New York area ONE members gathered recently with Rep. Nita Lowey, meeting with her at her White Plains office. The meeting gave us a great opportunity to encourage Rep. Lowey to support global health and poverty funding in the face of increasingly intense pressure to scale back foreign aid. It was exciting to see Rep. Lowey again in person and hear as she spoke about her appreciation for the work that ONE is doing, and the role of advocacy in ensuring that development assistance continues to be effective.

Sharing with her the need for the protection of funding for programs like GAVI, Feed the Future, the Global Fund, PEPFAR and the Global Partnership for Education in the FY12 budget, Rep. Lowey was overwhelmingly positive and expressed her support for the full funding of these priorities. Rep. Lowey also encouraged us to continue working and fighting, reminding us of the huge difference grassroots efforts can make in influencing key decisions in Congress.

We look forward to continuing to work with Rep. Lowey and fight alongside her for the world’s poorest people!

-Ruby Thomas, ONE member

In the clip, they talk about the US’s commitment to education in developing countries and the need for systemic change. Check it out:

Also, check out this new video from 1GOAL in which Jessica Alba reflects on the aforementioned trip:

Watch Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) eloquently argue against the amendment and defend U.S. multilateral aid on C-SPAN:

The vote on the Lewis amendment is slated for sometime between 6 and 6:30 this evening. Stay tuned for more news!

-Emily Stivers

Over the past few months ONE members across the country contacted Members of Congress on the importance of fighting poverty, and it is clear that ONE has been heard. But no resting on our laurels, there is much, much more to do. The full House will take up the bill after the July 4th holiday, and the Senate Appropriations Committee will begin its work around the same time.

On our key programs, some funding levels are very good, and on others, we need to do more. For global health programs, the House Appropriations Committee provides $7.7 billion, which includes fully funding PEPFAR at $5.259 billion. The global health amount also includes $750 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and there is an additional $300 million in the Labor-Health and Human Services bill for a total of $1.05 billion, but the need is $2 billion, so we have some work to do in boosting the funding for this critical, proven program. Good news is that the bill fully funds the President’s Malaria Initiative at $585 million and the Millennium Challenge Account at $1.4 billion, both huge increases from last year’s levels. There is also positive funding for basic education, child and maternal health, and other development programs.

However, in addition to the Global Fund, there is another area of significant concern, and that is the funding of the President’s Food Security initiative. The President’s request was approximately $1.4 billion, but the bill provides about $1 billion, and we believe most of this cut will be felt by African and Latin American countries. This is a key initiative that will help the world’s poorest countries increase their agricultural productivity, reduce poverty, and provide economic prosperity.

Yesterday’s action marks an important step in the funding process, and also provides us with the opportunity to make a difference going forward.

-Arjun Mody

Despite the cuts sustained by the 150 account during the budget process, Representative Lowey managed to provide $100 million increase for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and a small increase for basic education. She was also able to meet the President’s request for PEPFAR, Malaria and for the Millennium Challenge Account. We also commend her efforts to meet the President’s increases for agricultural assistance, even though the funding constraints prevented her from achieving that goal.

Earlier this week, NY ONE members were out in force and met the congresswoman at local grocery stores and coffee shops for her “neighborhood office hours” events. These volunteers were there to thank Rep. Lowey in person for her past work on these issues and to express our support for robust funding for development . Keep it up out there!

-Christopher Geer – ONE Field Organizer

On Monday afternoon, I joined several ONE New York members to meet with Rep. Nita Lowey (NY-18). Already a true friend, Rep. Lowey has consistently worked for our issues and as an influential member in the U.S. House of Representatives and on the House Appropriations Committee, sits in a unique position to promote important initiatives.

Representing the 6,000+ ONE members in her district, we requested that she use her voice and vote on the Appropriations Committee to restore President Obama’s requested funding for Foreign Operations, currently before Congress. More than happy to do so, Rep. Lowey said that she would work to secure that funding and fully supported the budget which amounts to an increase of $4 billion for International Affairs over fiscal year 2009 – critical to the furtherance of the progresses made in the fight against global AIDS and poverty. We went into the meeting knowing we had a strong advocate in Rep. Lowey, but it was great to dialogue with her on the issues and hear directly about her strong commitment to the issues of global health and poverty.

Representative Lowey also taped this great message to ONE members. Enjoy!

-Christopher Geer, ONE Field Organizer, New York

The ability of the U.S. Congress to set spending priorities for the federal government is among its most critical responsibilities. As Chair of the Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, I have worked to support international development and treatment for diseases like AIDS, TB, and malaria and to reduce poverty and hunger. Helping those who are suffering is not only our moral responsibility, it helps to strengthen stability and engender goodwill around the world, which improve our national security.

The U.S. government agencies that lead our international assistance efforts must be efficient and effective. This week, I am holding two oversight hearings focused on the budget request that President Bush recently sent to Congress for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee will analyze these budget requests and assess these agencies’ successes and the challenges that they continue to face.

I thank you for your interest in international humanitarian and development assistance and hope you will continue to follow my subcommittee’s efforts to alleviate suffering around the world.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Nita Lowey