former senior military officers, General Anthony Zinni and Admiral Leighton Smith, came before the Foreign Relations Committee to tell us that we must reorder our nation’s priorities to protect our national security.
With more than fifty of their fellow former flag officers behind them, they are calling for a new emphasis on smart power – using our nation’s diplomatic and economic resources to protect our interests.
Defense Secretary Gates has made the same point absolutely clear, and I quote: “having robust civilian capabilities could make it less likely that military force will have to be used in the first place…
Our amendment has the support of the One Campaign, Interaction, the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign, and many other groups.”
I attended an event with Senator Biden was at Jamison’s Irish restaurant in downtown Waterloo, IA, this week. The room was filled with supporters as they sat around tables eating lunch. The senator walked around greeting people before taking the podium. He talked about how America has the potential to change the world, and his foreign policy experience. “We do not have to make up crisis, because they are already there,” the senator said.
When it was time to ask questions, I raised my hand and he handed me the microphone. It was my first encounter since he went on “On The Record” . First, I thanked him for his commitment to fighting poverty, malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. I also shared with him the fact that after the Rwandan genocide that took the lives of almost 1 million people including my parents, another genocide is currently taking place in Darfur, then I asked him what he would do to stop it.
He told me that he has traveled abroad more than any other candidate has, including Chad and Sudan, and that he has seen the suffering first hand. He told the story how he was able to get women together in Chad to hear their stories. “When I asked if they knew anyone who had been raped, the answer was shocking, they all raised hands,” the senator said. He told the audience that he wrote the International Violence Against Women Act to protect abused women who cannot defend themselves.
Before leaving for an interview, he posed for a picture and said that he is always happy to see ONE members in the audience because “you represent the reality.”
Iowans for AIDS Action held candlelight prayer vigils at churches, schools, and in front of campaign offices all across the Hawkeye state. ONE joined the activist group at multiple locations to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS leading up to World AIDS Day this Saturday.
At the University of Northern Iowa, AIDS activists and ONE members were joined by Delaware senator and presidential hopeful Joe Biden as he lit a candle and participated in the ceremonies.
ONE’s Libby Pederson is on fire. Below she delivers the “On The Record” petitions, with more than 53,000 signatures, to Senators Biden and Thompson in Iowa.
ONE member Libby Pederson outdid herself this weekend in Iowa, delivering “On the Record” campaign petitions from more than 50,000 ONE members to four of the presidential campaigns. The petitions ask the candidates to go on the record, in writing and on camera, to tell us exactly what they plan to do to end extreme poverty and global disease.
But we won’t hear back from them until they hear from us, and that’s what petition delivery is all about. Check it out below.
Here’s Libby Pederson delivering a petition to a Chris Dodd campaign staffer.
There she is again outside Joe Biden’s HQ.
And inside Mike Huckabee’s office.
What a trooper, once again, handing petitions to a staffer from the Barack Obama campaign.
ONE members traveled to see Senator Joe Biden at a coffee shop in Iowa on Friday. After the senator delivered a speech, a couple ONE members and I had a chance to speak with him about ONE and debt relief.
Senator Biden pointed out that he took the lead on some of the first debt relief proposals in the Senate and continues to support debt relief to struggling countries. Before departing for his next stop he put on a band and posed for a quick picture.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
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.
