Sen. John Edwards
In an address before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday, John Edwards identified global poverty as critical to American national security. In the speech, Edwards proposed an increase of $5 billion in annual foreign assistance and the creation of a cabinet level post to lead an effort which would include the means to “educate every child in the world.”
An excerpt from the speech:
“Any new strategy must include new preventive measures to win the long-term struggle and fuel hope and opportunity. This includes strong and creative diplomacy, and also new efforts to lead the fight against global poverty. I’ve proposed a plan to lead an international effort to educate every child in the world. As president, I would increase foreign assistance by $5 billion a year to make millions of people safer, healthier, and more democratic, and by creating a cabinet-level post to lead this effort.”
The full text of the speech can be found at the Edward’s Campaign website.
In Lebanon, New Hampshire, on Monday Sen. Edwards made a campaign stop to talk about his visions for our country. Sen. Edwards started his speech by talking about the need for our country to fight HIV/AIDS and poverty in Africa. He told the crowd that we had a moral imperative to act and that what we do to on the ground in Africa to save lives, shows the world the kind of country and people that we are.
Sen. Edwards also spoke about Darfur and the deplorable war in Uganda. He also spoke about our opportunity to enroll millions of children in primary schooling in Africa and create a better and safer world for all.
After the speech, ONE members went and spoke with Sen. Edwards and gave him a ONE band to put on. The senator was very familiar with the ONE Campaign and noted the positive impact the ONE Campaign is having in our country.
Just one more reason to put your own ONE band on and come out to a candidate event in your area We are being heard, we are being seen, we are saving lives in the developing world…and in the 2008 election, we will change the world.
I joined ONE members to watch Senator John Edwards address a group of 250 on women’s issues at the Des Moines Public Library yesterday. During the speech, Senator Edwards emphasized the importance of eradicating poverty and pledged his support to families in poverty.
At one point, the senator told a story of a woman he had met who had to choose between paying for gas for her car, which she needs in order to get to work, or heating her house. The woman gathered her children and they made a decision. She would stop paying for heat so that she could continue to work. At night the family would put all their clothes on and get under all their blankets so that could stay warm while they slept.
Before the event, ONE member Robyn Mills handed Edwards a ONE band, and after many people took ONE materials and signed up to become new members in our fight to end global poverty.
Next up on the Iowa ONE trail, we will be attending an event at the Des Moines Temple of Performing Arts on Friday as ONE National Campaign Co-Chair Tom Daschle takes part in a National Security Network Town Hall Meeting. Please come and wear ONE T-shirts and bands to show your support for the ONE Campaign in Iowa.
We had some great experiences in Nevada recently.
Many of our ONE members in Reno were able to attend the Hillary Clinton town hall meeting at Hug High School, including Ryan Dhindsa along with his brother Kyle and father Hardeep.
Ryan is an 8th grade student in Reno; after seeing a movie about poverty in Africa last year, Ryan had a strong desire to help raise awareness. Ryan and his classmate have raised thousands of dollars to help eradicate poverty. Ryan’s father, Dr. Hardeep Dhindsa, is a local surgeon who donates his time and skills each year in Africa performing surgeries. Upon hearing about this dynamic family Senator Clinton’s staff made sure that Senator Clinton had a chance to meet Hardeep, Ryan, Kyle as representatives of ONE.
All three were able to meet privately with Senator Clinton to discuss ONE and give her a ONE wristband which she immediately put on.
Bill Richardson was also in Carson City recently where he held a town hall meet and greet.
Richardson spoke at length about global poverty. In reference to the role of the president as an international leader, Richardson said, “We need to be concerned about helping the poor nations throughout the world. We need to focus our efforts on issues like international poverty and AIDS.”
Governor Richardson and his staff have been very helpful to ONE in Nevada. The Richardson staff even spent time handing out ONE wristbands at a union rally in March.
John Edwards visited Las Vegas last week for a town hall at UNLV.
A local ONE activist gave Edwards a ONE wristband at the VIP meet and greet and Edwards enthusiastically showed it off at the forum.
Our ONE members were given front row seats and cheered as Edwards spoke passionately about the moral duty we have to eradicate poverty at home and abroad. The local Edwards staff also sported the ONE band and let our local organizers sign up new members at the door.
During his speech today in New Hampshire, John Edwards laid out a plan to tackle global poverty. It was the first of its kind this election cycle.
Edwards linked extreme poverty to national security, saying “If we tackle it, we have the chance to change a generation of potential extremists and enemies into a generation of friends.”
The plan he laid out includes:
-Spending $3 billion a year to extend primary education to millions of children in developing countries.
-Spending $600 million a year for health care initiatives, including a worldwide summit on clean drinking water and sanitation and a six-fold increase in funding for clean water programs.
-A new cabinet position, to oversee efforts to increase political and economic opportunities for the poor.
Check back to the ONE Blog for more details about Edwards’ plan and for updates on all the other 2008 presidential candidates’, both democrats and republicans, as they weigh in on the conversation.
Senator Edwards came to New Hampshire today to give a policy speech about poverty in America and extreme poverty throughout the world. On some pretty short notice, well over 30 ONE members here in New Hampshire took time off and rearranged their schedule to come out and show support for the world’s poorest people and the ONE Campaign.
Before the speech, I wandered through the crowd meeting with so many new ONE volunteers: a firefighter, a dentist, we even had a student from Tanzania come out and show support for ONE. You can even see a homemade ONE shirt in the crowd!
When Senator Edwards came to the podium I was thrilled to see that he was once again wearing the ONE band, and even more importantly, so many people in the crowd had them on too!
It was incredible to see so many ONE members come out for such an important policy speech on our issues. Senator Edwards spoke about America taking even more of a lead on global issues like AIDS and clean water. He spoke about what it will take to reach the Millennium Development Goals and why it was important to show the world the morals and values of America, and to further global stability.
So many ONE bands and ONE shirts in the crowd today. It was like New Hampshire’s mini Live 8.
And this is just the beginning as we make sure that the ONE Campaign is heard by all the candidates from both sides of the aisle here in New Hampshire. This is about America and making sure that the bottom billion people in the world are not forgotten here in the Granite State.
Tomorrow, presidential hopeful Senator John Edwards will give a major
policy speech on poverty at St. Anselm College in Manchester, NH, at
11:30 am. It will be the first of its kind this election cycle.
I lived in New Hampshire from age 2 to 18, and I’m excited to encourage
all of my old neighbors to come out and make the ONE Campaign a presence
at this event. Please come, wear your ONE shirt and ONE band, and be
counted as someone providing a voice for the poorest people in the
world.
This speech is the just the start of what ONE members can do this
election cycle. We’ll be working until election day to make sure that
every man and woman running for president of the United States in 2008
knows that fighting extreme poverty needs to become a national priority.
Please RSVP here.
