Sen. Richard Durbin
Big news. As you know, last week we delivered signatures from ONE’s “Fight the Famine, Feed the Future” petition to all Senate offices here in DC. Senator Durbin just responded, reaffirming his commitment to “work for adequate funding for humanitarian assistance programs as the Senate considers the Fiscal Year 2012 budget, and monitor the crisis in East Africa” (full statement below).
This is proof that our voices are being heard on Capitol Hill. One by one we’re letting our elected officials know that programs like “Feed the Future” really can break the cycle of famine for good and end extreme poverty in the developing world— all for less than 1% of the US budget. Check out Senator Durbin’s full statement below, and please leave him a message in the comments:
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On Wednesday I had the honor of joining ONE’s Great Lakes Regional Field Director, J.D. Bryant, at a meeting at the office of Senator Dick Durbin in Chicago. At our meeting with Senator Durbin’s aide Maria McElwain, we thanked the Senator on behold of more than 70,000 ONE members in Illinois. The focus of our meeting was to ask Senator Durbin to sign a letter to USAID Administrator Raj Shah, requesting that the U.S. pledge $450M over three years to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) at the upcoming pledging conference on June 13th, 2011. As someone with a background in international development, Ms. McElwain had some great questions for us.
We presented the Senator 25 handwritten thank-you cards from Illinoisans for his leadership on funding for programs that help the world’s poorest people, including the Global Fund and PEPFAR, along with a ONE poster with the following acknowledgement: “Senator Durbin: Thank you so much for protecting critical life-saving programs in the 2011 budget. Thanks to you, America will continue to save millions of people from extreme poverty and preventable disease, and help African farmers to feed their nations.”
As a ONE team member in the Great Lakes Region, this meeting was a wonderful opportunity to meet with the staff of a Senator with such extensive foreign relations experience. I look forward to the continued collaboration with Senator Durbin and his legislative team on the important issues that ONE is addressing now and in the coming years.
On Friday, eight US senators sent a letter to President Obama asking him to fund global AIDS programs in 2011 at levels consistent with the Lantos-Hyde HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Reauthoration Act of 2008.
This is the concluding paragraph of the letter.
“America has, with bipartisan support from Congress, made tangible gains in saving lives in many impoverished countries and demonstrated our compassion to the world. This leadership must continue. As such, we urge you to support funding for global AIDS programs, including U.S. bilateral programs and the Global Fund, consistent with the Lantos-Hyde Act.”
It is signed by U.S. senators Boxer, Isakson, Casey, Lautenberg, Cardin, Durbin, Gillibrand and Kaufman. You can read the full letter here.
Today at an event at the National Press Club hosted by The Atlantic, participants gathered to discuss domestic and international water and sanitation issues.
While speaking about the Water for the World Act, which Senator Durbin introduced, ONE members got a nice shout-out. As you know, we launched our Water for the World campaign earlier this year, which included a special message from Matt Damon to ONE members in June. In the process, ONE collected the names of over 100,000 people who supported improving access to clean water and sanitation for the world’s poorest people.
Here’s what Senator Durbin had to say:
As I said, we introduced our bill in March. By mid-June we had six Senate co-sponsors.
Then the ONE Campaign launched a campaign with other non-profits to enlist more co-sponsors.
Matt Damon, the actor, is the spokesperson for that effort. I don’t know if he used the old Bourne Ultimatum or what, but whatever he said is working. We now have 26 co-sponsors — Democrats, Republicans and Independents – as well as the Majority Leader.
This Monday in Chicago, ONE held a rally at The Field Museum’s Water Exhibit to celebrate the Paul Simon Water for the World Act. The event featured US Senator Richard Durbin, an original cosponsor of the Water for the World Act, and we were joined by many ONE members, local guests and partner organizations.
Before the event started, I caught up with Shayne Moore, a ONE member since inception. Shayne and I talked about the power of “Moms” in the world and the important role that women play both in ONE and in global development. Shayne even told me some of her work with partner groups and how as a mother of three, she felt strongly about supporting the life saving work of the Global Fund.
Sheila Nix, ONE’s executive director, opened up the event by talking about the lack of clean water in many parts of the developing world and just how crucial clean water is to global health issues. She went on to highlight the importance of the Water for the World Act and the potential it has to help usher in clean water to millions of lives around the world. Sheila also highlighted the prominent role that many of ONE’s partner groups play both on the ground in Africa, and in advocacy here in the US. Before she introduced Senator Durbin, she highlighted his efforts on the Water for the World Act, and his greater role in many other essential programs and for being one of the earliest and strongest backers of the Global Fund.
Senator Durbin then spoke about how ONE’s petition around Water for All put a growing bi-partisan force behind the legislation, saying that when it was first introduced, only a few other senators had signed on, but after ONE members across the country weighed in, alongside many other individuals and organizations, the list of co-sponsors is growing and Senator Durbin even noted Senator Isakson’s support from across the political aisle. Senator Durbin even singled out Water Advocates and noted Matt Damon’s special taped message to ONE members.
After the event, we took a quick tour of the water exhibit and after a few ONE members and guests were able to speak with Senator Durbin and thank him for his participation in the event, and for his actions in the Congress to help bring clean water to the world’s poorest people. I even had the chance to thank him for the chance meeting back in New Hampshire when I spotted him in a ONE shirt.
No matter where you live, clean water is one of the most crucial tenants to a healthy life. And no matter where you live in the US, your voice can help bring clean water to millions around the world when you take action with ONE.
-Matthew Bartlett
Right now, the Senate is considering a $4 billion cut from the president’s 2009 request for poverty-fighting funding. Most devastating – if passed, this cut would be a $1 billion drop from 2008 levels.
Thankfully, Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) have introduced an amendment to restore $2.6 billion to the international affairs budget.
This is where ONE comes in.
We only have a week to get the majority of the Senate to decide to support this amendment – so we’re doing what we do best – launching a petition!
Add your name here.
We’re hoping to get 60 U.S. senators to sign up in support of Senator Durbin and Smith’s amendment – which means we need support from senators in every state in America.
I’ll updates you with how many ONE members have signed the petition, and how many senators have signed on, throughout the week. Please add your name and send the petition on to your friends. We only have 7 days to save billions of dollars worth of critical poverty-fighting programs for the most vulnerable among us.
3/10/08 UPDATE: The Amendment is now called the Feinstein-Smith Amendment. Senators Durbin, Sununu, Dodd and Coleman are co-sponsors for the Dear Colleague Letter.
Last summer the New York Times and the Pew Global Attitudes Project released a poll that showed that Africans were “wary but hopeful” about their future and the future of the continent. With devastating poverty, a massive AIDS epidemic and political strife, their hope seems remarkable. And it is this hope and their hard work, coupled with increased efforts by the U.S., which are making Africa a better place. Still, much more must be done.
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 11 percent of the world’s population and only three percent of the world’s health care workers. It suffers nearly half of the world’s deaths from infectious diseases and bears nearly two-thirds of the world’s HIV burden.
Thankfully, due to global leadership, over $7 billion has been distributed to 136 counties through the Global Fund in just 5 years. This program expands our ability to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria – a devastating but treatable and preventable disease. To date, every dollar committed by the US has been matched and doubled by contributions from other donors. The Global Fund needs to be expanded so we can continue to invest in the future of the continent by ensuring Africans have access to basic health care. This is a priority of mine and of ONE.
While I don’t agree with the President about much, we both feel that improving access to health care is one of the most important things our country can provide to the people of Africa. He has made good on his commitment by proposing to spend $30 billion over 5 years to combat global AIDS through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). I’m proud of this program and will work in the Senate to make sure that it is not only funded but expanded.
We are making strides, and we should be proud of our work to date, but we must continue to challenge ourselves to do more.
-U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
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UPDATE: Cross Posted on the Huffington Post.
